More Than Tennis

When A Love Letter Catches the Eye

2012-01-27T04:06:00.000-08:00

I do not know exactly how God does it in what we sometimes call “devotions.” Personally, I do not care for the word. Devotion is not shown in a five minute or even a thirty minute glance at a love letter. It has nothing to do with creating a mini-classroom for ourselves or our family complete with flip chart and maps. It has to do with an ongoing correspondence between the lovers. However, in that correspondence, there are times when, simply reading that love letter, we find our eyes drawn to and held to by a word or phrase. When that happens it is as though everything else we look to draws us to the thought of that word or phrase. It may be because God designed the convergence of several things to meet us at that particular time. It may be because something going on in our lives is designed to make things “jump out” at us which otherwise would have passed by unnoticed. Whatever the case, this morning was one of those romantically magical times. Here’s what happened.

First, Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening “devotional” drew my attention to John 1:16 and the fullness of Christ. If you want to see one of those almost non-stop soliloquies of what that fullness looks like check out the reading for January 27th. If you catch it at the right moment it can take your breath away.

Then my eyes were treated to a look at God’s power to those who believe in his Son. This was the theme of today’s “devotional” in “Days of Praise” published by the Institute for Creation Research. Check out the article entitled “The Christian’s Power” and look for the word “fullness.” (If you're reading this article after January 27, 2012 you may need to scroll down the titles.)

And, finally, the Our Daily Bread "devotional" took me to a hymn story reflecting the sheltering power of this One in whom I find fullness for life. You won’t find the word “fullness” in the selection, but in light of the first two articles you cannot miss its presence.

Now, having shared this with you, I'm ready to set keyboard aside and move on to some other things I read in the early hours. I am eager to see what else God has in store.

What the Doctor Told Us

2012-01-25T13:12:00.000-08:00

A long time ago I posted some thoughts regarding the phases of cancer. I do not mean by that the “levels” or “stages” of cancer. I mean those phases I have watched as I have walked with friends through the labyrinth of cancer over the years. Those phases basically would be three.

Phase One – I hope it’s nothing serious. Sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes it is. When it is serious, a hope is dashed.

Phase Two – I hope the treatment works. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it does not. When it does not work, a hope is dashed.

Phase Three – I hope God works a miracle. Sometimes He does. Sometimes He does not. When He does not work a miracle, a hope is dashed and I get to talk with those left behind about hope at the funeral.

It has been and remains my intention concerning the path of cancer to see each phase as a platform for representing the lasting and undashable hope that we have in Jesus Christ. It has been and remains my intention concerning the path of cancer to be more articulate about such truths as the gain of death and the better-ness of being with Christ rather than to become an expert on the world of oncology.

Why do I say this? Because, three times I have been in phase one and, as of today, I have entered for the second time into phase two. The first phase-two experience was a squamous cancer on my cheek which was easily removed. This time around is a bit more serious. A 1mm carcinoma has been found on my prostate which portends the likelihood of more. Also, there are other features of the organ which bear watching.

At present Judy and I are of a mind to get the player off the court. That is, to have the prostate removed or radiated while the cancer is still small and relatively unaggressive. If I were seventy-six the issue would not be as important. But, I’m not seventy-six. Having said that, we are aware of other options and will probably do some research. However, please let me ask a favor based on other observations with folks dealing with health issues.

I would be much more interested in talking about the trustworthiness of my Lord than about the untrustworthiness of the medical profession. I want this phase, wherever it takes me, to be exactly that platform I mentioned above: a time to express confidence in my God. By that I mean, not confidence that he will remove the overall threat of this particular cancer, but that he will see me through to the best conclusion and, in the grand scheme of things, that he will draw others to his unconditional forgiveness, love and destiny.

Judy and I will look at options and we will make a choice. If our choice does not “work” or if a doctor messes up, I would like to be supported by my friends in my confidence in our sovereign God. (We do say we believe in his sovereignty, right?) That confidence represents Him far better than giving way to hand-wringing over how vulnerable and unprotected we think we are in the face of sickness. To be frank, some of my counsel has not always “worked” and there have been times when I have messed up. Yet, God has worked in lives in spite of me.

So, here we go on this next adventure. I am so grateful that God nudged the two of us toward retirement. This way, if there is going to be more of a journey than we anticipate we will not distract this wonderful church family from their ministry to the community to which He has called them. Yes, I know they would be more than willing to walk with us; and in some respects, in this age of e-mail and Facebook, they probably will keep pace with us even after we have moved. Yet, my personal conscience has always been sensitive about imposing myself on a church if physical (or mental) issues debilitate me. Each individual and each church must weigh that thought. I make no judgment and would thoroughly support those who choose differently. Nevertheless, that is where my heart lies.

As always, keep on keeping on.

Pastor Comings

Little Mentioned Cause of Weight Gain

2012-01-22T05:51:00.000-08:00

A friend sent me this. Thank God for friends to give good counsel.

CHECK YOUR SHAMPOO BOTTLES

Check your shampoo bottle label.
I don't know WHY I didn't figure this out sooner.
It's the shampoo I use in the shower!
When I wash my hair, the shampoo runs down my whole body and (duh!)...

printed very clearly on the shampoo label is this warning:

FOR EXTRA VOLUME AND BODY ---

No wonder I have been gaining weight!
Well! I have gotten rid of that shampoo and I am going to start using Dawn dish soap instead.

Their label reads,

DISSOLVES FAT THAT IS OTHERWISE DIFFICULT TO REMOVE.

Problem Solved.

If I don't answer the phone, I'll be in the shower!

Would Knowing the Facts Really Make a Difference

2012-01-17T12:19:00.000-08:00

I am sorting through old books and files: deciding what to keep and what to pitch as Judy and I prepare for the next era of our lives. Downsizing has been a part of our goal for some time; now it is moving ahead with vigor.

The process of sorting brushes the dust off many things long forgotten. That is especially true when it involves going through files and deciding which papers are to go the way of the dumpster. Sometimes one discovers something which makes him think. I just found one such. It is a pretty card designed for someone's refrigerator and it gives this definition for God's will:

Exactly what I would choose if I knew all the facts.

I do not know if that jolts you. It does me; and, worse, there was a time when I think I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Sure." Now I look at it with an eyebrow raised. If I were an unsaved person I would certainly argue the point.

Given the fact that a person who has not faith in Christ is a rebel who lives by the motivation of "my kingdom come, my will be done," all the facts would not satisfy him if his desires were not the center of the conclusion. God's ways would not be his ways. The notion that the human heart basically desires the things of God but doesn't know it, is unbiblical; yet, it lies at much of an evangelism which seeks points of "agreement" with the unsaved to show the reasonableness of trusting Christ. To the committed rebel, trusting Christ is unreasonable since it flies in the face of the facts as he wants them in his make believe cosmos.

What then of me as a believer in Christ. Am I in harmony with this definition? It will be one day; but even yet, there is a lot of "my kingdom come" lingering in my wants. It is not knowing all the facts which brings me into harmony with the will of God. It is becoming more and more immersed in the character of God which brings me into harmony with the facts. If anything, the definition should read:

Exactly what I would choose if I were in harmony with the character of God

and trusted him to do the right thing.

Even in Heaven, our songs of glory to God will not be because we know all the facts, but because we know this fact:: he has redeemed us unto God out of every people and tongue and nation and has made us into a priestly kingdom to represent him in the unfolding ages.

Fried Chicken

2012-01-12T05:57:00.000-08:00

I am indebted to someone I don't know ("Paddy") who posted this comment as an encouragement to a young man recovering from a tragic ocean-shore accident.

Our teacher asked what my favorite animal was, and I said, "Fried chicken."

She said I wasn't funny, but she couldn't have been right, because everyone else laughed.

My parents told me to always tell the truth. I did. Fried chicken is my favorite animal.

I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA. He said they love animals very much. I do, too; especially chicken, pork and beef.

Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal's office. I told him what happened, and he laughed, too. Then he told me not to do it again.

The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was.

I told her it was chicken. She asked me why, so I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.

She sent me back to the principal's office. He laughed, and told me not to do it again.

I don't understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn't like it when I am.

Today, my teacher asked me to tell her what famous person I admired most. I told her, "Colonel Sanders."

Guess where I am now...

Retirement Announcement

2012-01-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

This morning, Sunday, January 8th, 2012, I shared with our church family at Bible Baptist in Cortland the following remarks. It was not easily done but it is with full confidence in the Lord for his good will both for Judy, myself and the great folks here.

To Members and Friends

Bible Baptist Church

Cortland, NY

Judy and I are forward thinking people. We try not to deny the future but to plan for things which will come, such as the day we must give up the privilege of driving.

I don’t tell you this in order to say we will be turning in our vehicle. We haven’t reached that fork in the road yet. I tell you this because we have known and planned toward the day when serving God would no longer be in a pastoral role.

Over the past two years we have realized that day is approaching. Now we sense the time has come to embrace the reality. We are aware of changes in ourselves which tell us it is time to devote our older energies to different ministries. We are also aware of exciting opportunities for you folks which will call for a couple with different areas of giftedness than God allows us to bring to the table.

I have spoken with the leadership and we are putting together a plan for transition which, if God allows, will give the opportunity for us to launch each other into what He has in mind. Judy and I have also consulted with our family as to the options and timing of the transition.

What does all of this look like?

I am your pastor. I will be your pastor this month, and the next month, and the next if God allows; but when we reach July 8^th the time will have come for us to move forward into our new era and for you to be able to focus your energies toward the eventual arrival of the new couple who will join your team.

I have chosen to share this with you at the beginning of our service today because I do not think it should be the last thing you should hear at the end of our time together. For some this announcement will bring sadness. It may also bring confusion, a sense of hurt, worry and, perhaps, even anger. Years ago Job received news far worse than this. His response, after the news arrived, was to worship[1]. That is what we need to do today.

This evening we will turn over our Adult Workshop to a time for questions and answers. However, there is one question I ask you to put away. Do not ask, “Pastor, is it us? Have we done something wrong?” The answer to that is an emphatic, “NO.” Any couple who has the opportunity to work with you is blessed by God. These fourteen years have been the best years of our ministry. Let us, rather, pursue questions about the future. As I said, Judy and I are forward thinking people. In the months that follow we want to do that and to help you do that; and in doing it we always keep in mind that, while we have the responsibility to make plans, it is God who orders our steps[2]. How He will work in all of this is a mystery for Him to unfold in his time.

May God speak good things to us together as we prepare for a new era.

Pastor Comings

January 8, 2012

[1] Job 1:20

[2] Proverbs 16:9; James 4:13-15

"Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child"

2011-12-30T15:35:00.000-08:00

Book Review:

Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child,
by Dr. Anthony Esolen,
Professor of English at Providence Collete in Rhode Island.

Anthony Esolen writes with the argumentative skills of G. K. Chesterton but without the sectarian bitterness Chesterton often directed at some non-Catholic communities. His book, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child,[1] should be right beside Leonard Sax’ book, Boys Adrift[2], on the shelf of every pastor, school administrator and teacher who is serious about training up a child in the way he should go.[3] The difference between the two is that Dr. Sax focuses specifically on boys whereas Dr. Esolen is interested in children in general and boys in particular. The book is also a must read for the “flattened” culture of recovering Christians who may well have been deprived of creative thinking by schools or homes but who have run headlong into the mindless tedium of unimaginative thinking which the author challenges.

Using superb irony, Dr. Esolen takes on the role of someone giving the reader advice on the dangers of imagination and the sure-fire ways of making sure it is not allowed to see the light of day. In so doing he both critiques why our culture would want to destroy imagination and exposes how it is already firmly established in the process. If the reader is not accustomed to irony there will be the need periodically remind himself of the author’s style or he may catch himself thinking the man is serious where he is in fact being facetious.

His chapter titles are intriguing in their own right:

Keep Your Children Indoors as Much as Possible (or) They Used to Call It "Air"

Cut All Heroes Down to Size (or) Pottering with the Puny

Deny the transcendent (or) Fix Above the Heads of Men the Lowest Ceiling of All

His ability to restate accepted paradigms in thought-provoking ways is masterful.

If we believe what we say, that "children are our greatest resource," then we need to do something about it. Resources are valuable because they are good, solid, dependable, and inert. (p. xi)

For the first time in human history, most people are doing things that could never interest a child enough to make him want to tag along. (p. xii)

Some of his more convicting and thought-jarring comments need to be read in their context. They are, be assured, unforgettably irritating in the best of ways.

For the writer of this review, the book served five purposes. First, it encouraged and deepened a commitment to the role of imagination in embracing propositional truth. Second, it provided the challenge to keep on keeping on as an encourager to those who also pursue the gift of imagination. Third, it exposed the character and strategy of the political-educational-philosophical network which is dedicated to turning youth into “inert” human resources. Fourth, it provided a fresh perception of easily overlooked silliness in the materialistic reasoning of the culture’s high priests of thought management. Fifth, it generated motivation to enjoy a fresh look at the earth and sky that we meet each day and which tells me of their Creator and the privilege, through faith in Jesus Christ, to be found embraced in His saving grace.

[1] Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child. Esolen, Anthony. Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Wilmington, DE. 2010. 256 pp.

[2] Boys Adrift. Sax, Leonard. Basic Books. 2007. (Paperback 2009)

[3] Proverbs 22:6

Of Neckties and Coats

2011-12-22T04:38:00.000-08:00

I am sometimes asked why I still wear a necktie when I preach and why I frequently come to the office with suit and tie. I understand the question and I am perfectly free to preach at any time with or without a necktie and (gasp) sometimes in jeans. For several decades in Christian circles we have reacted against the subtle error that neckties and suit coats are necessary for “proper” worship. At the same time we have reacted to the equally subtle error that looking like we have just come in from our morning jog is a significant evidence of “freedom.”

Anthony Esolen in his book, “Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child,” moved the issue away from the spiritual/freedom paradigm. Speaking of childhood memories of Memorial Day events, he described the solemn events at the Protestant and Catholic cemeteries and in the streets of his home town of Eynon, Pa. About those events he wrote:

“…the solemnity of the (cemetery ceremonies) brought with it a real joy, and a lot of boisterous fun. That is, in fact, one of the purposes of solemnity, which we, the interminably informal and drab, have forgotten.”[1]

Catch the thoughts here:

· The thoughts occur in a context of solemn acknowledgement of great men and women of the past who were still, for all of their flaws, considered heroic parts of our own story.

· The word “solemnity” gives color and motive to the word “respect.”

· It is the solemn recognition of serious things which opens the way to the joyful follow through.

· The absence of solemnity creates an “interminably informal and drab” atmosphere.[2]

I took special note of that last point. Somewhere along the line my family managed to convince me that there is something special about dressing well. I do not mean, dressing for success or dressing for show. I mean dressing in a way that lets me feel that what I am doing in the next few hours is important enough to move out of the ordinary; and which also lets me feel the transition to the more relaxed atmosphere of home when I take off my necktie at the end of the day. Therefore, I will continue to enjoy solemn moments (sometimes including suit and tie) as important punctuation marks in the free-flowing sentences of the life I have in Jesus Christ.

[1] Esolen, Anthony. Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child. Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Wilmington, DE. 2010. p. 124

[2] He also pointed out that this informal drabness has worked its way into our holidays and transformed them into just one more day in a “long weekend.”

Rethinking "Church" History

2011-12-20T13:46:00.000-08:00

I am not sure we do the message of the Gospel any favor in our traditional approach to “church” history. Recently I conducted a Sunday evening review of the era from the time of the apostles to the present. This time I allowed myself to ask this question: How much baggage is carried by the Christian community as a result of guilt-by-association with the sometimes very dark history of the "church”?

The more I pursued that question the more convinced I became that the Church’s real story is being written by God’s Spirit moving on the waters and will be unfolded for us to see long after the footprints of the great have vanished from the sand. That is not to say the great men and women of God were not used by Him; but it is to say that, like the history of Israel in the Old Testament, those great men and women did not always represent God well. Where they did not represent Him well they left baggage (or garbage) which we must take into account.

Someday I hope to develop this thought. In the meantime, I am considering the possibility that we ought to describe the post-apostolic era as Jesus described it: “The Times of the Gentiles [Nations]” (Luke 21:24). If we followed that paradigm we could back away from trying to trace the family tree of the church. Instead, we could look at the struggles of believers in a world where the mystery of evil and the spirit of Antichrist (Mordor, if you will) are moving resolutely toward the unveiling of the man of sin. Thus, we would be free from the need to defend any particular “church.” Rather, we would evaluate each claimant on the basis of what truth it embraced and what error gripped its soul in the darkening storm. Such an approach to history would neutralize the crippling influence of so-called “heritage” and demand a constant awareness of the Word of God and our relationship to it. In fact, I suspect that only in such an approach would Sola Scriptura (the Scripture alone) be effectively demonstrated.

Thank You ! THANK YOU !!

2011-12-19T03:02:00.000-08:00

Well, it’s over. Pre-Christmas weekend 2011 has passed. This is the weekend which, year after year, is especially earmarked to be the high-water mark of holiday events. With all the complex planning which goes into the various programs, it is not unusual to hear someone say that they are “finally” able to focus on Christmas once they end. Nevertheless, there is still something about the activities which may make the memory that we carry with us through the remaining days until Christmas more enriching.

Take this weekend for example. Wow!

First there was the Living Nativity on Friday and Saturday. This is the third year folks in our church family have organized and provided a site for this ministry. We do not do cantatas at Christmastime. We do not do a major Christmas play. Instead, we join forces with several other evangelical churches and individual volunteers to offer the chance for a passerby to jog his holiday thinking. Our parking lot is especially useful in that it is along a stretch of highway on the northwest corner of the city which sees thousands of cars pass by in the course of a day. Since we occupy the full end of the block along that road we are able to create a drive-through opportunity.

For months, time, energy and thought are invested in creative and strategic thinking. Volunteers are sought, resources are gathered, sign-up sheets abound. By the time the first car drives through, costumes have been made (no bathrobes allowed), cookies have been baked, chili has been prepared, lights have been gathered, electric cords have been laid, scenes have been painted and hung, a manger has been built, camels have been built, real sheep have been brought in, fires have been started to warm the hands of the participants, and a line-up of “cast” members stand ready to take their turn in the cold to represent the various characters of the story.

Passersby may do just that – pass by. Some sound their horn in appreciation (and, in the case of truckers, to respond to angels and shepherds inviting them to give a toot). Others pause and then turn off the main road to drive slowly through the parking lot for a closer look and a snatch of song from the carolers who greet them. It is then the motorist receives the invitation to come inside for coffee, hot chocolate, chili (with a contest to see which is best), and cookies. Once inside there is the opportunity to watch an artist sketch, listen to a long line-up of talented and budding musicians take their turn at some familiar carols, walk down an avenue of decorated trees (I think the Charlie Brown Christmas tree should receive an award), look at a collection of gingerbread creations by the Cortland Christian Academy’s Junior/Senior class (I could not believe they used chocolate chips like that!), let their children play in a corner for tots, and simply enjoy good conversation.

What an event that was. Hundreds of people actually stopped in. Who knows how many passed by and thought about what they had seen? As I watched the children, I wondered to myself what memories would linger over the years and how might God’s Spirit use those memories.

Speaking of youngsters, the second highlight of this past weekend was the Children’s Program on Sunday morning. I have NEVER seen non-professional children so well prepared and energetic and enthusiastic and engaged in lines and songs for a Christmas presentation. During the same weeks when preparations for the Living Nativity were in full swing, many of the same people from our church family were busy preparing scenes and costumes (the sheep were adorable). At the same time others labored through rehearsals and logistics; and many a parent patiently brought their child to rehearsal after rehearsal. The result was an encouraging send-off into the last days before the “big day.”

Over and over in various settings we were reminded that there was a time in space-time history when God became one of us in order that to provide full pardon and a new life to us who had taken his original creation and tried to create our own, personal, counterfeit kingdom.

Thank you to any and all who stayed with the stuff and allowed God to use you to make the events of this weekend happen.

Two Opening Stanzas to O Little Town of Bethlehem

2011-12-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTORY STANZAS TO

O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM

In ways unknown to human souls

The Holy Spirit came

And formed within a Virgin’s womb

A child of regal fame.

..... And in that womb still hidden,

..... He touched an unborn boy

..... Who leapt within another womb

..... In silent fetal joy.

The Spirit brooded over him

And guarded all his ways;

And brought to him a faithful man

To guide his sheltered days.

..... And in that "father’s" watch-care

..... To Bethlehem He led;

..... And far away from busy streets

..... Prepared a manger bed.

As the author of the stanzas, I give permission for them to be used.

Back Alley Angels

2011-12-15T07:10:00.000-08:00

There are two voices which haunt me during the holiday season. One is the voice of the classic movie “A Christmas Carol” featuring Alistair Simms as Scrooge. Its message of homeless despair will not let me fully engage in our cultural concept of “the Christmas spirit.” The other voice is a song sung by Mario Lanza; and it is this voice which especially whispers in my ear and which has lured me to my keyboard this morning. The words of the song are:

Guardian angels around my bed
Joining me in my prayers
They hush the shadows when they dance about
They shoo away the bears
Guardian angels to comfort me
If I wake in the night
They gather all my dreams
Their halos are my light

They dry my tears
If I should weep
They tuck me in
They rouse me from my sleep

Guardian angels around my bed
Standing by till I rise
There's one with shining wings that holds my hand
And shows me Paradise

While the little child could be found in a comfortable bedroom made menacing by the darkness, the haunting melody always calls up in my imagination the scene of a youngster shivering in an alley and slowly slipping into the arms of death.

A recent article in USA Today[1] stated that, in 2010, one out of every forty-five children in the United States was homeless. That computes at 1.6 million children under age eighteen. The figure includes kids on their own, kids with displaced parents and kids who have found refuge with some alternative family group. Another report from Safe Horizon[2] alleges that this homeless group (children under eighteen) make up thirty-nine percent of the total homeless community in our country and sixteen out of every thirty-nine are younger than age five.

I shared these thoughts with our folks at Prayer Meeting last night. Among us was a member who is also a policeman. He observed that the condition right here in our own “rural city” is far more foreboding than we realize.

Armed with those statistics, I went on to highlight several realities Safe Horizon[3] presents concerning the plight of homeless children.

High risk factors which push children toward homelessness.

· Parents who engage in substance abuse.
· Parents who have mental health problems.
· Child abuse or neglect in the home[4].
· Family history of homelessness.
· Self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered.
· Foster care children “have a greater risk of becoming homeless at an earlier age than other youth, and are more likely to remain homeless for a longer period of time.”

What is life like for the homeless child?

· “Nearly 43% of homeless young men and 39% of homeless young women say they were assaulted with a weapon while living on the streets.
· They suffer “significant mental health problems that include depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts.
· They are likely to engage in substance abuse (app. 75%) “as a means to self-medicate to deal with traumatic experience and abuse they face while trying to survive.”
· They are likely to engage in “survival sex” in order to secure food, clothing, drugs, money or a safe place to sleep.
· Approximately 5,000 homeless young people will die each year “because of assault, illness or suicide while on the street.”
· Those who identify themselves in an “alternate” sexual category “are more likely to commit suicide than other youth.

When I read information of this nature I wrestle with a personal heart issue. That heart issue is the relationship between identifying sin and engaging with those who are suffering the wretched consequences of their own or someone else’s sin. I will grant that there are, in the statistics I have given, those who are actually content to be homeless. There are often the young bullies and recruiters who have become movers and shakers in the homeless culture. As with the self-righteous and power brokers in the “respectable” culture, they generally consider themselves to be in control of their lives and without any need for God or godliness. However, we cannot allow these who often make the headlines to harden our hearts to the ones being tucked in at night by guardian angels in the alley. These are the ones who wish for all the world to be to be valued by human angels (messengers) who authentically care for them and who take every measure to be trustworthy in mentoring them for life and for eternity.

[1] http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-12-12/homeless-children-increase/51851146/1

[2] http://www.safehorizon.org/index/what-we-do-2/helping-youth-14/streetwork-homeless-youth-facts-220.html?gclid=CLunlZ_qga0CFUOo4AodeAvzSQ

[3] At this point my references to Safe Horizon are not to be considered an endorsement. I have not researched their ministry or its quality to give such a reference. I would, however, be interested in the input of anyone who has AND I would be interested in being made aware of other organizations which are more than cosmetically searching for ways to address these children.

[4] “A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study found that 46% of homeless youth escaped a home where they suffered physical abuse, while 17% left because of sexual abuse.”

Enough Already

2011-11-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

Okay boys, let’s step up to the mirror and open your shirts and count the hairs on your chest. You’re all grown up now. You’ve broken free from those nasty self-righteous, judgmental, tea-totaling Fundamentalists and earned your own place as nasty, self-righteous, judgmental, beer guzzling, whateverists. Good for you.

Forgive me if I pull the age thing on you, but I was working through questions of freedom and conscience before many of you were even born; yet, somewhere along the line someone managed to get it through my head that re-thinking and re-evaluating are a part of life. Sure, I wish I had re-thought and re-evaluated some things earlier than I did, but when the time came it was no big deal. Of course there were people who were disappointed in me (thus teaching me not to play that card on others), and there were those who became obnoxious and threatening (thus unintentionally turning my thoughts to Jesus’ words to treat others as I would want to be treated and not as they treated me).

In my later years I have watched a few movies, but I have done so because I was convinced it would be profitable in connecting with others or simply because it would be something to do for mental recreation. There was no issue of psychological damage which could be resolved only by marathon visits to the local theaters and DVD stores.

I still have not taken up alcohol; but not because I fear some dark judgment. I just happen to recognize I have an addictive feature to my character and I don’t want to risk becoming a drunk when God wants me to think clearly (at least as clearly as I can with what I have to work with). I personally embrace the counsel of Lemuel’s mother (Proverbs 31) who told him there were too many things he needed to be able to do for others to waste his time developing his taste for fine wine. I’m terribly sorry if this means I don’t measure up; and the reason I think it might mean that is, I cannot read anything you write without being told you’re having a beer, a brandy or a night cap. When something gets mentioned enough times it takes on the character of a mantra – a measuring device, a predictable and expected nod to something which has become more than "accepted" – something worshiped. Nope, I’m not telling YOU not to drink. Far be it from ME to tell YOU anything. However, knowing your desire not to be like those Fundamentalists, you might want to check to see if your indulgence is just a mirror image of their legalism.

Speaking of risk. Wow! You guys sure are adventuresome! Yessiree, real risk takers. From paintball to extreme sports you’re the real wild men of the day! Some of you can swear like a pimp and call people who blush bigots and hypocrites. Can you get more awesome than that? With a manly swagger you let it be known that no Fundamentalist is going to tell you what to do. Yet, golly (spoken like a true wimp), since you and your colleagues are so predictable in so many wild and reckless ways, I wonder what issues in your own circles are “enforced” on each other by the “look.” You know what I mean, that raised eyebrow or sneer other legalists use to keep each other in line? Do you, after all, turn your scorn on any of your group who might dare to say that some sacred cow of your wild and wonderful world is not for them?

Please don’t think I’m picking on you. I’m saying the same thing to you that I’ve said to my Fundamentalist circle (and to myself) about many fetishes wrapped in the vocabulary of conviction or freedom. If you want to lump me with them you may, since you do tend to lump people just like they do. However, please be advised that some of my Fundamentalist friends have lumped me with you. On the other hand, please DO think I’m challenging your self-righteous self-congratulationism. My point is, you sound like a bunch of sneering bullies skulking behind the barn daring each other to light up while laughing at the stupid fools who told you not to. Or, worse, you sound just like some legalistic cliques I've known over the years. There is, I believe, a considerable difference between Jesus’ passion to seek and save the lost, and the passion to sit around a campfire sniffing arm pits whether or not you are quaffing a pint in the process.

As I listen to you scorn the weak, I am grateful. You have helped me discover true friendships with people who do things my conscience will not let me do or who do not do things which my conscience will allow. They are dynamic. Even if they drink, they encourage me to focus more toward the blood of the cross rather than toward the wine pitchers of Cana. They and I both understand and encourage each other to remember that the casting out of one demon of legalistic error, if not replaced with the humbling force of truth, can result in becoming the slave of seven self-righteous errors worse than the first. We are not offended when we remind each other that the counsel to stand fast in our liberty in Christ is yoked with the warning not to let that liberty lure us to become trapped by some fleshly fetish.

With that said, I must leave you to count your chest hairs among yourselves. I could never match you. (If you ever want to check out nose hairs, that's another matter altogether.) Nor do I bid you follow me. You say you trust Jesus. Check out his “tattoos.” They’re awesome.

"Orientation," "Wired" - We've Heard Those Words Before

2011-11-16T04:28:00.000-08:00

Over the years I have watched the pattern for cultural rationalization of sin. It does not matter what the sin might be, the pattern will unfold. When the recent vile behavior of a college football coach toward children exploded on the front pages of our newspapers, I said both in conversation and in print, that this will become a foot-in-the-door for advancing what I believe will be the next major agenda in political dehumanization through sexual “rights.”

Today’s USA Today article, “Misconceptions make sex abuse offenders difficult to detect,” by Donna Leinwand Leger, is an early warning of the path ahead. In the article four familiar points are made. Granted, they are made in the context of wondering how we can spot dangerous people. Nevertheless, expressed as musings of the “scientific” community, they take on the character of a new category of thought. We are no longer talking criminality. We are talking “research” and insights.

First, there is the issue of stereotype. The article goes to great length to let us know that child molesters are not the stereotypical “creepy stranger.” This IS important to know; but we must be careful against the danger of saying that, because molesters are often upstanding people in the community, their behavior may not be as bad as we thought. Mind you, the article does not suggest that. However, it must be remembered that we have a tendency to evaluate sin on the basis of what kind of people do it. This tendency makes us vulnerable to losing sight of the vileness of the action on the basis of the niceness of people who are discovered to do it. One poet has written:

Sin is a monster of such awful mien

That to be hated has but to be seen;

But seen too oft, familiar of face,

We first endure and then embrace.

Second, there is the issue of nomenclature. The word “abuse” crops up in the article, as it has in other public discussions of this most recent incident. There is a difference between “abuse” and “molestation.” It is, I believe, the use of the word “abuse” which can provide the opportunity to propose that not all sexual exploitation of children may be “abusive.” Is one abused if he likes what we call abuse? It will not be long before we hear anecdotal testimonies of children who liked the attention of their abuser. Molestation is molestation whether or not the one molested likes it.

Third will be the issue of minority status. I believe the intention of the article’s author is to reassure us when she points out research which indicates only 1% to 3% of men have sexual interest in children. However, it is only a matter of time before someone else suggests that there are more, but they are in some kind of a closet and in some way or other are being harassed because they are a minority.

Finally, and most significantly, will be the natural jump from these three factors to the assertion of orientation. The final paragraph of the article is ominous. The author writes: “Doctors don’t know why some adults prefer sex with children.” Ah, the ubiquitous “why” which moves us from “what” to a study of motivations which may adjust our evaluation of the “what.” She continues with: “Some scientists believe…” Enter the unbiased analyzers of facts who have achieved the level of moral neutrality. The scientist she has in mind here is Dr. Ryan Hall, “a forensic psychiatrist in private practice in Lake Mary, Fla.” What does Dr. Hall suggest? “…this may be like a sexual orientation. It may not be a choice. It may be how they are wired.” Do any of those words sound familiar?

Thus the dehumanization of the race continues in what, I predict, will be the eventual sanitization of what, today, we still call by such words as “molestation,” “criminal behavior,” and “sin.” To borrow from Nietzsche, one more cord will be snapped in our insane effort to “free” our planet from the sun. One of several mistakes the philosopher made in that analogy is the assumption that breaking away means catapulting freely into space (as though anyone would survive such a thing). It is more likely to mean plunging into its intolerable flames.

Matt Millen's Emotional Question

2011-11-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

GrahamWatson’s Yahoo Sports article on Matt Millen[1] quoted a significant question from the former Penn State linebacker. The question had to do with reports of criminal behavior toward children. I wish it had been featured in the headline. It demands more than a passing nod. After saying, “Man’s inhumanity towards man is just mind-boggling,” Mr. Millen asked:

Where do we stop with this stuff?

Forgive me for sounding retro here, but the answer to that question begins with looking back toward the origins of “this stuff.” That backward glance, I argue, will take us to at least three sacred shrines of our culture.

First, there is the shrine of pragmatism. From the time of scientific discovery, through the era of industrialization and into the era of high definition technology we have discovered many things within our power. The problem is that we have not had an ethical foundation for using that power. Thus, if we can do something, we assume that it ought to be done. This has been especially true in the dark world of recreational sexuality. With no moral standard to guide us, and with sexual relationships reduced to an entertainment category, we are left to the judicial nonsense of “victimless crimes” and an ever-widening circle of deviant choices which can be included in them. Accepting the notion that “sexual activity” is inevitable for younger and younger children, we have focused pragmatically on preventing consequences while ignoring the moral fact that we are setting kids up as targets.

The second shrine is free speech. Within this pragmatic mindset we have developed the capacity to produce and disseminate literature and visual media of the most lurid kind. Of course, with tongue in cheek, we agreed that this fare was for “adults.” The theory, I suppose, was that adults could handle the “mature” subject matter. It should be remembered that these crimes at Penn State were not perpetrated by children. They were forced on children by an adult who lived in a culture which gives him no rest from opportunities to incubate and hatch erotic passions. I do not say that in any way to justify his crimes. Rather, I seek to expose the paradox of “free speech” and “outrage.” One or the other has to give way and I am fearful that it is the outrage which will ultimately be muted. This kind of free speech is cancerous and I predict it will be the mantra of the next wave of legalized criminality – pedophilia.

Finally, there is the shrine of dehumanization. We might argue that we worship at no such shrine; but, in fact, we build our lives around it and justify our pragmatic choices because of it. For several decades our culture has lived to the drumbeat of materialistic animalism. The human race, it is implied from documentaries to park tours, is simply one of several animal categories which came into being by the accidental interaction of lifeless stuff. The track record of Darwin’s study of origins has been both racist and dehumanizing. The message of materialistic animalism is clear – strong trumps weak and there is no external value system other than force to set limits on the strong. The word “human” is surfacing often in the post Penn State debates. Few understand that the twenty-first century mind has no clearly stated standard of human behavior. Something inside us understands that the picture of the bully or seductive coach and the vulnerable child is wrong, but we do not really understand why.

In my own analysis of the eras of the last two thousand years, I pin the beginning of our time in history at 1972. Much led up to that date; but it was then that human life within a womb was judicially reduced to “fetal tissue” which could be destroyed. I do not call this new epoch “post-modern.” I call it “post-human.” Thus, the significance of Mr. Millen’s statement: “Man’s inhumanity towards man is just mind-boggling.” Actually, it’s not mind boggling at all. It was predictable. What is mind-boggling (and hopeful) is that there are still people out there who think such actions ARE inhumane and mind-boggling. Unfortunately, the actions of this coach will cast doubts on groups authentically trying to help children. This could leave at risk children without bona fide mentors and could send them to the streets where criminal bullies will have even more access with even less control.[2]

Let us who are in the Christian community consider Mr. Millen’s question and perhaps consider it with the emotion which he demonstrated in asking it. “Where do we stop with this stuff?” Should not Mr. Millen’s question become a part of the vision statement of every church and every para-church organization? Does not the gospel link up with Jesus’ references to embracing the fatherless and the harassed?

Permit me to give a bit more specificity to Mr. Millen’s question. Here are seven questions which come to my mind. Might you have some others to suggest as seed thoughts for serious ministry exploration.

1. What are the actual circumstances of at risk children in our culture? We should be street-wise. Too many dismiss them with clichés far removed from fact.

2. What are the courses of action for extending genuine non-patronizing care for children? Not all children need to become foster kids or be adopted, although there are a good many who sincerely wish they had a home.

3. What are the foot-in-the-door weakness of an organization which could permit someone to misuse children in the name of helping them? Does anyone remember where I read that some of these molesters have actually talked themselves into thinking they are doing their victim a favor?

4. How can walls be set up not only against predatory adults but also against predatory children? These are youngsters who have developed a carnal sophistication which has morphed into becoming recruiters for evil.

5. How can proper boundaries be set which allow for flexibility and safety?

6. How can present programs become more child friendly in terms of actually giving them more life related experience beyond parties and classes?

7. How can we investigate other organizations which provide services we cannot offer but which might be or become a haven for molesters? No one organization can meet every need. We need to know where to send distressed children or their parents for help which is beyond our scope.

[1] November 9, 2011

[2] In at least one country of which I am aware, some police forces deal with gang issues with a policy of looking the other way when local citizens go on a late night drive-around randomly shooting vagrant kids.

Don't Let Predators Discourage You

2011-11-09T03:51:00.000-08:00

Predators look for ways to get in any ministry; but we must remember, the issue is the predator, not the ministry. The issue is to manage the doors of ministry so the ones in need can be reached, the ones with a heart to meet the need may reach them, and the ones who are looking for the chance to misuse them are kept away or brought to justice.

Recent news concerning a sports figure who used a ministry to at-risk children to expose them to his own dark lusts needs to breathe fresh determination into our efforts to discover and remove such men and women from contact with the vulnerable. However, the reality of such perverse possibilities must NOT chill our need to find ways to help the unwanted-unaborted who long for a goodhearted man and woman to step into their lives.

In order to speak to the matter of the chilling of ministry, I would like to quote an extensive section from Randy Alcorn’s book, If God Is Good. Please take a moment to read an encouraging and, I hope, a motivating account.

ActionInternational works with street children in the Philippines. One of them is Wendy. Her father died and her mom’s boyfriend abused her, so Wendy ran away. She soon found herself forced into servitude. She ran away again and met a Christian woman who took her into her family. She attended Bible studies and a camp for street kids, where she gave her life to Christ. She was mentored, began teaching a children’s Bible class, and soon will graduate from Bible College.

Lino was a drug addict who slept on sidewalks. At an Action International camp for street kids, he chose to follow Christ. The local church trained him in the Scriptures, hired him as a janitor, and then sponsored Lino through a five-year pastoral course. Now he serves as a pastor, Bible teacher, and counselor.

Enrico suffered abuse as a houseboy. Later, as a drug addict, he joined a gang heavily involved in crime and witchcraft. One day he went out to recruit for the gang. Instead, a Christian recruited him to attend a street-kids camp. Eventually his heart softened and Enrico trusted Christ. His life changed dramatically. Lino and others trained him in the Scriptures, gave him work, and helped him graduate from high school. Enrico now works on a farm as a true follower of Jesus Christ.

Society had cast off Wendy, Lino, and Enrico as unloved and abused street kids, hopeless victims – and probable future perpetrators – of evil and suffering. Finding themselves at the bottom, their hearts opened to God’s offer of rescue.1

When I read this and then look at ministry as we often think of it, I wonder to myself what would happen if a local church took inventory of its program ministries (Vacation Bible School, Camp, Sunday School, concerts, etc.) and began to think in terms of two-pronged vision statement. First, how to use these ministries to genuinely build believers in the Faith; second, how to use these ministries to generate authentic care for those in our communities of whom God speaks so much – the poor, the fatherless, the widow and the stranger.

While the predator must find the door of “ministry” closed tightly against him, the fact is that we have scarcely even begun to open that door to those who authentically need caring, Christian compassion. If you would like to pursue this matter may I suggest doing research (and letting me know what you find) about ongoing ministries to people in need. Then, get together with others who share this concern and asking the question: What would aspects of these ministries look like in the less-intensive environment of the local church?

1 Alcorn, Randy. If God Is Good. Multinomah Books. 2009. Pp. 403-404

Babies Are Cuter Than "Brats"

2011-11-03T06:48:00.000-07:00

As one who opposes abortion, I have long irritated my anti-abortion colleagues by reminding us that we have a tendency to rejoice over the vulnerable “baby” who survives the threat of death in the womb and, at the same time, we wish someone would put the adolescent “troublemaker” in jail or reform school. Although I am a man with few talents, I have intentionally sought to reach out to the troubled kid outside the womb and to people in the next generation who seemed interested in them.

A recent news item involving two boys and a shopping cart reminded me that both the anti-abortionist and the juvenile advocate face their own unique dangers. In the case of those who oppose abortion, one of the fiercest perils comes from the political and judicial arenas where many of the battles must be fought against those who are committed to the “right” to exterminate a human life in the womb. However, in the case of those who want to give a chance to kids who are going wrong, some of the most painful dangers can come from the very ones they seek to help.

At an East Harlem shopping mall in New York City, this October, two youngsters on a malicious lark shoved a shopping cart from a fourth-floor walkway. The shopper it struck below happened to be a forty-seven-year-old woman much of whose life has been dedicated to reaching out to the kind of troubled youths who are prone to going on malicious larks. If she survives, it is likely she will experience months of rehabilitative therapy. It is ironic that she now lies in a hospital bed because of the stupidity of some of the same kind of young men for whom she has great concern. The lesson is clear, seeking to be involved in the lives of vulnerable and unwanted youths is dangerous because of the very character of the youths themselves.

Proverbs 10:23 reminds us, “Doing wickedness is sport to a fool.” It is no surprise then that such foolishness would be found in the hearts of unwanted youths who have been given little or no care-driven mentoring in wise choices. Neither would it be a surprise if we were to discover that these two boys had, in fact, been given several care-driven mentoring opportunities. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child (Proverbs 22:15) and sometimes the best of opportunities cannot keep them from flirting with disaster. All of this is even less surprising in a culture which incubates a subculture of unwanted youngsters who have been propagandized with a philosophy of stupidity-as-art.

However, the danger of juvenile advocacy is not always physical. More often than not it is emotionally scarring. Anyone who has reached out to the unwanted-unaborted has his or her list of names of young people whose worth they saw and sought in vain to encourage. Now, as they watch those youths embrace a filth-is-freedom and folly-is-cool mindset, the advocates shake their head and ask, “Where did I fail?”

If this sounds negative, I am sorry. That is not my intention. My intention is to say there will be no real success in youth intervention until we are willing to invest the same energy and devotion to the issue that we do to our opposition to abortion. In fact, I contend that unless we invest that same energy and devotion, we leave a door open for the advocates of abortion to accuse us of capriciousness when, on the one hand, we decry fetal murder and, on the other hand, we decry juvenile delinquency. Both causes carry danger. Both causes are worth the trouble. Neither cause will be overcome by simply throwing money at agencies. Somewhere each of us must decide how we can authentically care for the vulnerable “baby” and the unwanted “troublemaker.” As of now, I know of no aggressive efforts in the Christian community to invade the dangerous world of juvenile need which compare to the aggressive efforts to invade the dangerous world of abortion. After all, babies are cuter than “brats.”

If you are interested in reading more on this issue, I frequently recommend the following books as flagship publications on the seriousness of the matter.

Lost Boys: Why our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them, by James Garbarino
Dr. Garbarino, from Cornell University, worked with teenagers whose life story had already put them on death row.

Hope's Boy: A Memoir, by Andrew Bridge
Andrew Bridge is a Los Angeles attorney who, from age seven, grew up in the bowels of the foster care system and who later dedicated his law practice to cutting red tape so other juveniles could be adopted into truly caring homes.

Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men, by Leonard Sax (see also www.boysadrift.com)

The Death of the Grown-Up: How America's Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization, by Diana West

Do You Know When Steve Jobs Left Church?

2011-10-21T04:37:00.000-07:00

We may expect a rush of promotional material for Zen Buddhism in the next several months, beginning today. A USA Today opinion column sets the pace. This will, as it should, result in a reply from the Christian community; but I hope the reply will do more than argue the difference between Buddhism and Christianity.

An autobiography, to be released today, tells us that at age thirteen Steve Jobs walked out of church never to return. After attending a church service, he saw a picture on the cover of a national news magazine: a picture of starving children. He could not put what he saw on the cover with what he had just observed in the church.

I do not know what went through Jobs' mind, but I do have a reasonable guess. I will have to read the book to see if I am correct. I suspect he noticed two things which cause even a child to wonder if Christianity is as it ought to be.

First, he saw our penchant for artificial settings to "get the message out;" and, second, he saw our tendency to be so fixed on our alleged desire for the future that we miss the present.

With regard to the second, the future-orientation of Christian faith, when misapplied, creates a vulnerability to such philosophies as Buddhism. Watch this carefully. Buddhism has as an important feature of its world view the notion that desire is the source of suffering. Thus, if one may rid himself of desire he will better insulate himself against being hurt by the things that happen in life. This doctrine can result in stoicism or, as in the case of Steve Jobs, in the determination to enjoy the moment.

Biblically, our desire for the future ought to energize us purposefully for the moment and put meaning into suffering. However, since the Christian community has lost its bearings with regard to biblical hope, our culture is offered little besides a philosophy of living for now because it is all it has. In the case of Steve Jobs, this translated into finding pleasure in vibrant, personal creativity. Yet, I would seriously doubt that he freed himself of desire. Desire is hardwired into the human soul. Rather, he was able to focus on and enjoy the immediate thrill of creativity because it improved the lot of others.

This erosion of our understanding of what it means to authentically desire the future may give us an understanding of his first reason for walking out of church that day. Did he see our penchant for getting the message out about the future through programs which are divorced from the present? Did he see a disconnect between our worship performance and our involvement in the needs of those around us?

I do not mean, here, to disparage programs such as musicals and parties and the like. I do mean, however, to say they have little to do with what Jesus meant when he said, "Let your light (message) so shine before men that they may see your good works and applaud your heavenly Father." In other words, what would Steve Jobs have done if he could have connected the worship event he attended with the church's heartfelt desire to touch the lives of the vulnerable in their community? I do not mean doing so in order to "gain points" with God. I mean doing so with the biblical motivation of showing his love to others who owe us nothing, because one day we will meet him who has shown his love to us who owed him everything.

When will we (when will I) really get serious about our priorities and methodologies in light of the spirit of evangelism in the New Testament? When will we (when will I) replace our debates over how to "do worship" with the biblical focus of what worship does? When will we (when will I) translate our anticipation of our future into actions which bring the spirit of hope across the paths of those who are vulnerable in the present?

"Romantic:" Should the Word be Rescued or Replaced?

2011-10-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

Would you please help me find a new word.

The word "romantic" has been kidnapped by "romance" and both men and women have been deprived of an important feature of who they are in their relationship with Christ. There is a significant difference between a "romance novel" and a "romantic epic." "Braveheart," from what I have heard, is a romantic epic. It may contain romance as a part of the story line, but it is about great adventures for great causes. "Amazing Grace," "Miracle" (yes, I mean the story of the Olympic hockey team), "Lord of the Rings" are other examples of this concept of the "romantic" story which is not about "romance."

Why is this important? I like to think of the work of redemption as a romantic epic. Philippians 2 and Ephesians 5 are Cliff Note summaries of the story line. However, if I use the term, "romantic redemption," it is possible my audience things in terms of hugs and kisses. Thus, while these are not totally absent, they may miss the point that redemption is about a grand and heroic cause.

In fact, I am more and more convinced that the use of Christ and His Church as a model for marriage counsel (as done in Ephesians 5:25-33) leaves the woman ready to set a feminine agenda while men feel themselves sitting near the exit sign of a quilting bee.

Ephesians 5 is not about romance. It is about a romantic epic which, when understood, should help men and women understand their roles in their relationship to each other as partners in something much bigger than their love languages. We miss this because marriage, in our culture, knows nothing of what was clearly visible in the day in which it was written. It is not so much about meeting needs with each other as it is about helping each other with our roles in the adventure. It is an example of God's use of the cultural depravity of the times to illustrate the truth of our deliverance from the dastardly bondage of a dark kingdom and bringing us into the cause of the rightful but hated King.

Let me explain. The Bride / Groom relationship of Ephesians 5 has to do with a woman who had nothing to offer and no claim to make in life. It also has to do with a man who loved the woman with a love which determined to lift her out of the pit and transform her into a woman of beauty and influence. How many struggling couples have you counseled with that story line?

This mystery of Christ and his church (Ephesians 4:32) is only incidentally about "romance;" but it is thoroughly "romantic," and it is "romantic" in a way which both men and women can embrace from their own, God-given paradigm. Men, as part of the Church, must deal with the fact of having been rescued and raised up. Their rescue, however, was not an act of charity as we often think of charity today. Neither was it to make them into "lovers" as we would use that term today. Their rescue brings them into the presence of a Champion who, as happens with men, becomes someone they want to follow into the cause he embodies and imitate him in their relationship to the lives of others, and whose attention they want around the campfires between the great encounters. For women, on the other hand, their rescue brings them into the presence of a Champion who raises them to heroic deeds but is always sensitive to their emotional heartbeat. The woman does not want him to become something different than who he is. Rather, she wants to be the one to minister to him in the humble ways that speak of love for one who stands between her and danger. If you want to see what a godly woman thinks of a man, read the first (not the last) chapters of Proverbs 31. There you have a mother's counsel to her son, and it is eye-opening.

So, I write all of this in order to ask for help. What word do we have in twenty-first century English which conveys the relationship of men and women with the hero of the epic adventure in which we live? If "romantic" cannot be used as an adjective without creating confusion, what shall we put in its place. PLEASE, your thoughts would be appreciated.

You've Gotta Love the Materialist Moralist

2011-10-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

It was an excellent workshop about a small town, philanthropic abolitionist of the 1800’s, even though the speaker and I would have little in common philosophically. It was also typically entertaining.

Early on we were told there is a report out alleging that a gene has been found which predisposes a person to selfishness. This was mentioned in the context of wondering why some people are philanthropic and some are not. The point? No doubt caring for the rights of others is genetic.

Okay, that is not surprising for a materialist. I can shrug it off much as he could shrug off things I might say if leading the same workshop. The entertaining feature came later when a political implication was drawn. In this case, the implication was that one particular political party of our era is good because it is concerned about human rights, whereas another political party is bad because it is concerned about money.

Since I am politically cynical, I was free to chuckle (silently, of course). Having just come through a battle in our state over unnatural intercourse relationships and having listened ad nauseum to the argument of genetic predisposition making the condition unavoidable and acceptable, I was amused at the implication that greed should be considered unacceptable. If, as the speaker explained, greed is genetic, it ought to be accepted and celebrated. For that matter, why even bother with conceptual terms such as “good” or “bad?” Probably there’s a gene which makes some people invent the idea of good and another one which makes others say there’s no such thing. Let each do his own thing and be penalized for speaking…uh…badly about the other.

You've gotta love materialist moralists. They are as oxymoronic as Christian bullies.

Be True To Yourself

2011-10-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

Be true to yourself.

It’s a familiar cliché. It seems to have depth. Not to be true to oneself is to deceive oneself, deceive others and live a lie. That would be the basic idea. Do not let others push you into their mold. Do not conform to things which are not the real you. Be authentic.

The motto has merit; but it is not above analysis. Is there ever a time to conform? Is there ever a time to betray oneself? Is there a time, as a Man said long ago to a gaggle of fishermen, to “deny oneself?”

To embrace the challenge to “Be true to myself,” I need to assume something: namely that I know myself.

Knowing myself, in turn, demands that I know the difference between myself as I am and myself as I could (and perhaps “should”) be; and there's the wall I run into.

If there is something I “should” be, then being true to myself becomes a matter of finding out my design and standing up to those things in me which are not true to that design. For example, should I be creative? If so, then to be lazy and uncreative would not really be being true to myself. It would be being true to something that has gone wrong with myself. This question is a nag. My infatuation with "being true to myself" is often (but not always) a resistance to any sort of "should" elements in my life. I should eat right. I should make myself do the job that I don't like. I should love that idiot. "Being true to myself," is another way of saying, "Who says?" when it comes to that nasty "should" stuff.

However, "Who says?" is not always impertinent. There are, in fact, things I am told I should or should not do which, in reality, are not true. These are things which are demanded by people who have neither the knowledge nor the authority to speak to the matter. Do not tell me I should always pray with my eyes closed.

The point is, the fact that there is a multitude of would-be should-mongers does not mean there is not something I’m made to be which is different from the way I am being; and if there is something I am made to be, there is Someone outside myself who made me. This implies that there is more to being myself than just doing “my thing.” The real me has to do with bringing who I am in line with the intention of the One who made me and discovering the fulfillment of what we were meant to be together.That being the case, not everyone who tells me I "should" is an intruder in my life. Some of them actually help me discover things about myself I could not have discovered without their eyes. Do tell me I should avoid things which will damage my physical brain even though the experience gives me good vibes.

This, I believe, is some of what Jesus had in mind when he spoke of giving us freedom. He exposes false self-analysis and draws us toward His creative intention. He moves us from being true to ourselves to being true to Him which, in the long run, is being true to ourselves as we were intended to be. In the end we will be amazed at how much better we were made to be than we ever thought of ourselves as being. The Apostle John says as much in the first three verses of the third chapter of his first letter.

A New Book Hits the World of Kindle

2011-10-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Astonishing Adventures of Missionary Max (Part 1) have, at last, been made available to the reading public. Starting with a Kindle publication, this edge-of-your-seat story, authored by veteran missionary Andrew K. Comings and published by Engage Faith Press, can be found on Amazon.com.

Kipling On Being A Man

2011-09-29T03:42:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten about this 1895 poem by Rudyard Kipling until a friend and I interacted about our culture's worship of achievement and its sinister effect of creating a fear of failure which can cause a person to withdraw from seeking to achieve. One critique speaks of the poem as "Victorian stoicism." I think not. I believe I could defend much of the poem biblically on the basis of such statements as that made by the apostle Paul when he spoke of being content in whatever state he found himself (Philippians 4). Content, that is, not complacent.

As an added note of interest to all (I'm sure): the two lines in bold type appear over the entrance gate at Wimbledon (a place in England where people play tennis). :-)

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Backward, Backward, Time In Your Flight

2011-09-24T01:54:00.000-07:00

A friend posted an old question on Twitter and, for some reason, it resonated this time.

If you could go back in time to observe (but not change) any event, what would it be ? We don't want you to kill Adam :-)

The first thing which came to mind was a frequent wish to go back and observe some of the events of my childhood which have become glued to the wall of my memory. Why? To adjust my perceptions of the events and the people involved and my involvement in them. I think such a visit to the unchangeable past might go a long way to having a worthwhile impact on the present and future.

Secondly, I would like to observe a routine day and evening in the journeyings of Jesus and his disciples while he walked on this planet. I believe it would significantly dispel the one-dimensional, dreamy, churchy view we have imposed on the reality of God as a real man walking and talking in the real world with real people. That, too, could have a profound impact on my life view in the present and future.

How about you? Anything come to mind that you would like to observe from the past?

A Worldview Primer

2011-09-21T01:55:00.000-07:00

That Jesus is the pivotal point of history and the cosmos will one day be fully unveiled. The issue for me today is that he is becoming the pivotal point of my heart. Why Him and not another?

The Jewish Scriptures point to him.
The Gospels and Acts witness him.
The Epistles explain him.

The philosophies of Buddhism, Hinduism, Native Americanism and other forms of paganism have no one like him.

The traditions of Roman and Eastern Orthodox systems hold him hostage in a labyrinth of structures, saints and sacraments.

The later revelations of the Koran, the Book of Mormon and a host of later apostles plagiarize him, being unable to exist without him while, at the same time, so transforming him as to make him unknowable.

The academics of Christendom are prone to dissect him and leave the cadaver on the table.

The denials of the Materialists are satisfied to have no one to offer.

The old hymn writer said it well. "Take the world, but give me Jesus."

What the Bible Says / What We Think It Says

2011-09-14T05:26:00.000-07:00

In communication it is worthwhile once in awhile to ask, "What did you hear me say just now?" When it comes to reading or hearing God's Word, we would do ourselves a favor periodically by asking, "What did I hear the Scripture say?" Here are some examples of faulty hearing. Other suggestions would be welcome.

The Bible Says: Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Matthew 7:12)
What We Think It Says: I should hold others accountable for how they treat me.

The Bible Says: It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35)
What We Think It Says: Someone needs to be blessed by giving to me.

The Bible Says: He who is greatest should be as a servant. (Luke 22:36)
What We Think It Says: I am to evaluate others on the basis of how they serve me.

The Bible Says: A soft answer turns away wrath. (Proverbs 15:1)
What We Think It Says: If you don't speak softly to me I can get angry with you.

The Bible Says: If your brother has something against you, you should go to him. (Matthew 5:23-24)
What We Think It Says: If you sin against me you should come to me and apologize.

A Random Thought Revived An Old Poem In My Mind

2011-09-08T04:26:00.000-07:00

Wow! That was random!

Just a few moments ago, in prayer, a line from a long forgotten hymn crossed my mind. "Oh thou in whose presence my soul finds delight." It wouldn't go away. So, I seized my handy devotional resource and Googled it. Then I read, slack-jawed, words which spoke so eloquently of Jesus - kind of a nineteenth century version of the Song of Solomon and Psalm 23.

Yep, it's still in hymnals; but my hymnal only has five stanzas. Here, for your reading (and perhaps faith) enjoyment is the full poem by Joseph Swain.

O Thou in whose presence my soul takes delight,
On whom in affliction I call,
My comfort by day, and my song in the night,
My hope, my salvation, my all.

Where dost Thou at noontide resort with Thy sheep,
To feed on the pastures of love?
Say, why in the valley of death should I weep,
Or alone in the wilderness rove?

O, why should I wander an alien from Thee,
And cry in the desert for bread?
Thy foes will rejoice when my sorrows they see,
And smile at the tears I have shed.

Ye daughters of Zion declare, have ye seen
The Star that on Israel shone?
Say, if in your tents my Belovèd has been,
And where, with His flocks, He is gone.

This is my Belovèd; His form is divine;
His vestments shed odors around:
The locks of His head are as grapes on the vine,
When autumn with plenty is crowned.

The roses of Sharon, the lilies that grow
In vales, on the banks of the streams:
On His cheeks, all the beauties of excellence glow,
And His eyes are as quivers of beams.

His voice, as the sound of the dulcimer sweet,
Is heard through the shadows of death;
The cedars of Lebanon bow at His feet,
The air is perfumed with His breath.

His lips as a fountain of righteousness flow,
That waters the garden of grace,
From which their salvation the Gentiles shall know,
And bask in the smiles of His face.

Love sits on His eye-lids, and scatters delight
Through all the bright mansions on high;
Their faces the cherubim veil in His sight,
And tremble with fullness of joy.

He looks, and ten thousands of angels rejoice,
And myriads wait for His word;
He speaks, and eternity, filled with His voice,
Re-echoes the praise of her Lord.

Dear Shepherd, I hear and will follow Thy call;
I know the sweet sound of Thy voice.
Restore and defend me, for Thou art my All,
And in Thee I will ever rejoice.

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/t/othouwho.htm

A Life Hangs in the Balance

2011-09-01T06:06:00.000-07:00

John Little forwarded this letter from Paul Robinson, a missionary in Camden, NJ. The attached photos are of the incident which Pastor Robinson describes.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011 11:37 PM

Dear Praying Friends,

Please pray for Juan, a next door neighbor who was shot this evening!

A little after 6:00 P.M. this evening I was in the church office discipling one of our new converts and I heard three gun shots. I looked out the window and saw a young man running up the street with a gun in his hand. He got in a car and sped off. A few seconds later I heard the neighbor, Melissa calling for the pastor to come and help. I rushed downstairs to see her boyfriend, Juan, lying in front of the church and bleeding profusely from his chest. I held a towel around his chest and talked him through staying alive until the paramedic arrived. They came and took him to the hospital.

The police came and roped offed around the church, around our car and the church van that was parked in front of the church. No one could enter or leave the church for prayer meeting.

Janet and I just got back from the hospital about 10:00 P.M. . Juan is in the trauma unit. His lung is puntured and he is on life support. Witj much prayer, he seem like he is going to make it. It is a miracle that he is alive!

Please pray for Juan's healing and salvation. Please continue to pray for Melissa's salvation. Pray for the city of Camden . Please pray for the children and teenagaers who see this type of thing on a regular basis. And pray for the safety and protection of our church members and for Janet and me as we minister here in Camden .

Paul & Janet Robinson

Cornerstone Bible Baptist Church

Camden , New Jersey

Book Review: Love Wins

2011-08-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

I would strongly recommend Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins, to anyone teaching a course on Christian worldview and philosophy. It would provide the class with three things. First, it is a book rich in worldview language such as story and imagination and dualism and the issue of a closed or open system of the cosmos. Second, it reveals how people who hold an orthodox view of doctrine are judged by those who do not and, on occasion, it reveals things we do which exacerbate that judgment. Third, it reveals the convolution of thought which results from faulty presuppositions.

With regard to presuppositions, students would uncover and evaluate at least four which compete for primary-presupposition status. There would be the proposition that the Scriptures are a trove of mystery messages with a preferred theme around which all those messages revolve. Secondly, the theme is itself a proposition: namely that love is the overarching character of God, and that all other character qualities are malleable subsets. The third proposition would be the unspoken allegation that the author and his readers are capable of applying the proposition of love to the Scriptures rather than the other way around. This gives them empowerment to adjusting or ignore scriptures which challenge the theme. Beyond those three propositions, students would wrestle with the question of whether the human problem is rational misinformation, circumstantial confusion or treacherous rebellion(1) and whether the answer to that problem has any bearing on the character of repentance.

Besides examining the consequences of faulty presuppositions, students would also be exposed to twenty-first century expressions of Platonism, Gnosticism, Universalism and allegorical interpretation. They would also confront rhetorical reasoning fallacies such as the circular reasoning seen in disparagement of people who think of themselves as being part of a self-righteous “in” group. This disparagement puts such self-righteous people “outside” the author’s approved circle which unavoidably implies his own “in” group.

Other fallacies include but are not limited to:

Guilt by association (if you believe in the existence of hell you are one of those guys who berate people);
Straw men (if you believe separation from God is eternal you must believe if someone in hell begged for mercy God would say, ‘Sorry, too late’);
The excluded middle (the assertion that Paul’s reference to the rock in the wilderness in Israel’s story as “Christ,” means other people may be worshiping Christ and not know it);
The appeal to antiquity (the statement that Origen held to this view, and the implication the student should accept the assertion that Origen is a great light in the church);
The appeal to sympathy (presenting anecdotes which call on the student to make a judgment based on insufficient information about the persons or circumstances involved);
Appeal to the crowd (the assertion that a lot of people are offended by those who believe in a literal and eternal hell or in the exclusivity of Jesus as one’s direct object of faith);
Faulty cause (the allegation that people who believe in hell cause people to reject Christ);
Bifurcation (you cannot believe in an eternal hell and believe in a loving God); and,
False dilemma (seen in the rapid-fire sequence of questions at the beginning of the book – questions designed to break down resistance by implying dilemmas which cannot be explained).

Added to all of these learning opportunities, of special interest would be the author’s ability to dance a hermeneutical salsa with passages of Scripture until, as in the case of John 14:6, they say something completely different than the clear meaning the words convey when read with the simple laws of language and context.

In short, other than as a teaching tool, Love Wins morphs to mean the Gospel, as set forth in Scripture, loses. It loses, not because of the self-righteous demagoguery of those who misuse the promise of eternal judgment, but because of the self-congratulatory twists and turns of someone who finds it easier to conform God to human specifications of love, governed by human reasoning, rather than to submit to God’s specifications of love governed by his revelation of holiness.

(1) These are terms I use to summarize the challenge which must be brought to bear when the author seeks to imagine the need of the human heart.

I Stare In the Fog. Crickets chirp softly.

2011-08-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

Our local paper, The Cortland Standard, carried an August 26th article on a "Mentoring program to connect faith and service." It will be an effort to respond to tensions among faith communities in the wake of the terrorism of September 11, 2001. The program will seek to reach out to needy children who come from different faith backgrounds in a way which supports the background. Of those needy children in Cortland County, the article especially features the 18% living below the poverty line, and the number of children in foster care and the number of youths in need of court-ordered supervision which is more than double the state average.

I commend the effort to reach out to children in need. The issue is real and significant and extends beyond the role factors which the article addresses. From the book, Apologetics For a New Generation, Josh McDowell reminds us that the "Avenger Profile" identifies students who walk into their schools and start shooting as white males from middle class homes.The one unifying factor between at risk children and dangerous children surfaces as child / father relationships. The third characteristic in the "Avenger Profile" is a father who is absent, distant or uninvolved in the child's life. With regard to at risk children, a Columbia University study explained that children from single-mom homes run a 30% risk of becoming involved in alcohol, drugs and violence, and children from two-parent homes but with a poor child / father relationship run a 68% risk.

The fly in the ointment in this interfaith effort is its call to non-faith. For a person of one "faith" to encourage another person to find solutions in a different "faith" is to tacitly confess that he does not really believe what he says he himself believes. At the same time he encouraging the other person to believe what he believes.The end result is, ultimately, mutual belief in nothing. What we believe in affects our choices. If it does not affect our choices we do not believe it. A more rational effort would be to present demonstrable principles of relationships to the various faith groups and let them incorporate them into their ministries to the community. This would give them the ability to say, "We are doing this because we believe it honors the God we worship and we recommend him to you."

Ah, but there's the rub. What makes the Cortland Standard article a sad read for me is its reflection of something which Christian leaders are beginning to recognize with growing concern. Followers of Jesus Christ once led the way and often at great risk to reach children in need both within and outside their faith circle. They saw themselves as commissioned to let little ones come to Him. They did their research and created solutions. Then something happened. Perhaps it involved becoming more focused on evangelistic meetings rather than meeting needs evangelistically. Whatever the case, the government found itself with a growing number of needy youth and with few making an effort to address the condition. With the church increasingly preoccupied with other things the government and the secular community were left to do the research and make recommendations. Sadly, the response of the Christian community has been to criticize the solutions of the government and secular researchers while still remaining absent from the front lines of need. Our voices can be heard on all sides protesting abortion, and we must. However, we may turn a full three-hundred-sixty degrees without seeing or hearing a similarly agressive thrust for creating a safety net for the unwanted unaborted.

The newspaper article highlights "mentoring." I feel certain the interfaith program will tell those who enroll that "mentoring" involves more than a trip to the mall once a year. I feel certain, as well, that they will speak of "relationship" and will visualize it as letting a kid know he or she is loved for the long haul and that he or she is not just loved by one mentor while the others stand around and watch and maybe even cheer a little until the relationship falls apart. They will speak of an intentional community of love and support much the same as we would like to think exists for our own families in our own local church. They will speak of this without the only relational Savior who has ever walked the planet, a Savior whose absence may not be so much because the secular community did not want him at first but because his followers have stopped offering him where he wants to be offered.

Every time I write about this; every time I talk with someone about this I come away with a voice whispering behind me - What are you going to do? I reply to the voice - I've tried...and tried...and failed. Nothing about me encourages others to step forward. Then, as now, the voice says - You will really fail only when you stop trying. To that I say - Okay, so what do I do next?

Crickets chirp softly in the distance.

Thanks, Jim, for the "warning" :-)

2011-08-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

My friend, Jim Moore, posted this notification on Facebook. While it is a spoof, it has some redeeming social value. :-)

Jim Moore
As Hurricane Irene prepares to batter the East Coast, federal disaster officials have warned that Internet outages could force people to interact with other people for the first time in years. Residents are bracing themselves for the horror of awkward silences and unwanted eye contact. FEMA has advised: “Be prepared. Write down possible topics to talk about in advance. Sports...the weather. Remember, a conversation is basically a series of Facebook updates strung together. :)

Well-Intentioned Flagons

2011-08-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

Is it possible that enthusiastic people can be a hindrance to the spiritual growth of others?

Scripture does seem to indicate happy people can be a detriment to those who are hurting. The writer of Proverbs made that point when he said: Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day and like vinegar on soda. Many a songbird has had their wings clipped by someone they chirped at. Although we should not let others rob us of our joy, the Holy Spirit does counsel us to know when to turn off the caroling in the presence of the grieving.

However, my question grows out of a different issue. I have in mind the set back which can happen to a person who makes a step, even a small one, in the right direction. Over the years I have observed and personally felt the effect of ill-timed exuberance and premature teaching. To explain what I mean let me use the example of a piano student who accomplishes a reasonably discernible performance of chopsticks. The teacher who jumps from the bench, dances around the room in ecstasy (albeit sincere) and brings out flagons of, uh, Dr Pepper, can actually embarrass and discourage the student. Far better would be a simple nod of the head and a whispered, non-dramatic, “I am so proud of you. Thank you for putting time into practicing that piece.” On the other hand, there is the teacher who simply says, “Very nice. You could have done better with a little more work, but, let’s move ahead. Here’s what you will need to do over the next few weeks.”

Transfer those scenes to the moment when someone you care about approaches you to explain he has made an important spiritual decision. Neither rapturous festivity nor fifteen minutes of counseling may be helpful at this point. Permit me to recommend, instead, a theme of respectful celebration of the moment.

“That is truly wonderful. I’d be interested in knowing more if you feel ready to share it. (Then, whether or not they are ready to share at that point…) It is so delightful to see you and God’s Spirit getting to know each other like this. I would love to be involved in any way you might think helpful. Please keep me up to speed. (You might add, I believe, without being unbiblical…) I am proud of you.”

Try it the next time someone tells you of a spiritual milestone they’ve reached; or, even if it’s just your son leading you to his bedroom to show you he’s picked up his things…more or less.

Now THIS is a Picture of a "Worship Event"

2011-08-26T03:44:00.000-07:00

This morning I bumped up against a quote from Matthew Simpson in his 1879 book Lectures on Preaching. How far have we moved from this imagery when it comes to what we call "worship"? Although written in prose fashion, I have transcribed it into a poetic form.

(The preacher's) throne is the pulpit:
     he stands in Christ's stead;
          his message is the word of God;
                around him are immortal souls;
                    the Saviour, unseen, is beside him;
                the Holy Spirit broods over the congregation;
          angels gaze upon the scene, and
     heaven and hell await the issue.
What associations, and what vast responsibility!

When We Discover Business-as-Usual Wasn't

2011-08-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

A friend wrote to me this morning about recent, out-of-the-blue decisions by major Christian organizations which leave people reeling. It occurred to me that Christian organizations are equal to the sum of their parts. One of the dark reputations of the local church is its tendency to create an atmosphere where each individual must maintain an impression of "all's well" until the unresolved problems reach unresolvable-crisis mode.

I would not suggest that a church should be a place where everyone regularly dumps the unconnected dots of their lives on the table. Neither would I suggest that an organization constantly "update" their constituency about how bad things are. We do get weary of complainers and requests for funds. However, there are things (such as a growing spirit of bitterness on one's heart or a steady unraveling of organizational options) which can be recognized and acknowledged. I would suggest it is healthy to remind ourselves where paths can lead and acknowledge if we are on those paths. It is failure to do this which forces those who teach counseling to advise us that sending a counselee into "the wax museum" without an intentional support group will not give them the help they need.

A few years ago our Academy faced a crisis which threatened its existence. The leadership opted for openness rather than wait until August to surprise parents and staff with a sorry-but-we-can't-open-this-year letter. In so doing we discovered a host of noble-spirited men and women who believed in the school and believed God would be honored to come alongside. This resulted in a ministry which God has kept in his service in spite of recession and without adopting the procedure of pleas for funds. What the future holds I do not know. There seem to be times when God says of organizations what he says to individuals - the time of your ministry has passed. At present he has allowed us to continue and to continue well and enjoy the fellowship of a much larger team of encouragers than we imagined were out there. However, if that turn-around had not happened, we would have been able to bring the work to a conclusion without the specter of questionable ethics hovering over our heads.

Of course, there are two questions which all of this brings to the front. First, when is transparency needed and when does it degenerate into bellyaching? And, second, when transparency is needed, how is it to be done?

I suppose these are questions each generation must hammer out since a process which serves well now can become an empty routine unless constantly informed with fresh thought. Nevertheless, since we are called to coach one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18) these questions must be addressed. We are reminded of this every time we are surprised when a marriage collapses "unexpectedly," and when a Christian organization folds "without warning."

Symptoms of Non-Policitcal Administration

2011-08-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

An Administrator whose goal is not to blaze his own trail will...

Let people who know what they're talking about do the talking.
Let peolple who know what they're doing do the doing.
Let people who achieve be the center of the celebration.
Walk away potentially unknown, leaving behind a trail of people who rejoice in the experience of having accomplished something.

Are Christians Jerks?

2011-08-20T08:33:00.000-07:00

I am following the progress of a youngster who drowned and, through the heroic efforts of trained Emergency Medical Technicians, revived. In a recent post (Friday, August 19) on a blog dedicated to the boy’s recovery his father explained, “Because of the ‘storming’1 (in his brain), he can't shut off any motion, and it's hard for him to sleep.” I am not sure I have the father’s imagery right in my mind, but the picture passing before me is similar to that of a baby whose random and jerky motions are not yet under his control. I wonder if the youngster is experiencing a throwback during which time his brain goes through the process of reclaiming what it has lost. I also wonder something else.

Because the Holy Spirit lays such an emphasis of babyhood and growth as analogies of our faith relationship with Christ, is there a perspective which needs to be reviewed? That perspective has to do with our tendency to be a bit “jerky” at times: as though we cannot “shut off” some motions which really should be brought under control.

Let us be clear here. God has not called us to be jerks. That is, we are not to be bullies, abusive or intimidators. There is really no biblical praise directed toward what we call “shooting from the hip,” and all too often when we do try that kind of gun slinging the shot is fired before we get the gun out of the holster. We call that, “shooting ourselves in the foot.”

However, the references to babyhood, childhood and growth along with the directives to be patient and gentle, lead me to think God wants us to understand a distinction. While we are not to be jerks, there are times when we can be quite jerky. This is a principle which may be fading in normal parenting. The rise in instances of rage-inflicted injury on infants could indicate a growing inability to recognize that a baby’s crying or his unexpected swat against Dad’s nose were not intentional. In a similar way, some conflicts among professing Christians may rise from a failure to understand that someone has just done something from an as of yet uncontrolled instinct rather than from a premeditated choice. A good deal of the patience God calls for in mature believers may have to do with recognizing the undeveloped, jerky spirit of those who have not yet learned control in some area.

As an added thought, my memory walks back over the years and remembers times when I or some other Christian, having passed through some crisis, began to do jerky things which had been overcome years earlier. Like this youngster as he struggles to regain lost skills, it would seem our spirits can lose ground. We used to call it “backsliding,” but I am not sure that term applies as broadly as we tend to think. This boy’s loss of control in some areas is not physical backsliding. It is the result of trauma. In the same fashion, it would be worthwhile to explore whether a believer’s return to jerkiness in some area might be the result of something which has traumatized his heart. If that is the case we are being jerks to point a finger of accusation when we might rather look for ways to engage informed therapy.

Note 1 - "Storming" - an expression used by the doctors to describe the random messages the brain sends in its efforts to find and restore order.

Today's Turn Toward Orthodoxy May Not Be What Some Think

2011-08-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

“Faith Trumps Relativism.” So says a featured “Forum” article in today’s “USA Today.” It highlights the World Youth Day of the Roman Catholic Church in Madrid. In the article, Anna Williams makes several significant statements about millennial people of faith.

For one thing, they feel betrayed by their Boomer forebears. After citing examples of Evangelical interest in the Nicene Creed, Jewish revival of dietary laws and the use of Hebrew, and Muslim return to the calendar of prayer and fasting, she asks: “What attracts today’s youth to such ‘old-fashioned’ orthodoxy?” Then she answers her question by saying: “1960s-style liberation – from moral codes, family obligations, religious commitments – has betrayed us. … Our Baby Boomer parents partied hard, yet in so many cases left us only the hangover: heart-break, addiction and broken homes, plus rising rates of teenage depression and suicide.”

Two decades ago a return to liturgical and esoteric worship experiences in Romanism and Protestantism seemed to me to be predictable directions for a generation seeking relief from chaos by a return to discipline. This quest for order through tradition and discipline has grown significantly in the last decade. The direction of the quest varies from the discipline of the military to that of more cult-like churches and even close-knit communes. Had Ms Williams asked me I would have recommended that such a turn in Evangelical circles is seen today not so much in fascination with the Nicene Creed as it in an almost groveling admiration of people who adopt rigorous, monastic concepts of self-denial.

Ms Williams goes on to write eloquently: “Unlike reductionistic scientism or vague romanticism, traditional religions propose specific, compelling explanations for the world in front of us – broken, fraught with suffering, enslaved to sin, but nonetheless revealing glimpses of beauty and greatness.” She adds, “More intellectually coherent than relativism, orthodoxy is also more demanding. It makes us place others above ourselves, the truth above what we’d like to be true, the fight for virtue above the pursuit of pleasure. In a word, it preaches sacrifice.” In short, as she says a little later, “Young people don’t need another meaningless affirmation of their worth. They want an explanation of how the world is and a mission that involves changing it. Their question is no longer, ‘What will make me feel good?’ but ‘What will make me a good person, and how can I do good for the world?’”

The one crack in an otherwise very encouraging report is the unrecognized similarity between the Millennials and the Boomers. That similarity has to do with what is “A” and what is “B.” In the case of the Boomers, what they felt (A) was a reaction to rigid, legalistic systems. Their solution (B) became a freewheeling abandon. Today, the Millennials react (A) to the fruits of that abandon and turn (B) to the controlled systems over which the next era of legalistic darkness will settle. In both cases there exists an oxymoronic self-centered altruism. Both the Boomer and the Millennial address the desire to feel good and make the world a better place. Both see in their moral choices the way to achieve the goal. Both enhance those choices in some form of religious expression. Neither has anything to do with biblical orthodoxy.

The Christian community falls into a trap if it concludes that the issue has to do with offering a better “B” than Islam, Judaism, Romanism, Protestantism or some cultic commune. Biblical Christianity has to do with a reaction (A) to a realized hostility between one’s soul and God. The solution (B) to that reaction is demonstrably articulated in only one Truth source. That Truth source is the narrative which describes the reason for the hostility and the historical work of God to provide the explainable solution. That solution is the central and motivational Truth of justification through faith in the redeeming and sanctifying work of Jesus Christ. It is not the solution of a religious system, a church or a tradition which accommodates itself to the desire of the individual. It is the solution of a personal, living relationship with Jesus Christ which creates in the individual a delight in God which transcends methodologies and disciplines. This is a delight which engages others with the Gospel and good works (Ephesians 2:8-10). This engagement is driven by a fascination with the love of God (1 Corinthians 13) and not by religious activity (1 Corinthians 12).

Generationally, each era will find its children searching for a way out of the empty husks of the previous generation’s quest; and each era will find among them those children whose goal is not to escape empty husks but to be authentically and rationally and romantically at peace with God. In the one case the quest will lead to varying degrees of morality and “amorality” as codified in law and liberty. In the other case the quest will always find its satisfaction in that which satisfies God – Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

I Can't Be At Reliant Stadium Today

2011-08-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

God, I can't be at Reliant Stadium today.

Thank you for men such as Governor Perry who call us to pray intentionally and remind us of our need to walk humbly before you. In light of his call for a concerted, public humbling of ourselves in prayer for your forgiveness, wisdom and provision for our state and nation, I take this moment to order my words before you and seek to organize my heart in your presence.

How do you want me to pray for the nation I love and appreciate? In the fifty-one years I've had the privilege of enjoying a trust relationship with you through Jesus Christ, I have witnessed and participated in twelve presidential elections. In that time you have engraved these words in my heart:

It is better to take refuge in the LORD

than to trust in man;

It is better to take refuge in the LORD

than to trust in princes.(1)

Through the years I have sought from time to time to know how to pray for this temporary land through which I pass on my way Home. You have shown me I cannot claim promises to Israel since this is not Israel. Although we have strong elements of biblical principles built into the origin of our government, they are, at best, principles which have been merged with a wide range of ideologies to forge an experiment with a system of civil government unknown in Scripture. We are not a nation born in response to any covenant you made with Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. This tells me that my prayer relationship to my earthly homeland is comparable to that of Daniel in Babylon, not Isaiah in Israel. Therefore, when I pray for the United States, I ultimately find myself compelled to pray for myself and my people in a pagan land which, like a ship on a storm-tossed sea, rides whatever philosophical wave best suits its fears and dreams of the moment.

Some time ago you reminded me that, as one who trusts you, I am to understand that judgment begins at the house of God (2). That has taught me to understand calamities in a gentile nation in terms of calls from you to the Church; and, while you have commissioned us to pray for my nation in order that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life that commission focuses not on the quiet and peaceable but, rather, what follows, in all godliness and dignity.(3)

In responding to Governor Perry's call to prayer, therefore, I bow my heart before you and ask if my call for pagans to be revived and restored does not miss the mark? Rather, should I be bring my heart to you with a willingness for you to show me the ungodliness and duplicity of my heart through the confusion of the day. Why do I want you to "save America?" Why do I want a quiet and peaceable life plus, if you will, a comfortable prosperity as well?

Do I want such things that I may witness more openly for my Lord? Maybe what I need is not openness but courage. Those who visit other lands tell me there is more effective evangelism done in lands where men and women pay a price for their faith. I am told that prayer meetings in oppressive countries focus far less on health and wealth and much more on the souls of the lost.

Do I want such things that I may enjoy the comfort of a predictable autobiography based on financial security - children, grandchildren (living nearby of course), and a pleasant retirement? Maybe what I need is a few pagan decisions which will take those things from me. I blush to think that I have ungodly friends who have a far looser grip on material things than I.

Do I want freedom of worship? Maybe what I need is a few bigoted decisions by jittery atheists to push me to take seriously the worship which requires no government permission: the worship of daily taking up the cross of allegiance to my true King (4) with all of the risk involved in being identified with him.

Lord, Jesus, you teach me to pray, lead me not into temptation (5). So, yes, I do pray that you would work among men and women in authority that we might lead a quiet and peaceable life. However, if "godliness and dignity" among your people is the price to be paid for such peace and quiet, then deliver us from the evil. If the time has come for you to laugh (6), in light of the deliberate efforts of those in power to try to cast you aside, then help us to appreciate the joke and press on into the night as bearers of light.

Yes, Lord, I see in you the pattern (7). Father, if it be possible let the cup of judgment on our pagan land pass from us. Nevertheless, if your objective of calling out a people for your name calls for the crucifixion of all we instinctively hold dear, not our will but yours be done.

If mene mene tekel upharsin (8) must be written on the corridors of our government, may those who trust you, as a result of their godliness and dignity, find in whatever follows those who will respect the message they seek to live (9); and, please, may I be among them.

1 Psalm 118:8-9
21 Peter 4:17
31 Timothy 2:2
4 Luke 9:23
5 Matthew 6:13
6 Psalm 2:4
7 Matthew 26:39
8 Daniel 5:25-26 God has numbered your kingdom and finished it.
9 Daniel 6:1-2

This Was Written in 1948

2011-08-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

Judy ran across this in her reading last night.

The idea of cultivation and exercise (in spiritual things), so dear to the saints of old, has now no place in our total religious picture. It is too slow, too common. We now demand glamour and fast flowing dramatic action. A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine-age methods to our relations with God. We read our chapter, have our short devotions and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar.

The tragic results of this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit: these and such as these are symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.

A. W. Tozer: The Pursuit of God. 1948. Christian Publications Inc. pp. 69-70

And he hadn't seen anything yet!

Diary Downsizing

2011-07-26T04:36:00.000-07:00

For several years I kept a diary/journal. I recently dug them out and began to re-read them. Most will be discarded after the review. Some I will keep because they say something about life in the year of an important event such as a birth or a wedding.

The difference between a diary and a journal is that in a diary one is apt to keep track of daily incidentals. For example, on a day in April of 1977, I concluded with, Went with ________ and ____________ to Phil's Chicken House in Endicott. Then to the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City; then to _____________ to pick up the boys. Other entries speak of the temperature if going through a cold spell. A few even describe a sunrise or sunset.

A journal, on the other hand, records thoughts. Journals are more interesting to me than diaries because they present activity of the heart over a period of time. The thoughts are not well organized. In fact, they are largely random with the exception of times when a particular crisis may force them to focus on a particular theme for several days. On that same day in April, I wrote: "The night is over, the day has come; and with it has come a closer walk, yea a walk with God. Satan meant all of this for evil; but God is turning it for good. Began committing to memory the outline of brother Camp's "Daily Act of Faith."1

Following that I wrote: Had to wrestle often against feelings. Blessed dish-washing time. Then, before the jaunts to Endicott and Johnson City, I wrote: Darkness again. Fears and troubles. Reviewing those struggles in light of the thirty-four years that followed lets me smile at the things I have learned and the faithfulness of God I have observed.

I highly recommend journaling, not for the purpose of leaving a legacy (you may choose to destroy them after ten years), but for the purpose of review. Without the ability to return to older thoughts we can fail to see growth in good perspectives or we can miss danger signals that reveal turns toward wrong perspectives. The process dos not have to be complicated. A simple composition notebook can be kept handy for the occasional notion or the long musing.

1 Some time later I put Dr. Russell Camp's "Daily Act of Faith" into a devotional format and still use it from time to time as a means of organizing my thoughts in prayer.

Do We Find Philadelphia and Washington in Scripture?

2011-07-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

Jeroboam in First Kings 12:29 erected calf-idols in Bethel and Dan in order to distract people from the worship of God in Jerusalem. In doing so he announced: "Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

I sometimes wonder if we Christians in the United States have unconsciously made a similar transference. While it can be adequately argued that the founding fathers used much of the Judaeo-Christian ethic as their basis for fashioning our ideological and governing documents; and while it can be argued that some of those founding fathers personally trusted Christ; we run amok if we give to those documents a quality of divine origin. These documents have nothing to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If left with them alone we would know nothing of "nature's God" or of hope for something beyond the means of governing a body of people on this planet. These are neither gods nor do they speak a new message from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has given us redemption, forgiveness, a reason for being here, a commission to seek the well being of our neighbor and the promise of an eternal adventure in his presence.

I am grateful to be an American and I stand in awe of the wisdom put together in governing principles which have given at least a few generations a land where we could experience peace and seek to address wrongs; but the experiment is crumbling and we are discovering it may have distracted us and lulled us into a false worship. Two things tempt us away from God. One is a sword to our throat. The other is an atmosphere of artificial peace coming from an outside source and maintained by human effort.

Of Burning Buildings and Evangelistic Passion

2011-07-19T04:37:00.000-07:00

It is a common illustration used to encourage passion in telling others about Jesus. The speaker asks, "If you saw someone's house on fire would you hesitate to rush up to the door and tell the people inside?"

Of course, the answer is - No, we would not hesitate.

The follow-up question appeals to our conscience - So why would you not have the same sense of urgency about warning people about hell?

I do not think I have ever heard this reply, perhaps out of respect for the good intentions of the speaker - Because we would not run up to someone's door and warn them their house is going to catch on fire someday with the same urgency we would if we saw flames leaping out an upstairs window.

If we want to use the burning building analogy, there are two better fits.

First - As believers we are to be looking for people who smell smoke. Because we have bypassed the need for authentic conviction, we have altered our gospel presentation to the offer of a product: (fire insurance, if you will) to people who see no real need for it. Seeker sensitivity is valid if, by the term, we mean people who smell smoke rather than people looking for a good deal.

Second - As believers we could also consider ourselves in a burning house. A scene from the movie, Fire Proof, comes to mind. The fire chief broke into a burning building in search of a little girl. He constantly kept track of the danger around him, but he did not focus on it. Rather, he set his radar low in search of the lost child. We live in a world already on fire. It seems odd to us no one really notices even though we spend a lot of time talking about it. Perhaps God intends us to set our radar low in search of the ones who have been overcome by the smoke are are ready to be lifted into our arms and passed to the arms of Jesus. It is not the talk of fire which sends the alarm. It is the feel of the heat.

Let Me Tell You About Noah Richard

2011-07-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

He's the grandson of the man who checks our fire extinguishers at church. He's five.

Noah goes to a Christian school and is one of only two boys in a class of fourteen. The other day his teacher called his parents about something she had never encountered before in the classroom.

At one point on one particular day she asked her students the familiar question about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Each took their turn with answers like be a secretary, be a doctor, and a list of other possibilities. When Noah had his turn he said, "I want to be a disciple of Jesus."

That, in itself, rocked both the teacher and Noah's parents; but the teacher had more to tell.

When asked to name their favorite song, and after a wide range of titles had been given, Noah replied that his favorite song is "Amazing Grace."

Remember, we are talking about a five-year-old here. Pretty good stuff.

We often ask people to pray for folks to pray for people in need. Sounds like Noah is on pretty sure footing. In fact, he may be in greater need than some like Baby Jonah Silverberg for whom we have been praying. You can be sure that a little fellow who can articulate such profound thoughts at age five is going to be targeted. Pray that this awesome guy would grow into the man of God his young soul envisions. He's got a pretty proud Dad and Mom and Grampa, to name a few. May he always be a "Samuel" to them - one who hears God's voice and whose words never fall to the ground.

Terms of Endearment

2011-07-12T04:59:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for some insights, perspectives and suggestions.

Selecting hymns and choruses to guide us in worship is an interesting process if you go beyond random skimming of the table of contents. One of the factors with which I struggle is the terms of endearment, admiration and adoration which are used. For example - many of the older hymns use expressions such as "sweet" and "precious" with regard to Jesus.

This song, by William Clark Martin, was written in an era where men (including such notables as Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton) wrote to their friends in much more affectionate terms than we do today.

The Name of Jesus is so sweet,

I love its music to repeat.

It makes my joys full and complete,

The precious Name of Jesus.

Then there is this one by Lydia Baxter, which I have selected as a part of this Sunday's gathering

Oh, the precious name of Jesus;

How it thrills our souls with joy,

When His loving arms receive us,

And His songs our tongues employ!

Precious name, Oh, how sweet!

Hope of earth and joy of heaven.

Precious name, Oh, how sweet--

Hope of earth and joy of heaven.(1)

It is perhaps not surprising that, with the rise of unnatural romantic relationships, we live in an era where men especially lean toward more robust terms of endearment so as not to be considered girlish when speaking of other men. For a woman to call a man "sweet" is acceptable, but not for a guy. Thus, men can be jarred a bit when they find themselves speaking to Jesus in terms they would be more apt to use for their wife or newborn.

This leads me to ask for some guidance. What are words men would use to express their devotion to and attraction to and adoration of a man who has been involved heroically in their lives and who is totally "there for them" now? Can you help me here?

Also, perhaps you don't quite agree with my assessment. I would be glad for other perspectives along that line as well.

Thanks for any input.

(1) , For this Sunday I have substituted "mighty" for "precious" and "strong" for "sweet.":

40 Years, 4 Boys, 4 Daughters-in-law, 9 Grandkids - Not bad :-)

2011-07-09T03:54:00.000-07:00

Forty years ago today, Friday, July 9, 1971, my friend, Irv(1), and I had breakfast with my mother and grandmother in Coventry, NY. Thereafter we made trips to Dryden and Norwich, ate lunch at Kentucky Friend Chicken, and eventually found our way to the West Smyrna Baptist Church in Smyrna, NY. The sun shone beautifully that day, much as it is this morning in Cortland, NY, as I type these memories.

The church had been prepared the night before, including covering the auditorium windows so candles would show well for the evening ceremony.

One by one, others joined us. Of interest to New York State folks would be that Craig Golden(2) served as my best man. Family arrived. Friends streamed in. Then, at seven o'clock, the service began and I watched the most beautiful girl int he world approach, willingly, to let me share my life with her.

Weddings were simple then, and I'm glad. After the ceremony we had a brief stint of picture taking followed by a reception consisting of cake, favors and punch. That done and the bouquet tossed (no, we didn't do the garter thing), Judy and I left for Utica and our first night together. Days to come would find us in New England and Maine before wending our way back to our home in Dryden.

Many have been the trails we have traveled since then. Some of the trails have led to far-away places such as Israel and Brazil. Others have taken us here and there up the east coast, as far west as Indiana and Oklahoma, and even a couple brief forays to the western states. They have been good years artfully marbled with the dark things that come into life this side of Forever. I would do it all again, eagerly. God gave me a young bride who has become, in my eyes, a noble lady.

(1) Now Dr. Irv VanHooser, Faith Baptist Bible College, Ankeny, IA
(2) R. Craig Golden has served as State Representative of the Empire State Fellowship of Regular Baptist Churches for over two decades.

Hand Wringing Can be the Result of Inexcusable Unbelief

2011-07-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

Some kinds of grief have more to do with disobedience and unbelief than with authentic remorse. The recent approval of same-gender marriage by our representatives in Albany has forced this thought deep into my soul. While it is in order to mourn the darkening spirit of our age which is going to bring great sorrow to many, there is something puzzling going on in the Christian community.

Have we been so focused on preventing this darkness from happening that we have missed a very important bit of information which God gave us? That information is that this was to be expected. He told us it is a part of the course of nations. The significance of it is that when we know something is going to happen we should be prepared for it. If I am told that I am going to get cancer (not, I MAY get cancer but I WILL get cancer), it seems as though two lines of action ought to be pursued. One, do what I can to put it off. Two, get everything in place so that I am ready to live with it when it comes. What is puzzling, therefore, is that we seem to act as though we are not prepared. We are scrambling to figure out Plan B. It would seem as though we, as believers in Jesus Christ, ought to be saying,

"Onward to phase two,"

instead of,

"Oh dear! What are we going to do?"

In my lifetime I have watched this weird unpreparedness emerge in three significant areas.

First - in the area of abortion. My observation here is that not only were we unprepared for its public approval, we neglected one of the primary weapons we could have used against it, which is also one of the major strategies which ought to be in full swing now that it is accepted. That is, a robust strategy for reaching out to the unwanted unaborted. These are the ones who, sixteen years after they were rescued from the murder fields of abortion, we want the state to put away because they have become criminals. It seems as though there should be much more going on in the Christian community with regard to seeking these unwanted souls from the delivery room to death row.

Second - in this area of same-gender marriage. If we had believed God on this matter we would have been preparing to be hope-givers to those who will be hurt by this secular irrationality. Our sense of flat-footed hand-wringing is as inexcusable as would be that of a general unprepared for the moment when a certain attack was launched against his troops. It might do us good if, along with our alarm over how this will impact our personal lifestyles, we would do some thinking about how this will impact the souls of those who are going to be deeply hurt by it. Is it possible that there are going to be a lot more lost sheep entangled in the thicket who will be ready to hear an offer of hope if we were prepared to give it? It is a shame to hear us asking questions such as, "How should I respond if I have a neighbor who...?" and, "What do I say to someone who...?" These questions should have been imaginatively and evangelistically approached a long time ago.

Third - in the area of aging and death. Just a thought. Have you ever noticed how few professing believers actually prepare for how to represent Jesus Christ in the various stages of their lives? Have you noticed how many of us do everything possible to forestall death and are caught off-guard when it approaches? Have you observed how many are appalled at those who advocate assisted suicide and, yet, have no game plan for living for Christ in their own last hours if he allows them to be conscious?

Might it not be time to give some serious thought to planning for the inevitable while we do what we can to postpone it?

Autopsychoanalytical Paralysis

2011-06-30T03:28:00.000-07:00

"Why don't I pray like I ought?"
"Why don't I help others like I should?"
The questions can seem so right,
But they may be up to no good.

I call it autopsychoanalyitic paralysis: the Christian tendency to explain lack of action in terms of mysterious forces which keep him from being motivated to do what he should.

Auto - because it is a self-originating, self-centered, self-determining and self-perpetuating process. Why am I like this?

Psycho - because it thinks of the problem as a condition of the soul. Why am I like this?

Analytic - because it is exactly that, analysis. Why am I like this?

Paralysis - because its goal is not to achieve right action but, rather, to achieve a satisfactory self-motivation so the right action will happen naturally, like going to the refrigerator for a snack. Why am I like this?

Mind you, there is nothing wrong with searching for valid reasons why one does not pray or do something else he should. Fatigue, physical illness, bitterness toward God over some painful life issue, preoccupation with some hobby; there are many things which can derail us. These can be dealt with by making biblical choices. Autopsychoanalytic Paralysic, however, rises from the assumption that one must feel in order to do what should be done.

In the example of prayer. "Why do I not pray as I ought?" is a worthwhile question; but the question ought not to be a call to go on a quest for the motivation to pray. Having realized that we do not pray as we ought, our first course of action needs to be - to pray. Then, in the context of this act of faith, we may seek and correct our understanding of what prayer is and what specific things in our life sap the "feelings" we think should be involved.

The counsel of John the Baptist to the questions of his hearers in Luke 3:12-14 is instructive. When asked by publicans and soldiers what they should do, he did not say "Find out why you don't feel like you should do this or that." He gave them specific actions to take.

Don't feel like doing something you know a child of God should do? It is not at all trite to say, the first step is, in obedient faith, DO IT. You may do it poorly in your estimation. You may not feel like doing it. You may even resent doing it. Nevertheless, do it. It is not hypocritical to do what you do not feel like doing. It is hypocritical to say you feel like doing it when you don't. I have found freedom from time to time in being honest with God at the outset of prayer. Father, you know my heart. I do not feel like being here right now. But you want me to be here. So, here I am. I trust you. Then, in an atmosphere of honesty, I can talk to him instead of wallowing in autopsychoanalytical paralysis.

I have a guess as to why God wrapped up the New Testament when he did.

2011-06-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Inspiration involved not only the writing of the text but the time of the writing. About the time Jesus delivered his final letter to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, the second-generation "fathers" had begun to get down to "business." By that I mean, leaders of congregations in influential communities adopted a business meeting model for ministry. Policies and procedures not prescribed in Scripture became mandated by those who spoke on behalf of Scripture. Organization replaced community, government replaced relationship, membership replaced discipleship, liturgy became ministry, worship became an event, biblical people became icons, biblical places became shrines, reason replaced revelation, rhetoric overruled exhortation, fantasies became traditions and the church stole Israel's covenants - returning its people to an ongoing sacrificial system complete with priests who wielded the power to damn. Had any of those things weaseled their way into the New Testament text, sincere believers in Jesus Christ would find themselves living in irrationality with no truth base for escape.

Spurgeon helps us understand Jesus' yoke in Matthew 11:28-30

2011-06-28T03:31:00.000-07:00

From Spurgeon's devotional book, "Morning and Evening."

It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ.

He insinuates, ‘Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus.’ All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within.

But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that ‘Christ is all in all.’

Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to your hand with which you art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to your hope, but to Jesus, the source of your hope; look not to your faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith.

We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by ‘looking unto Jesus.’ Keep your eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon your mind; when you waken in the morning look to him; when you lie down at night look to him. Oh! Let not your hopes or fears come between you and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail you.

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness:

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

This, by the way, is the same hymn which contains the words we sang together at church two Sunday mornings ago.

His oath, his covenant, his blood

Support me in the whelming flood.

When all around my soul gives way,

He, then, is all my hope and stay.

The Gospel Neither Wins Nor Loses Political Contests

2011-06-26T04:03:00.000-07:00

Churches in the twenty-first century continue to distract themselves with the mistaken notion that they are on a preventative mission. The idea that we are to be a dike against evil has prompted us to link ourselves so tightly with political causes that we come away from victories thinking we have "made the community safe for Christianity" and we wallow in defeats as though we are watching "sin run rampant."

Believers in Jesus Christ are not on a reform-and-control assignment. The cause of Jesus Christ does not experience political victories or defeats. Rather, like the International Red Cross, we are sent into the fields of a pagan world to offer hope to the wounded who have discovered the darkness of their life. In Jesus' day the land was filled with prostitutes. He spent no time trying to eradicate the profession on a political level. His radar was on those who, lying devastated on the field, sought mercy and hope.

We must remember sin cannot be prevented. It can only be masked. Communities and countries may adopt sufficient principles from the biblical ethic to restrict certain sins and make life peaceful and profitable. When that happens acceptable sins (such as greed) remain untouched while the restricted sins ensnare human hearts in the closet where they go unacknowledged and unhelped. Hurting souls are deceived into believing their problem is the political restrictions which prevent them from being "who they are" and compel them to "act like Christians." Dangerously, the Gospel can be misunderstood as having to do with respectable standing in the community rather than the gift of forgiveness and acceptance before a Holy God. It is when "all hell breaks loose" and the closet doors are flung open that we are most apt to find those who recognize its damning impact on their lives and long for someone to help.

No, I am not suggesting we should throw laws to the wind. I am saying we who name the name of Christ should never think our efforts to promote and sustain moral values in a community are the same thing as doing what we were called to do. If we have the privilege of seeing good laws enacted and enforced we need to remember that there are souls trapped in the back alleys of restrained paganism who need to be offered hope for what they dare not openly acknowledge. If we must live in the chaos of unrestrained paganism we can, as did the early church, offer hope to the sin-sick soul who clearly sees the difference between the light of the child of God and the darkness of those who would keep him ensnared.

It is the sound of gunfire that sends Red Cross volunteers dashing to the field. Unlike the Red Cross, however, the Christian is not wanted on the field except by those who do not want to die in the sin which put them there.

Memorial Day Is Not Usually Observed on June 25th

2011-06-25T05:50:00.000-07:00

My wife and I have a Memorial Day tradition. Joined by my brother-in-law, we attend a band concert in downtown Cortland, NY, and then visit the various cemeteries where a growing number of our families have been buried. This year, due to the higher priority of a new granddaughter who demanded Judy's attention in Florida, we bumped the tradition a few weeks. Therefore, today, toward the end of June and without the added pleasure of the band concert, we will venture off on our grave task.

People have different opinions about this matter of making the circuit of cemeteries. The opinions rise from the different reasons people have for going. Let me explain why we do it.

For us the tradition could be called an Ebenezer Event. When Israel won a great victory in days long ago, the prophet Samuel called for the raising of an imposing monument to serve as a visual reminder to passers by. A reminder of the faithfulness of God. He called the place Ebenezer. The name carried the idea of, "Where we are today is because God has brought us here and that means we can have hope for the road ahead."

One by one we stand at the memorials of people we once knew personally. Here and there we study the inscribed names of people we did not know but whose existence led to our existence. We review what we remember of those we knew and what we heard about those we did not. In it all we remember that they represent the hand of God working through a labyrinth of circumstances and relationships to bring us into the world and to bring us where we are today. In the case of my wife and brother-in-law and me, a trust relationship with Christ puts coherent meaning to that fact.

Of the places we visit the cemetery in Coventry, New York, contains the most personally influential impact on me. That is where my grandfather Hamilton's parents are buried. There the Ebenezer dimension inserts itself most heavily. As I make my way to their marker I know the eerie sensation of walking through my old neighborhood. The people who once lived next door now have a date on either side of the dash on the face of their tombstone. Clifford and Eolian, Wendell and Mildred, and many others including the Sunday School teacher who nudged me into exposure to Gospel. There are even some who were part of the drama of my youth. Their presence reminds me that Ebenezer is not intended as a place to sit and wish for the old days. It is a place where I reflect most deeply about the choices of my life since those days. Regrets and rejoicings mingle, and are made holy by the gracious love and faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Then I deliberately look away. Fixing my eyes on the path back to the highway, I say to myself, "These next steps are the first steps of the rest of my life on my way to the Kingdom."

Welcome to a Different Approach to Adult / Child Relationships

2011-06-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

All around us are bookstores, downtown or downloadable, which offer counsel to adults regarding impact on the lives of youth. By and large this counsel is arranged in encyclopedic format with units and chapters neatly laying out the dissected innards of the subject to be studied and sketched with the hope the information can be transferred to and stuffed into the corpse of real life relationships.

May I present to you a different approach? An emerging series dealing with one major category of adult / youth relationships: the potential impact of a man bringing truly good things into the life of a boy. A series built around the immense possibilities of a father, a grandfather, a scoutmaster, a pastor or any of a host of men speaking good things into the lives of a youth who can affect generations to come.

The book is not a study guide or a reference manual. It is a story. That's right, a story. The story of Gerald MacLeigh and his quest to open his son's eyes to the world around him through the telling of a tale about a boy so much like him he mysteriously slips into the leading role. It is a fantasy which magically moves the boy between the real world and the world of his father's imagination. In so doing, it unfolds the larger story which interfaces with our world.

The lessons of character, values and relationship issues as well as many others are not neatly packaged. They interweave and undulate with no clearly defined point where the reader is told, "Now the take-away of all this is..." As a story it presents problems and solutions (some good, some not so good) in a flowing sequence which will prompt the reader to argue, worry, agree, disagree, laugh, cry, shake his head and, above all, think imaginatively about the life of the boys around him. As a story it can be read alone or (which I highly recommend) with a boy. Suppertime, quiet moments before bed, on a picnic in the woods: it can provide a chapter-at-a-time adventure of thought and a springboard for lively conversation.

As a person of faith in a trust relationship with Jesus Christ, I bring to the table six decades of life. Over five of those decades have been in a trust relationship with Jesus Christ with over forty years of that half-century have been involved in pastoral ministry. In spite of that the tone of the book is not preachy. In fact, because of my faith in Christ, there will be many occasions when warts on the face of the Christian community will be caricatured with the hope of generating some creative thought. Of course, that will mean occasional tension with readers who see the warts as beauty marks. Even then, though, the story will force the reader come to satisfactory answers for himself as to his personal perspective.

My ultimate vision is that any man will come away from the books with an imaginative vision of the value he could build into the boys in his life. Yes, it can also apply to his impact on the girls. I chose the man / boy relationship because my reading and observation expose this as a critical meltdown crisis in our culture, the fallout of which reaches into every nook and cranny of life.

It is also my dream that a vision will be caught for doing more than mentoring boys to live good, productive lives, have nice families and retire well. For any person who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ such a goal rings hollow. All around us are young men in varying stages of isolation, desolation and exploitation. Many are content with that. Some are not. In imitating Christ, our hearts should yearn to open the door of hope to any and all those who would be attracted to a new life with new relationships.

Beyond that, it should be our desire to encourage the boys in our lives to develop the heartbeat of outreach much earlier than we do. We hesitate because it involves risk. Many books on raising children are more concerned with protection than passion. The stories in this series address the issue of living in the world as lights. In so doing they call for a willingness to accept the risk rather than allow our youth to lie spiritually dormant until some nebulous moment in their junior year in high school when they are supposed to discover there are people whose lives need their touch. When we wait that long we run another risk. The risk of deadening hearts God wants us to stimulate. The risk of sending them into the world as babes in the woods with no real-life guards in place.

The first book of this series, When Men Bless Boys, is posted on line in its proof form. The first sequel, A Man's Guide to the Strangers of a Boy's Life, is presently being uploaded on a fairly regular basis every Friday. Both have room for reader comments. Those comments are welcome. Agreement is not promised, but the challenge to think should go both ways: writer-to-reader and reader-to-writer. Please keep in mind, my objective is not simply to present an entertaining narrative. I long to help any interested soul imaginate the truth of God into the vital relationship of a man and a boy.

Harold H. Comings

Burned Up Over Something? Grab the Spatula!

2011-06-23T03:05:00.000-07:00

In commenting on the half-baked Christian, using Hosea 7:8 as his platform, Spurgeon checks out a danger twenty-first century fundamentalists (and all the other Christian pancakes) should fear.

A cake not turned is soon burned on the side nearest the fire, and although no man can have too much religion, there are some who seem burned black with bigoted zeal for that part of truth which they have received, or are charred to a cinder with a vainglorious Pharisaic ostentation of those religious performances which suit their humor. The assumed appearance of superior sanctity frequently accompanies a total absence of all vital godliness. The saint in public is a devil in private. He deals in flour by day and in soot by night. The cake which is burned on one side, is dough on the other.
C. H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening, June 23-Morning

Self righteousness with regard to theological perceptions or ceremonial preferences. That about sums it up. The issue is not the holding of theological truths or ceremonial preferences. The issue is making an ash of oneself.

From the Forest to the Temple

2011-06-22T03:23:00.000-07:00

We as individuals are temples. Individually, our bodies are either the ruins of a temple to some pagan deity or the redeemed temple of the Holy Spirit. Some, as a group, are a specific Temple. Corporately, each who knows Christ as personal Lord and Savior and is known by Him, is part of a whole Temple in the making. C. H. Spurgeon in his Morning and Evening Devotions for June 22nd beautifully unfolds this matter of the Temple as it relates to the individuals making up that Temple.

As I read Spurgeon's thought this morning three features of that relationship caught my attention.

First - the Temple is not completed now. The completion will be when the last sinner who will received Christ does so and is taken into the Savior's presence.

Second - the path of our life on this planet as disciples of Christ is the process God uses to fit us for the place we will one day occupy in that Temple. Our focus sometimes becomes so individually oriented we forget there is something happening here that is bigger than you and me. In fact, I believe as we move farther down the path of life in Christ we ought to become less concerned about ourselves and more concerned about that bigger picture. We are, in fact, in transition. We are on a pilgrimage from being individual trees functioning in the ecology of the world to becoming uniquely fitted participants in the eternal destiny of Jesus' Temple. From the forest through the shop we eventually pass into the structure. Each individual's path with its sufferings and joys uniquely prepares him and her for that destiny. It is not a matter of purging us so we will be worthy. Worthiness was secured by Jesus in his justifying work on the cross. It is a matter of preparation for the role we will play in the eternal Temple adventure.1

Third - that process takes place here, in this life. Scripture knows nothing of a future grinding and sawing and hammering after we have left the shop. In fact, God makes a point of giving us an analogy in the Old Testament where all of the preparation of the stones and beams took place outside the Temple (1 Kings 6:7). One must go into the fantasy land of unchecked human logic and imagination to develop the idea of a transitional place where we must be purged of what Jesus has already purged. One must violate the spirit of the Gospel to concoct the notion that suffering is to pay an unsatisfied penalty for sin. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and to be present with the Lord is to be in the place he is preparing and to be in that place with him is gain.2

Ask God for the grace to lift your eyes unto the hills of the bigger picture of what he is doing in your life. It is not all about here and now any more than the sanding of a board is about creating a pile of sawdust. Wherever we are between the forest and the Temple we can willingly be there because "there" is not "There." It is on the way There.

Footnotes

1 I believe one of the reasons in old age we watch an erosion of our potential in this body is designed to show that the roles we played in this life, be they ever so good, were not the roles for which God ultimately has prepared us. The great humanitarian must step aside and allow others to do the work he did and maybe even do it better. He has not lost his reason for being. He has fulfilled the temporary place of service in a dead and dying world. Ahead of him lies the discovery of what he will be (1 John 3:1-3).

2 C. S. Lewis, in A Grief Observed, struggled with the question of transition after the death of his wife. He found it difficult to conceive of being able to just go from here to there without some kind of preparatory transitional process. Yet, in his book, The Last Battle, he sees no such difficulty for the Pevensie children when they are yanked from Narnia into the eternal land of Aslan. Lewis' problem is one of comprehension. As so often happens with such a problem, we spend time trying to figure out how to connect dots which God does not connect. When we do that we draw our own lines and the picture becomes messy. The problem of how we, still contaminated with sinful habituations, can suddenly find ourselves totally free from them and in the presence of absolute beauty is not that much different from the problem of how we can be given a resurrection body. These are problems of finite minds. They are not problems for the God of the humanly impossible.

An Improvement on "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep."

2011-06-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

I have long included this prayer by Robertson McQuilkin as a part of my evening meditation.

It’s sundown, Lord. The shadows of my life stretch back into the dimness of the years long spent. I fear not death, for that grim foe betrays himself at last, thrusting me into life: life with You, unsoiled and free. But I do fear. I fear the dark specter may come too soon or do I say too late? I fear that before I finish I might stain Your honor, shame Your name, grieve Your loving heart. Few, they tell me, finish well. Lord, let me get home before dark.

Will my life show the darkness of a spirit grown mean and small, fruit shriveled on the vine, bitter to the taste of my companions, a burden to be borne by those brave few who love me still? No. Lord, let the fruit grow lush and sweet, a joy to all who taste,a spirit-sign of God at work, stronger, fuller. Brighter at the end. Lord, let me get home before dark.

Will it be the darkness of tattered gifts, rust-locked, half-spent, or ill-spent, a life that once was used of God now set aside? Grief for glories gone or fretting for a task God never gave? Mourning in the hollow chambers of memory, gazing on the faded banners of victories long gone? Cannot I run well until the end? Lord, let me get home before dark.

The outer me decays I do not fret or ask reprieve. The ebbing strength but weans me from mother earth and grows me up for heaven. I do not cling to shadows cast by mortality. I do not patch the scaffold lent to build the real, eternal me. I do not clutch about me my cocoon, vainly struggling to hold hostage a free spirit pressing to be born.

But will I reach the gate in lingering pain, body distorted, grotesque? Or will it be a mind wandering untethered among light phantasies or grim terrors? Of Your grace, Father, I humbly ask let me get home before dark.

It's All Jesus' Fault

2011-06-20T03:49:00.000-07:00

Those were the words Rose Price heard while being beaten in a concentration camp in World War Two. "It's all Jesus' fault. Jesus told us to hit you. Jesus hates you."1 As I read them in Randy Alcorn's book, If God Is Good, I thought to myself of the number of prison guards who have stood in the dark cells of my mind in times of discouragement and said similar things. Perhaps you have heard them, too. "God is disappointed in you. God has given up on you. Jesus is enduring your presence. He is playing games with you." The lies of the Satan's sadistic hosts are legion. But, then, that's the nature of lies. Error can manifest itself in so many ways. The truth is: two plus two is four. Falsehood can say two plus two is any number of possibilities. Truth speaks simply the same thing and needs not to change. "Christ died for you."

1 If God Is Good. Randy Alcorn.

Good Things To Do vs. Good Works

2011-06-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

There are things which are good for us to do and there are good works. While it could be argued that good works are good things for us to do, my point is that good things for us to do are not the same as good works. For example: eating balanced, healthy meals is good for us to do, but it is not the same thing as giving food to the needy. Similarly, worship is a good thing for us to do, but it is not a good work. The act of individual worship or worship with a group can stimulate our spirits afresh with the grandeur of our God, but it is not to be confused with practicing the good works of love, patience, forgiveness and the like to the people in our lives.

This distinction is important because, if it is not maintained, we run into confusion with regard to our relationship with God. The Bible is clear, good works have to do with doing that which is beneficial to others. They in no way earn any kind of privilege with God. In fact, the best of our good works are contaminated by a host of detractors which rise from our naturally self-centered and rebellious heart. Privilege with God comes from faith in Jesus Christ and the work HE did on behalf of individuals who would confess themselves to be sinners who needed the payment he made through his death on the cross. It could be said, then, that receiving Jesus Christ by faith is a good thing to do, but it is not a good work.

When a person has received Christ, he discovers that he has been brought into God's family for the purpose of doing good works with a new heart. He has become a child of God for the purpose of extending his hand to others in a way that will cause them to respect his God. It is that extending of the hand which is a good work, and it is good not because it earns something for us (which it does not) but because it is good in and of itself.

Sin Ought to be a Four-Letter Word

2011-06-07T02:33:00.000-07:00

What a world of mischief sin brings into your heart!

Adapted from C. H. Spurgeon “Morning and Evening” thoughts on Psalm 97:10

Sin blinded you so you could not see the beauty of the Savior.
Sin made you deaf so you could not hear the Redeemer’s tender invitations.
Sin turned your feet into the way of death.
Sin poured poison into the very fountain of your being.
Sin tainted your heart, and made it ‘deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.’
Sin made you an heir of wrath even as others.
Sin made you ‘run with the multitude to do evil.’
Sin would have kept you lost had not omnipotent love interfered to redeem you.

Even now, as a child of God by faith...

Sin continually watches to do you hurt.
Sin spreads your path with thorns.
Sin plants nettles in your death pillow.

A Thought About The Art of Non-Communication

2011-06-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

Some people talk in chapters – long chapters. It is never polite to interrupt them because their continuous stream of consciousness, with all of its tributaries, is of utmost importance to them and, therefore (logically), to their audience. Contrary to what you might expect, though, don’t assume they will take turns and give you the same opportunity. Your input, if permitted, will serve more as an index reference to their next topic. In time you will learn to keep still rather than launch another several pages of thought. If, God forbid, you actually venture out on a paragraph of your own, brace yourself. They will pick up right where you didn’t realize they left off, oblivious to the fact they have just left more than your modifiers dangling. Then, as if this were not bad enough, you will discover to your mortification, when you actually have someone who willingly listens to YOU, the pent-up chapters in your own soul will transform you into the same kind of non-stop non-communicator.

When the Garden is Edged with Ugly

2011-05-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

Your flower bed is a hodge-podge of black and gray edged with ugly. The robin overhead is tone deaf. The sunshine creates dark, shapeless shadows beneath everything it touches. You have failed at something and are not worthy to see beauty. A loved one has died and you are convinced that enjoying anything they can no longer enjoy would be disrespectful. You face an unresolved crisis and cannot pull your thoughts from it until there is closure. Whatever the reason, you have accepted the thought that you do not have permission to find pleasure in life.

Donald McCullough, in his book, “The Consolations of Imperfection,” speaks of things he learned in the throes of a brutal personal crisis. One of those things was, “Life went on.” Ironically, it was the bleakness of the ordeal which eventually brought him to realize that the ordinary things of daily life were gifts (“great, undeserved, improbable blessings”) which had been in his life but had been missed while he sought life in other places.

I wonder if we have missed a subtle nuance in Jesus’ commands concerning anxiety. It is as though he takes us for a walk in the garden. “Look,” he says, pointing down. “See that flower?” Then, looking up, he studies the tree overhead. “Where’s that sparrow? Ah, there it is.” In each case he takes our thoughts beyond the begonia and the bird in order to underscore God’s relentless care for us. Maybe our failure to catch Jesus’ use of ordinary beauty explains why worship events are less likely to build a quiet moment around the “old” words:

“I come to the garden alone,

While the dew is still on the roses;

And the voice I hear, falling on my ear;

The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me,

And He talks with me,

And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.”

The fact is, we have been given permission to appreciate the fact that life goes on in spite of our failures, our losses or our crises. But it is more than permission. Those of us in a trust/love relationship with Jesus Christ and his work of redemption have been given reason and authority to allow God’s Spirit to bring color to the garden, melody to the robin and brilliance to the sunlight.

The deciding factor lies not in saying, “Okay, I’m going to see color and hear chirping.” It lies in the words, “He tells me I am His own.” Just as loss of the joy of the moment rises from something we perceive greater than the moment, restoration of the joy of the moment descends from the love of the One we perceive to be the creator of the moment.

Take time to refresh your memory with the awesome nature of Almighty God. Take time to reaffirm your faith in the clear promises given to you through his redeeming Son. Then look at the garden in light of his caring permission. There is more to God than “He loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” He is glad you are alive and he has given you permission to see love tokens strewn all around you no matter what the circumstances of your life.

Salt Lake Valley Facing Flooding

2011-04-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

Jamie Allen, a friend of our family - formerly in New York State, recently transferred to Utah - asked us to pray about an impending problem. He writes...

Can you guys share some prayers for the salt lake valley? We are expecting some crazy flooding once the snow pack starts melting. This is the most snow we've had since 1983 when State St flooded. There is a 202" snow base at Alta and 190" at Snowbird. Overall sum so far is 700" at Alta this year. Add in to all of that the fact we had a wet fall and spring. All that snow will also be our drinking water. There's already been some flooding in north salt lake.

When God Shows Up

2011-04-24T02:49:00.000-07:00

It was John Lennon, I believe, who said something like this: "Life is what happens while we're making other plans."

A reflective John Mark, centuries earlier, described this for us when he wrote, "Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus' body."

While they made their plans, acting on the best information they had at the moment, God was up to something and, in the morning, a young man in white met them at the tomb and told them the spices wouldn't be needed.

One of the things to learn from Jesus' resurrection is that it's alright to do things today which will turn out to be unnecessary tomorrow. We have to act on what we know at the moment. That's called "responsibility" and "faithfulness." Some, with hindsight, might say the women should have remembered what Jesus said about his resurrection. Hindsight forgets the murky days of limited foresight. In fact, God seems to allow that murkiness in order to highlight his unimagined creativity. As believers in the Savior of surprises, we should do what we can when we can with what we can and, in the process, have the peace of mind that he may choose to set aside all our efforts and accomplish something unexpected in a way that leaves us blinking and slack-jawed.

In other words, God shows up while we're doing what we can.

Mixed Emotions On the Best of All Mornings

2011-04-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend handed me a printout of an Easter morning letter I sent to our church family ten years ago. They thought it would be worth repeating. Who am I to contradict? :-) So, with some modification because I'm sending it out on Saturday evening instead of Sunday morning, here is an upgraded replay of what I said back then.

Officially, by Hebraic time, the first day of the week has begun. Although we think of Jesus' resurrection happening around daybreak, it could have happened at any time after sunset on Saturday. It was at daybreak when the deed was discovered. So, as I sit in my cellar office with no view of the sky in any direction, I ponder, as I often do, how different people responded to the first resurrection day.

The soldiers - They feared for their lives. They could have been indicted for "falling asleep" on duty. After all, what court is going to accept their story of angels and bright lights?

The Pharisees - They received the news of Jesus' resurrection with anything but joy or repentance. Interestingly, they did not disbelieve the soldiers' account. Instead, they deliberately sought to subvert the evidence and suppress the tale. For them the issue was not truth but spin.

The people in general - Other than banter about the previous day's eerie events, the local shop owners most likely got their wares ready for the usual business on the first work day of the week. No one knew about that the man on the middle cross had just split history in two. Life went on as usual.

Thomas - Ever the pragmatist, it would take a long time before the reality of the evens of this day entered his heart. He believed only after seeing. To those like him today, Jesus says, "Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed." As I thought of Thomas, I wondered how many of us as twenty-first century disciples are so caught up in a spiritual cynicism that we, ourselves, no longer believe in the supernatural? Or, worse yet, do we no longer believe in the living, supernatural power of Christ's resurrection in our lives?

Peter - Ah, Peter! What should have been awesome news was darkened by the memory of his denial of Jesus. We are not told about the weather that day. In Cortland it will probably be a mix of rain and sun. For Peter, though, there was no mix. Thick clouds of failure chilled his soul. He had no grasp of the unconditional love and blood-bought forgiveness Jesus was bringing to him. As I thought of Peter, I remembered times when Easter has been beclouded by some unfaithfulness on my part. Then I prayed for others who, today, may be feeling on the fringe and unworthy to enter the celebration.

Then there was Mary Magdalene - Seeing Jesus she simply fell at His feet and, with the innocent exuberance of a clean heart, she reached to embrace Him. Oh, may we, like her, be so open to HIm that we can enjoy the message of this day to its fullest and its deepest.

May God speak good things to you as we celebrate Jesus' resurrection. May God convince your soul that, because He lives we can live as well.

The Eight Dying Words of Jesus

2011-04-22T02:38:00.000-07:00

We generally speak of the seven last words of Christ on the cross. However, there were, in fact, eight recorded times when Jesus spoke between his dismissal by Pilate to be crucified and his dismissal of his own spirit into the hands of the Father.

May this brief sketch serve you devotionally in your Good Friday reflections.

Luke 23:26-31

Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?

These are the final words of Jesus as the rejected King.
They are spoken to a bevy of weeping women along the way as he trudges the agonizing path to Calvary.
The foreshadowing of his prophecy would take place in less than forty years in the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.
The fulfillment of the prophecy will unfold when Jesus himself returns as the rightful King.

Luke 23:32-34

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.

The first words of Jesus in his role as sacrificial lamb.
Forgiveness made available to those hurling insults at him in his suffering and, from that point forward, to the rest of us whose sins put him there.
Rembrandt, in his painting of Jesus' cross being hoisted into place, included himself among those perpetrating the crime and, thus, in need of the salvation Jesus offers in his death and resurrection.

Luke 23:35-43

Truly, I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise

The first words of saving grace given to the first repentant sinner under the banner of Jesus redemptive death.
Spoken to a dying criminal who only moments earlier had been hurling the same insults at Jesus as the mocking crowd who surrounded them.
The first name in the family tree of those who would trust the crucified Christ is not recorded. He stands for all of us who have cried out to be remembered in grace before the throne of God.

John 19:25-27

Woman, behold your son.

Behold your mother.

Redemption is not a mystical aestheticism divorcing the man or woman of faith from the responsibilities of the home.
The New Testament speaks often and eloquently about the home as the first place where faith should be evident, not the last.
Even in his death, Jesus accepted his role as the elder brother and cared for the well being of his widowed mother.
From this point on there is no recorded communication between Jesus and Mary. The writers of the early church indicate that John did, indeed, care for her. Some have suggested that Luke's intimate knowledge of Jesus' birth may have been made available to him by God through his contact with Mary when she was with John in Ephesus.

Matthew 27:45-49

MY GOD! MY GOD! WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!

A scream of despair.
The cry of abandonment uttered in an unnaturally darkened afternoon on an arid hill outside Jerusalem.
We who were made to represent God in the character and conduct of our lives, have chosen, rather, to represent ourselves and, thus, have consigned ourselves to the oblivion of rubbish (Romans 3:23, 26).
But what is this? Jesus, God's Son, becomes the discarded soul cast into the lonely torment of Gehenna (Hell) in our place, bearing the separation from God which we deserve.

John 19:28-29

I'm thirsty.

The hellish ordeal is past.
Jesus has experienced it to the last drop.
He may now accept the numbing anesthetic of the sour wine.

John 19:30

It is finished.

Not, "It is partially finished."
Not, "It is finished until my church creates some elaborate way of re-enacting it over and over."
It is FINISHED. The once-for-all redeeming, justifying, sanctifying, glorifying work of Jesus is done and made available to any and all who, like the dying thief, will look to him in faith (Romans 5:1, 8; 8:28-39)
Nothing more remains to be done but for those who trust him to proclaim the good news to other sinners in need of what He did.

Luke 23:46

FATHER! INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT

The two loudest cries from the cross are directed to God. The first, a scream of despair to God as judge. The second, a shout of confidence to God as Father.
While these words may be embraced by us at the time of our own death, there is something unique about them here. One gets the idea that Jesus is releasing his spirit, not simply yielding to death.
Are we to understand that at any time Jesus could have done this and moved away from the awful horror of that afternoon?
Are we to understand that every grain of sand in the hourglass of every home that day was felt by Jesus as he deliberately kept himself alive in order to experience the judgment of our death?
It is often said that dying people "hang on" until a particular loved one arrives. In Jesus case, he "hung on" until every sin of every soul who would receive him was thoroughly remitted by the very last drop of his blood.

If you have not yet believed that what Jesus did on that cross he did for you, I and all of us who have come to faith in Christ urge you to look to him as one who needs what he did to bring you to peace with God.

The question of wonder - For me, oh God?

The expression of desire - Lord Jesus, I trust you to be my sin-bearer.

The discovery of joy - For me, my Father!

Who Are You In The Movies?

2011-04-20T06:07:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've been asked to take a quiz to determine who I am in this or that particular movie (most of which I haven't seen in the first place). PLEASE, don't take this as an invitation to send me some!!! I don't do the quizzes.

Just recently, however, I've pretty much discovered who I am in that old classic, "It's A Wonderful Life." With the discovery I've figured out why I'm not especially fond of the movie in my later years. So, maybe someday I'll put together a playlette featuring and, hopefully, bringing some dimension to my character ... if I remember. :-)

I Can't Pronounce His Name But I Can Applaud His Character

2011-04-18T03:15:00.000-07:00

As I staggered out to my café-com-leite maker this morning I found a magazine conspicuously placed in front of it. My wife, a Binghamton University graduate, wanted me to be sure to see an article entitled “Advantage, Sven.”

Wow! An athlete with character!

Katherine Karlson highlights Sven Vloedgraven as a “nationally ranked tennis player,” and quotes Binghamton’s head coach for men’s tennis assessment of his college career as, “back-to-back championships in a region that has almost 40 different schools in it.”

Four things stood out as I read the article.

He is focused. Karlson quotes him – “A busy schedule keeps me on top of things, so I use my time well. I don’t have a TV.”

He is competitive and considerate. He has been called “the fairest competitor” who “constantly gives away his line calls, as well as applauds his opponent’s success.” Nevertheless, he is “a tiger between the white lines,” making his opponents “earn every point.”

He is, as a tennis player, an example of what I understand as a man of noble character. As one Columbia University competitor put it, “He’s also a terrific role model who is nice both on and off court.

He is others oriented. Although a singles player, Sven Vloedgraven is very much a part of the University’s team of eight players all from different countries. Their team is described as “a tight knot of friends who also relax by hanging out together.” Concerning the team relationship, Sven says, “Team victories are always more special than individual victories because you can celebrate together.”

I strongly urge you to read this article. I know nothing of where the young man is in terms of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, but the impression he makes on others as an athlete is worth a long, hard look.

You can check out his career biography here.

Sarina Said No One Would Pass This On

2011-04-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

(I don't do a lot of re-posting. But when my friend put this on FaceBook with the challenge to pass it on... well... here it is.)

A 15 year old girl holds her 1 year old son; people call her a slut. But no one knows she was raped at 13. People call a girl fat; no one knows she has a serious disease that causes her to be overweight. People call an old man ugly; no one knows he had a serious injury to his face while serving our country in Vietnam. Repost this if you're against bullying and stereotyping!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIEL

2011-04-14T03:30:00.000-07:00

Good Morning, Daniel,

Of our four sons, YOU are our favorite third-born. And today you are...well...considerably older than you were when you were born that morning in Clarion, PA.

Thanks for the memories over the years. The little fellow dashing into the house in Limestone, shouting "Boon in the dye! Boon in the dye!" in response to the thrill of watching a hot-air balloon approach over the nearby camp park. The fellow who could keep a straight face when everyone else was laughing or make up all kinds of faces when someone else was trying to be serious. The fellow who gave me the opportunity to get up early in the morning in Tuscarora to make breakfast in the woods for you and your friends as you prepared to go turkey hunting. The fellow who could make a puppet come alive and who much preferred to let his kid brother be the man in front. The fellow we put on a train in Harrisburg, PA, to visit a bible school in Florida -

A bible school where you would get training for ministry and meet a beautiful young lady;
Florida, where you would settle down to become an associate pastor and from where, among other things, you would lead people to consider fields of service in various parts of the world.

Thanks for the memories.

And, thanks for the prospects as we look forward to what God is going to do through you and Emily and, soon-to-arrive, little Rosalie. God has given us four sons. Each is remarkable in his own right and brings joy to Mom's heart and mine. All four of you, although many miles apart and engaged in different careers and holding different perspectives on various thoughts, seem to have the quality of a team. I could write a similar tribute to each man, but today is YOUR birthday and it just seemed like the thing to do this time around.

Proud of you.

Keep on keeping on.

Love, Dad

A MISSIONARY NEED

2011-03-25T08:19:00.000-07:00

Andrew & Itacyara Comings

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Dear Friends,

The time of our return to Brazil approaches. God has been very gracious to us, in that we have recovered the support that was lost during our first term.

However...

We are still $920 short of our support level. (For an explanation of our current support level and the reasons for the increase, please click here.) We understand that it will be very difficult (but not impossible) for the entire $920 to be raised before April 18. Yet we do need to make a serious dent in that figure if we are to be able to function in Brazil during our second term.

To further complicate matters...

Itacyara needs to return to Brazil on the 18th of April due to restrictions on her visa.

Therefore...

As it stands now, if in the next month we do not see a significant increase in our committed support, I (Andrew) am going to have to remain behind for a couple months of meetings in churches (kind of a mini-deputation) while my family returns to Brazil.

For this reason...

We are asking that you, the people most interested in this ministry, lift us up in prayer. Pray that God will raise up new churches and individuals to partner with us in our work in Brazil, and pray that current supporting churches and individuals would find it in their hearts (and budgets) to increase their investment in what God is doing there.

The Good News Is...

Last week the Dryden Baptist Church of Dryden, NY added us to their missionary family. This brings us up to 81.2% of our needed support. We are trusting God to continue to provide, as He has always done.

Please do not interpret this appeal as a lack of gratefulness for the unspeakable generosity many of you show to us on a consistent basis. Rather, we are pouring out our hearts so that you, the ones who invest the most in our ministry, are aware of the full extent of our situation.

We are confident that you will join with us in prayer, and that we will be able to write soon and share what God has done.

If you have any questions about our current support level, or how you can participate, please don't hesitate to respond to this e-maill, or to call me at (863) 272 2279.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINE SWEET

2011-03-23T03:47:00.000-07:00

I didn't know you when you were a child and cute.

For that, though sad, I shed no tears.

I met you when you were grown and beautiful

A beauty you've carried with quiet dignity through years.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVE... MY WIFE

THE LADY OF MY LIFE

Update on The Little Boy and the Houseboat

2011-03-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

The Little Boy and the Houseboat - not totally adrift

http://t.co/eT2jGnU

When all you can see in your life is failure...

2011-03-19T05:07:00.000-07:00

I decided it was time to read "The Consolations of Imperfection" by Donald McCullough.Too long it had peeked out at me from my "to read" pile, beckoning me to look for consolations for my own "inventory of failures." The first limitation with which the book confronted me was my memory. Underlined sections throughout bore testimony to the fact I had already read the book! Nevertheless, I decided it needed to be re-read.

For those who would like a forthright review, I recommend Evelyn Bence's contribution. As for me, my whole point in mentioning it is to draw attention to two salient quotes in the first chapter.

McCullough writes, "As a philosophy, 'the power of positive thinking' isn't so much wrong as incomplete. It doesn't tell the whole story. What it fails to mention is that some limitations will not allow passage, no matter how firm one's resolve."

What especially struck me, in his development of the theme of facing imperfection, was a pair of quotes from a character in a Walker Percy novel.

Is it possible for people to miss their lives in the same way one misses a plane?

Not once in his entire life had he allowed himself to come to rest in the quiet center of himself but had forever cast himself forward from some dark past he could not remember to a future that did not exist. Not once had he been present for his life. So his life had passed like a dream.

What a statement! Not once had he been present for his life. Is that not what Jesus warns against when he says, "Don't be anxious about tomorrow"? And is He not speaking about the danger of letting the tormenting awareness of our limitations (including our failures) keep us from being present for our life today?

Yep, this book definitely is going to be read again.

Some Dreams Must Die

2011-03-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

Dreams can motivate to great achievements or distract from necessary responsibilities. Knowing the balance is not easy.

Some dreams must die. To dream of playing Chopin at Carnegie Hall is not productive for a person in their sixties who has not yet mastered Chopsticks. The mind would be better occupied with other thoughts.

Paul, the great dreamer, realized that the majority of us need to be told to "make it [our] ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to [our] own business and work with [our] hands, so [we] will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need." Belle, in Disney's version of "Beauty and the Beast" resents the provincial life even as she passes by the people who help supply her daily bread and benefits from the man who maintains the library.

I suppose it could be said that achievable dreams actually rise from the willingness to accept provincial tasks. The abilities gained on that provincial level provide credentials that open doors to dreams. Moses kept sheep before he liberated a nation. However, it needs to be remembered, many who dreamed of liberating nations remained with the flocks. When others see a shepherd boy, God may see a shepherd boy, too.

As with the death of the body, dreams do not always die easily or quickly; and when they have died, their memory can still haunt the soul and bring a tear. In the dying process one hopes against hope for a cure, a sudden, surprising rally and renewal of health. In the wake of the actual death, one struggles for a time to adjust to life without the friend which had accompanied him and lightened the dreariness of the days. He must learn to let new friendships come alongside. They will not be the same and they might even seem less satisfying than the fulfillment of the dream would have been, but they are good and can help the sun to rise again in the real world.

As one gets older, funerals multiply. It is sometimes not easy to know which is the most difficult, the funeral of a friend or the funeral of a dream. When a friend dies there is formal closure at the cemetery. When a dream dies...it just hovers somewhere and, before you know it, you've walked right into it again. Yet, maybe there really is not a difference. Maybe their never really is closure in either case.

The dream that has died was not without its impact any more than the friend who has died. The dream touched the dreamer and, if it was a good dream, it probably affected in good ways his relationships with others, ways which live on even without the dream. In fact, the dream itself may have passed from his heart to the hearts of some who knew him and whom God qualified to experience its achievement in ways he could not. When one stumbles into the unburied memory of the dream (or the friend), it would be healthy to shed the tear and then thank God for the benefits of the time together rather than nurse the sadness over the time apart.

The Worthy Opener

2011-03-05T03:35:00.000-08:00

Jesus is the worthy opener. Not only is he the only one worthy to break the seals of the scroll of judgment in the fifth chapter of Revelation, he is the only one worthy to crack the heart, open the ear and bring light to the eye of the unbelieving soul.

The best of our efforts as soul-openers are defiled and render us unworthy. Yet, the most faltering, even accidental effort can be used by Jesus because he is absolutely worthy. We do what he wants us to do because, to the best of our understanding, he, whom we love so imperfectly, wants us to do it. We do not do it to congratulate ourselves on our perfection, to merit any kind of worthiness to compel Jesus to act or to guarantee any kind of response in others.

I say, “to the best of our understanding,” because, as years and lessons-learned accumulate, we realize things we understood well a decade ago were not quite as well understood as we thought. Even in what we think to be well done today there is a good deal of ignorance. Jesus alone is the constant and constantly right one who is rightfully worthy to open what needs to be opened. As we grasp this truth, our own eyes open to a greater admiration for and reliance on him, an admiration and reliance which will relieve us of crippling self-consciousness and put a new song in our heart: “You alone are worthy.”

The Perfect Kid

2011-03-02T09:09:00.000-08:00

Jesus is perfect. We will one day be like him. We are to be growing more like him now. Is that exciting or scary or ambiguous?

Perfection is a difficult reality to embrace. This may explain why it is difficult for anyone to portray Jesus in real life. After all, what does "perfect" look like? Have you ever noticed that people who aim at perfection often slip into perfectionism and become very difficult to live with?

Imagine with me what it would be like to have the perfect a perfect brother or sister, a perfect roommate at college, a perfect spouse. John Everett Mallais' 1849 painting of Jesus in the carpenter shop says it all in the expression of the boy on the right. I would appreciate your input as you look at the painting and ponder perfection

Who might the boy be (the one on the right)?

How would you describe his expression?

Does this have any relationship to our view of perfection?

What other relationship dynamics do you see?

How might we paint the picture differently to reflect a more authentic understanding?

Aloysius And Winter In New York

2011-02-23T05:40:00.000-08:00

Years ago a good friend of mine interacted with a group which included Aloysius Underdunk (not his real name). Aloysius was a nuisance. He asked irrelevant questions, came up with bizarre ideas and, generally, irritated everyone in the group. Predictably he became the topic of behind-the-scenes "Aloysius jokes." You know the kind. His approach prompted rolled eyes and groans. His arrival generated forced welcomes. People not a part of this particular group frequently expressed how grateful they were to be free of his presence. This continued until one day an absurd idea was suggested. "Let's have a be-good-to-Aloysius week."

No, I never found out who came up with the idea. If he or she went into sales their name has probably been mentioned in Fortune 500. Somehow they managed to persuade the rest of the group to sign on. What happened after that surprised everyone. Good things began to emerge in Aloysius' character. Occasionally he came up with good ideas. The members of his group found themselves anticipating his arrival so they could implement some new "be good to Aloysius" strategy. No, he never became presidential candidate material, but he and the other members of his group discovered a capacity for camaraderie they had not known before.

What does this have to do with winter in New York? Surely you've guessed. While I have and will again enjoy some eye-rolling moments about this odd player in our geographical story, it occurs to me it would be good to take a little time when it's at its least enjoyable point (beginning shortly after Christmas) to launch a be-nice-to-winter week. No, it will not change the character of the season. It might, however, change something inside those of us who rub shoulders with it long after we would prefer to do so.

Positive contributions are welcome either here or on Facebook or Twitter. I will include some of my own thoughts from time to time as well. It will be interesting to see what kind of a list can be compiled and what the exercise might do for our spirits.

Please join in the experiment and, yes, take time to go back and enjoy a chuckle with a look at the "Central New York Gothic" post. :-)

Central New York Gothic

2011-02-22T05:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to A Quiet Strength for the Idea for this Classic bit of Nonsense.

Don't You Just Love Cousins Who Live In The South

2011-02-21T06:37:00.000-08:00

I have always thought very highly of my cousin Pat. To me he embodies so much that is good in the Comings side of my family. Even as a youngster I thought it would be great to be like him. Failing that, I have settled on simply enjoying the fact that he's my cousin. THEN TODAY...he sent THIS...

And it happened to arrive on the day when things here in Cortland looked like THIS... The view outside my office window.

Nevertheless, I STILL look up to him and admire him.
:-)