By What Authority?

"By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"

- Matthew 21

There came a time when the Scribes and Pharisees began to put Jesus on the spot. They would throw the Law at Him and trip Him up in some logical challenge.

Notice that when the question of authority came up, Jesus referred to John the Baptist. The simple message of water, to save us, was embraced by the sinners of the community. Now I want you to think of something . . .

Do you know somebody that maybe rarely attends Church. Maybe they hit the car. Perhaps the person has been married several times. Maybe the person has few friends. The main point, is that the person has a shaky reputation.

But if you think deep, can you imagine Jesus Christ Himself entering Dexter, maybe during Memorial Day, and walking among us. Think about who would drop everything they're doing, to follow Him.

I believe that many of those people would be the ones I described above. Some professing Christians might see Him. They may even realize that it is THE Christ. But they will not follow Him.
But you look around, and see that some of the community's most unliked, or unrespected people. are right there with Him. When He leaves town, they are right there on His heals.

I know a few people like that. One of them likes the bars. She has had many, many "boyfriends." She rarely goes to Church. Yet I told her once: "I'll bet if Jesus walked in here right now you'd be the first to fall on your knees." Now interestingly, this person acted as though I had just paid her a compliment. Interesting . . .

Those that seem the farthest away are perhaps the first to recognize real authority. And as you go through the New Testament, there are so many accounts of Christ dealing with sinners, or dealing with His authority, and water is brought in as an object lesson of His saving grace, and of His authority. And it makes sense, because water has been the main thing, since the beginning.

There's a saying: the person in a relationship that cares the least, has the most power.

In the Kingdom of God - the person that controls water has the Authority.

Not Your Interests: A Hard Lesson!

Let each of you look not to your own interests, 
but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus . . .

God Made water the fundamental saving element for us.

Why, because we die!

And . . . we are 57-60% water. We're basically water. And the initial state of the earth, was that it was covered with water. The climactic patterns that drive everything basically have to do with getting water to cycle efficiently throughout the earth.

We receive the water in baptism. This makes us Christ's.

But that's not all! There is still a role we must play. Now . . .

Our belief is ALL that saves us. And God uses water to seal us.

But if we are Christ's, then we have put Him in authority. We need a new attitude. We have the Law and the prophets. We have the Golden Rule. But I love this statement from Paul:

Look to the interests of others . . . not your own!

Wow!!!!

But this is the mind of Christ.

I wonder how many of the world's problems could be solved just by serving others . . . a little bit more? We know that it is impossibly for humans to do this. But in God all things are possible.

I think we could put government relief programs out of work, simply by serving others a little more.

THIS is how a Just God Can Allow It

Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is unfair." Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? 

When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; 
for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness 
they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. 

Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, 
they shall surely live; they shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, "The way of the Lord is unfair." 

O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?

 - Ezekiel 18

The book of Ezekiel is full of treasures, nuggets, really, of little statements, or commentary, the wrap up the Old Testament. I have found innumerable answers to vexing questions, like for instance, when people in modern times make fun of people that live according to God's word. They say: "Then why do you eat shellfish?" "Why do you drink wine, since it is forbidden in the Old Testament?" And usually they bring this up in mockery, and have a good laugh.

The answer to that is also in the Old Testament, in Ezekiel 20:25:

So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live.

Ezekiel is your place to connect the loose ends of the Old Testament. And right here, in today's readying from Chapter 18, an absolutely eloquent and biting charge from the Lord God Himself, Who by now seems quite fed up with Israel's complaints!

Is it not YOUR ways that are unfair?

Water is a destructive force as well as a life-giving element. But when it comes to the end of the wicked (which means, really all of us, for we all die), the penalty is death. Hear again what the Lord says.

For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord GOD. 
Turn, then, and live.

He gave us the choice. Very simple. Just do well. Do right. Live according to the Law. Treat others better than yourself. Serve others. Build one another up. Do not gossip.

And He told us that the penalty was death. We do not get to appeal His ruling! So I would think we would take it all quite seriously! And so . . . even as the water in the spring restores life to the fields and gardens, even so does water from God, restore us. This is the way out. Water saves. And we know we need saving, because we die.

Ah but yes, David puts it so well, in the Psalms:

Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; 
remember me according to your love
and for the sake of your goodness, O LORD. (Psalm 25:6)

I love how this was inserted in - the implication that God knows we are immature, and probably can't help it.

Water - The Saving Element

because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

 - Exodus 17

In the past five years, I have had two experiences with dehydration. Once when I had gotten out on a sunny morning and began working, with only a couple cups of coffee in me. The other was a cool crisp fall morning, during a jog. The effects of dehydration are devastating, and subtle. It creeps up on your, and you think there is something else wrong. Water is so important to us.

The fundamental element in our salvation, is water. We are comprised of, oh I don't know, mostly water, I believe.

Moses' staff was used, perhaps most frequently, in the command of the element, water. Now . . . I have heard that the practice of  locating wells, using an ordinary stick, actually works. You know, the wives tale of some old codger taking a piece of branch from a tree, holding it a certain way, and he could actually locate an underground source of water. Now I don't know if that's true or not, although Jim Kaercher assures me there's something to it.

But I find it interesting that Moses used a piece of wood, and could command water. In the end it's God's authority making it all happen, but He often gives us tools. Our faith activates the power of God, but the tool remains. And so the Hebrews, when they had been out in the wilderness for a period of time, began to demand water. And the whole point was: if God can just get us some water, we'll know that He is on our side.

And that's it. Now . . . I don't know why we want to emphasize the whining, and complaining, of God's people . . . unless it's to give us something to relate to! Because we all have done that!! Just give us some water!! And if God can do that, out in some desert, then for now anyway, we'll continue to believe in God.

So Moses puts his staff to work, taps it on some rock, and out came water. And we see that water is not only God's saving element, but it is also a sign of His authority.

Water plays a part in the litany of God's power, in som many of the Psalms. In 78, verse 16: 16:

He brought streams out of the cliff, 
and the waters gushed out like rivers.

So the Old Testament sets up the case for water. Water from dryness. Water when we are the most desperate. Water as proof that God is on our side, and that He is in control.

Something to Think About

Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 

 - Matthew 16

The idea of living in the Spirit is, I believe, a lot different than what we have been told, or taught. People that are "in the spirit," make a lot of show with it. They give you lots of visuals - hands waving, dancing, smiling, crying. And there's nothing wrong with all that.

An interesting observation someone made to me once, and I had to think about it and even check it out for myself, was that the people that are the most demonstrative in their worship expressions, tend to be the people most likely to be stand offish, judgmental, angry, patronizing. Now far be it from me to make a sweeping statement like that. But I think the point is, if you're going to make a show of your faith, then make doubly sure that people do not also observe you being gossipy, judgmental, haughty.

Christ says that the way of flesh and blood is the opposite of the way of the Father. The Spirit of God, the godly life, is not to be evidenced by shows common to the works of the flesh. The flesh makes a show of it. It is based on hearing, touching, seeing, feeling . . . even tasting and smelling. You know - the human senses. 

But with God, is all about what you can't see. And we can't see what goes on inside the mind. When Peter knew that Jesus was the Son of God, it was something he had to put his intellect into. Yes, he was touched by God's spirit. Yes, he felt something stir within him. Like John Wesley, he might have felt a "strange warmth" in his chest. I have experienced that tugging on your heart, when you feel as though a power outside yourself is pushing you forward.

But the will of God, and our worship of Him, is activated also, willfully, in our minds. 

So - - - while it is essential that we show our faith in acts of love, and in service to one another, and in the pursuit of justice and peace; still, as we think it through, and weigh the evidence, and discuss it with others; as we get away from our feelings (which can be massaged in a rock concert as easily as they can in a worship service), let us enter into the throne of grace, where our minds and eyes behold the God of the Universe. 

The Perfect Will of God

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-- what is good and acceptable and perfect.

 - Romans 12

A lot is made, in our times, of an emotional type of worship. We have a "feel-good" gospel. It is exciting, but has shallow roots.

In the Star Trek franchise, there is a character that has captured the imagination of the American pop culture, for almost half a century now. It is the Vulcan, Mr. Spock.

Spock's native race places a high premium on acting and behaving according to logic, and not emotions. They tame their feelings. They do not act on impulse, or instinct. If it feels good, they do not necessarily do it. And fact, if it has anything at all to do with feelings, they don't do it at all.

And this quality transfixes us as humans. There's something about controlling ourselves that appeals to us on a fundamental level. We are drawn to it, because we see it as the impossible proposition that it is.

Yet, when Spock dies in the Motion Picture, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, he is eulogized by his best friend, Captain Kirk. Kirk says, hesitatingly, almost embarrassingly, of his friend and spiritual brother: "Of my friend, I can only say this: Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most . . . human.

There is something about being human, and fully logical, that draws us. We want to be in control. We would give up so much, perhaps even our ability to laugh, if we could control our anger, our hate, and our instinctive drives.

There is something to the human will, that God expects us to tame. There is something uniquely compassionate and loving, in a person that is fully logical. Imagine really, only, saying, "yes" or "no," when that is all that is required? Imagine only talking when there is something valuable to say. Imagine avoiding saying anything that could be misinterpreted by someone else. Logic dictates that you hold your tongue, and control your emotions.

God talks about transforming our minds. Why? Because the world is passionate and hunger-driven. The world thinks only of itself. It takes an act of your will, to truly love someone else. Because real love is willful and deliberate.

Out of the taming of our own will, comes adherence to the will of God. And not just any will of God - the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.

Just Listen, or . . . Hear

All the kings of the earth will praise you, O LORD, when they have heard the words of your mouth.

 - Psalm 138

Have you ever heard something like this:

"Woe unto them that listen, but do not hear."

or how about . . . 

"Woe unto them that hear, but do not listen."

And I've always wondered, which is it? And do the two statements mean something different?

But the point is . . . it's one thing to listen to, or hear, another person. But's a far different thing to hear, or listen to them. It depends on the meaning. And we know what is meant.

When I say "listen to," I have added the directional word "to," at the end of the verb "listen," which implies movement, action, with an object. 

But if I say "have heard," as in, "when they have heard the words of your mouth," we are using the perfect form. "Have heard" means that it has been done, to completion. 

Obviously, the Kings of earth have not heard the words from the Lord's mouth, for they have not started praising Him yet. And aren't the rulers of earth the real problem? They don't mind their own business. They don't trust the people. They can't handle power. They wage war, levy taxes, conscript armies, charge and prosecute criminals.

Behind the Psalm, is a promise. All the kings of the earth will praise You, O Lord.

Look Up, Look Down

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath;

- Isaiah 51

In the midst of Israel's troubles . . . during a time of decline of the Kingdom . . . 

But let's stop right there and muse on a few things.

I just mentioned the decline of Israel, and by extension, of Judah. To the people of Israel at the time, it all seemed so sudden. There was freedom from Egypt, the wandering in the desert, the settling of the Promised Land, the defending and expansion of borders, the establishment of a Kingdom, the growth of prosperity and peace, and then just like that . . . it was over.

It all happened over the course of a couple hundred years or so. 

Like all great nations. They grow over a few generations. They are at their pinnacle for a few generations, and then they decline. Nothing is static. Your nation (and therefore, your lifestyle and prosperity) is either going up or down. But it does not stand still.

My grandfather, who I remember well, died in 1968 when I was 8. He was born in 1898. He could have recalled his own grandmother, who was born about 1838 and died around 1909, when he was eleven. And then her grandfather never left Wales, and spent most of her life prior to the year 1800. There you go - over two hundred years captured in three lifetimes. My Great-Great grandmother could have shared stories of the old country, that could have been handed off to my grandfather, almost word for word, in clear detail.

We're only a couple of degrees away from the American Revolutionary generation. 

With everything being so transitory, and with all the good things in our lives so close to eradication, take some advice from the Lord Himself. 

Lift your eyes to the Heavens. Look at the earth beneath. That's perspective.

The problems of this world are temporary. Even more temporary than the good things. The good things are tastes of eternity. 

But look up, and down, and all around. It is all much bigger than we know.

Had it Not Been for The Lord

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.

 - Psalm 124: 7

The Psalmist seems to be describing Christians in Iraq, in 2014. Imagine being a Christian community that has been in existence for 2,000 years. And then ultimately, in the upheavals of the early 21st Century, it becomes prey to a sweeping wave of ISIS invaders.

The vivid terminology of the passage is eerily appropriate today:

"Enemies rose up"

"Swallowed us up alive"

"Waters overwhelmed"

"Torrent gone over"

"Raging waters"

"Prey for their teeth"

Truly, these words are describing ISIS. David may have had an image of the year 2014, and multitudes of families (men, women and children) that looked like him, and his own, being hunted down like animals, disposed of as garbage, plowed into the ground as late-summer weeds.

But we escaped the snare. And what is this snare? How about our trust in others? Our naivete, our gullibility, our misplaced hope in things audacious? 

Snares are traps. And evil has always relied on traps to open pathways for them to devour God's good people.

But had it not been for the Lord . . . 

An Early Baptism

When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

 - Exodus 2:10

The command had gone out from Pharaoh, to cast every boy born to the Hebrews, into the Nile River.

How many times have you read this account from Scripture? How many times has it been read to you? Dozens of times? Scores? Surely we all know that Pharaoh had ordered the execution of all the baby boys born to the Hebrews. 

Baby boys.

If a Hebrew woman became pregnant, and gave birth to a boy, the baby was taken instantly, and thrown into the river, where presumably he would float down and perhaps wind up in the Mediterranean. There's no telling what was to be the final state of these babies. 

Were they typically thrown in, alive? How much thinking do we do as newborns? Do we feel fear? Pain? Loneliness? Sadness?

These thoughts do not enter the minds of people that kill babies. If it can't talk back to you, it doesn't count. Has it ever occurred to you what monsters these servants of Pharaoh were? Even Hitler's Nazis would recoil in horror at the thought of it!

And what's the result, when governments start destroying our most innocent people? Slavery, more violence, war . . . it doesn't get better. Evil always begets more evil. And evildoers always reap what they sow.

My thinking is that we need to read this passage with new eyes, and let the real meaning of what happened sear our hearts and souls. Moses emerged out of the most vile of societies, perhaps in the world's history. And when we see the same thing happening today, we can either ignore it, or respond as though it were our own baby boys being thrown into the Nile. 

So the Nile River represented the most depraved form of death. Remember now . . . death was our punishment for sin. In the end, we all die. We die because we are selfish, vile, sinful creatures. God did not want such to live forever. 

If death is a curse, humanity has become quite adept at making it worse still, by the manner in which we kill; the people we kill, and the reasons we kill. We kill in ways that make it even clearer why we must die in the first place.

But Moses' mother placed him, as a baby, in a basket, on the bank of the Nile. They must have had guards all over the place, making sure all baby boys were surely placed on the way to their certain death. When she could hide him no longer, at three months of age, she took him out among the reeds of the Nile, along the banks. Maybe she was being watched by Egyptian sentries. 

But carefully she placed him where he would be safe, while ostensibly following Pharaoh's dictate to kill him. 

But out of the Nile, where Hebrew baby boys died, an Egyptian woman found the baby Moses, and took him in. Like a baptism, into the water and out of it, from death to life, Moses came forth. This signaled new life for the Hebrews . . . and in the end, became life for all of us.

The Mind of Christ, the Gardener

 Let both of them grow together until the harvest;

 --- From Matthew 13:24-30,36-43

So God knows our thoughts. He knows the future. Our response is to focus, to avoid the immediate and the carnal, and to wait. Patience is a great spiritual value. It puts us in control of our own destinies, to some degree. It puts God in control. It allows us to see the magic that is invisible to us.

The sinful being sees only what he or she sees. He concentrates on his feelings, and emotions.

The spiritual being sees beyond that. She observes the invisible. She builds patience, and love, and learns to sacrifice.

Our "Me Generation" does not get that. Everything is always couched in the framework of "I have to be who I really am." "I have to take care of myself first."

But life, and the world, isn't a commercial flight with a change in cabin pressure, where you put your mask on first. No . . . it is a crisis already in place, and it has provided those of us with strength, already masked. That's what it means to "equip" us. We are okay - - - but others are needy . . . NOW!

And the paradox is, to see the urgent needs, we have to be patient. Because when we're patient, we're no longer thinking about ourselves. When we're patient we know that there is more, beyond this life. When we're patient, and spirit-lead, we can endure anything . . . for we have tasted of God's Kingdom.

A gardener must be patient. The vegetables are literally calling out for water, when they need it. You can see it as they lose their color slightly. You can see the weeds growing up around them. The need is apparent, and urgent. Yet the gardener is not panicking. The process itself is long, lasting months, and enduring all kinds of conditions. You water a little. You pull weeds. You're out in the middle of the garden. You train yourself to notice little things. You develop an affinity for the health of your expected produce.

That's the difference.

Some people help the poor by talking about it. They make us all feel guilty because we're not doing more. They try to get you to vote for people that can talk about it in the most eloquent ways. They make it all sound so urgent, which it is. But their solution is still, to talk about it.

Like a gardener, we just need to go out into the field. Develop the eyes that see faint signs of despair. Do what we can. We're too busy actually helping, to think about immediate, selfish needs, of our own.

Patience, the eyes of God, little acts of love and kindness. These are the marks of the person that is growing into the mind of Christ.

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

 - - - From Romans 8:12-25

We do not know what the Kingdom of God will look like. We can imagine it. There are descriptions of it. I think the best description of it is that it's just life, forever. Humanity longs for a fountain of youth, so that we can live forever. It's continuing on, like we do today, but forever, and ever, and ever. That's the Kingdom of Heaven. And somehow we intuitively know that it must be real. We can't create life out of unlife. We don't understand this. Yet someone did. That person is God, and we trust that He has a way to make life last forever.

But we can't see it. We haven't seen it. Not with our waking, conscious, eyes. True, some people in history have had visions of it. But there were no bystanders to confirm what they saw. Nobody had a camera ready to record it. But just as we can't see the future . . . but without doubt, it is there; and just as we can't see the thoughts of others . . . but know that they have them. So it is with the Kingdom of God.

I have experienced life. I understand that. Yet I can't see life. The energizing force of life is invisible to us.

What a wonderful concept! If God has activated that life force, in anybody . . . isn't it something to marvel at? We live, at the pleasure of someone else! And He loved us enough to bring us into being!

And if we think about that for a little bit, we understand why it was so important to the Apostle, Paul, to get our thoughts and actions away from the physical, the mortal . . . away from these present, immediate, worldly, fleshly needs. Away from our drives, and cravings . . . away from the things we do more out of instinct, like an animal, (have you ever seen a dog go after a bone tossed in his direction?), and towards the things we must wait for . . . the things that require thought, and rest, and prayer.

The things that require patience! You cannot hope for what we cannot see, what takes so long for us to have . . . without learning patience!!

And then just like that we are no longer driven by our . . . well . . . drives. We are now activated by the spirit of God, the Power of God. It is less about us. We are in awe of life . . . whatever it is . . . and we want to sustain it. We are passionate about seeing what it becomes . . . we can't wait to see the possibilities inherent in any life that grows.

We love life. We should love seeing it, and witnessing it, however it appears, and whatever it does.

Even if it requires a lifetime of patience.

God Only Knows

 . . . you discern my thoughts from afar.

    - from Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23

Not only does God know the future (more accurately, He occupies eternal NOW, and therefore the past, present, and future are the same to Him), but He can read our minds.

Somehow, God is able to know this about every one of us 8 Billion people. And He knows the thoughts of the people that came before us, and that will follow. He knows all of it, all at once.

Only God knows if the unborn child is thinking anything. He knows if the person in a coma feels, and has emotions. Does an unborn child feel? Does he fear? Does he cry? Does he laugh, or smile? God only knows.

Does the nonagenarian whose memory is all but gone, remember still, but quietly? Does she know . . . but just can't express it? Does she enjoy any moment of any day? Does she have hopes for the future, and regrets? God only knows.

But it's good that somebody knows. And part of the joy of being glorified some day, with Christ; in new bodies, with new minds, with full knowledge and full awareness . . . is that we will know, too.

This is why God wanted us to focus on the young (orphans), the aged (widows), and the alien (friendless). Because somewhere deep within the heart of every child of God is a longing, an unfulfilled hope. It's in there somewhere, even if we can't see it. Like the future that we cannot see; it is real. And it doesn't hurt us at all, if we look for opportunities to spark that hope, and calm that fear, that God sees, but we don't.

There is One Lord - The Proof

Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be.

- from Isaiah 44:6-8

God reveals Himself to us throughout the Old Testament. It is instructive to us.

He is the Giver of life, and the Judge that declared us mortal.

He is a friend in the Garden, but a Supreme being that we can't look upon without dying.

He is a great military commander, and a gentle Father.

But He doesn't reveal all of this to us, all at once! Like children coming up through kindergarten, then primary school, then middle, high school, college . . . 

You don't begin by reading the entire Bible. Before that you have to be able to recognize entire phrases, and their meaning within a context. And before that, you have to be able to recognize entire words at a glance. And before that, you learn to sound them out . . . but must know the various rules of English pronunciation.

Before that, you have to know the sounds that letters make. You have to distinguish between vowels and consonants, without even being able to explain the difference.

And before that, you have to know your ABCs!

We are like children to God, and He teaches us new material, when we're ready.

At the right time, He declared Himself the Ancient of Days, the Lord of all time. I like to think of Him as being able to sort of float overhead, above our timeline, being able to see the beginning and the end at the same time, like we can look at a timeline before us and see the whole thing at once. Or, the same way we can open the beginning of a book, and the end, and read them one after the other.

When God declares Himself "the First and the Last," he is making a case not to even consider other Gods. 

As in a prior blog a few weeks ago, there is a predictive power of God, since He is above all time, He knows how the story is going to end. He says: "Can any other God, or being, prophecy what is to come in the future . . . and be right?" So that's the evidence. Has God predicted future events, and has He been right?

Well, that's another topic entirely, of course. That's probably an entire 13-week course. The question has caused many people to lose faith, because God's promises do not pan out sometimes, in quite the way they expected. 

But for now we leave it at that. Our ultimate proof that God is God, is that He knows all time, from beginning to end, and when it suits Him, He gives us a prophecy of what is to come. I think that the only real reason He would ever do this, is to encourage us. Not to scare us. Not to impress us. But to give us perspective and confidence.

And when you get right down to it . . . why wouldn't the Creator of everything have these unique powers?

The Butterfly Effect of Good Deeds

 . . . and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.

 - Matthew 10

It is easy to get discouraged by modern trends in society, and international affairs.

We wonder "What can I do," and want to give up, because the task seems so daunting.

But as so often happens, Jesus wants the best for us. The barriers that we put in the way of our own spiritual development, are our own barriers. If we have not found God's will for our lives yet, chances are it is because we don't want to. 

Even if you give a cup of water to a needy child . . . just one . . . you have made an enormous dent in the problem. That one little deed is so important, that it gets noticed by the Master, and contributes to our eventual standing as immortal beings.

And yet . . . for so many of us . . . one small cup of water, to one needy child, is more than we do in a day, a week . . . even a year. 

The task is not that daunting. Someone within the sound of your voice needs a little help . . . right now. Develop the ears, and the eyes, to notice. Because chances are they have already found you.

Without Passion, No Sin

Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 

 - Romans 6

We're always looking for people that approach life, or their work, with "passion." The word "passion" denotes a type of behavior that is carefree, almost out-of-control. You are so immersed in the moment, that you lose your sense of time. Your careful judgment goes out the window, and you are operating purely on impulse, and instinct.

In sports and many professions, and in the performing arts, this is a good thing. It is called getting "into the zone." Through years and years of training, you become so expert at something that you can execute without even thinking about it. This is "good" passion.

But Paul here makes a distinct connection from sin, to passion. Really, now, sin is meaningless if it doesn't have something to do with controlling some desire that we find it hard to resist. Sin really starts with a passion for something. A food we must eat. An insulting comment we must make. A lie we must tell. A sex-related act we must experience. First it sounds good, then we start picturing ourselves in the middle of experiencing the sin. We know it would be a mistake, but we want to do it nevertheless. We start finding ways to justify it. 

It wouldn't hurt anybody.

I can't help it, I was born that way.

It will lead to a good outcome.

I deserve it.

This is the exception.

It's actually God's will that I do this sin.

Our first impulse was the correct one: it's wrong. Don't do it.

And we know that sin is a problem, because it leads to death. All sins are based on selfishness. But God wants selflessness. If you want to be Christ-like you have to start dealing with those passions, that motivate you to do wrong. 

And this is the victory. When we conquer our sin, we can rejoice. We have put our own desires, our own sinful passions, aside, so that we can serve others, and be more like Christ - more outward-focused.

And you never regret the trade-off of meeting the needs of others, in return for controlling your own passions.

Faith and Big Families

I will establish your line for ever . . . 

 - Psalm 89

In the Old Testament, God definitely places a high premium on people building up large families. Listen . . . he truly, clearly, wishes for people to have very large families. 

It is considered a very high blessing, indeed, if God says he will give you a line of descendants that will go on forever. Think about it.

As of about 1940, or thereabouts, the last living member of Abraham Lincoln's family died, leaving no descendants of our greatest President. 

George Washington died, having never had any of his own children.

Now, these two cases really do not impact any of us personally. But chances are, discovering these facts about Lincoln and our second greatest President has most people thinking, "Hmmm, that's kind of too bad!"

One of my grandfathers had a great-grandfather that had something like 85 grandchildren. It takes a little over a century for a family growing at that rate, to reach a thousand. And if you could get those thousand to truly care for one another . . . well, that's one group that wouldn't need welfare, student loans, healthcare, or any of the critical social problems plaguing our generation.

When you have a lot of children, if you raise them lovingly and correctly, you would never have to worry about Social Security. Yes, think about it.

But what about overpopulation? We love to make fun of people with, like, more than five children. "Someone needs to tell them what causes that! Hahahah!!" 

But I would put it to you, there is no greater act of faith than having children. As your resources get extended, you know that God will take care of things. Your growing family becomes ever more creative, ever more resourceful. And this would be true of the human population. If we had faith, we could count on the Lord to bring with our multiplying population, the resources to solve the attendant problems. (Perhaps the people that can mitigate the effects of overpopulation - through expansion of other resources, or space travel, or even by starting a powerful abstinence movement - keep getting blocked from birth, in one way or another).

But these are all just musings from an over-active mind. Let's leave it at this:

 - God intends for us to have large families. At the very least . . . can we celebrate, and not mock, those that do?

The Difference

But I put my trust in your mercy.

 - Psalm 13

The 13th Psalm starts down the path of a person headed for agnosticism. It begins with self-oriented questions.

"Oh God - - - why won't you listen to me?"

"Lord, why isn't my life working out?"

"Father, can't I get a break?"

We've all been there. We know what the Psalmist is talking about. "I thought if I had the faith of a mustard seed, I could move mountains! Why can't I even pray for a good job, and it happen?" And quite likely, most people have studied this question and understand well the lesson it makes about real faith. Mustard seed faith trusts in the elements, in the rain and sun, in the gardener. It does it's task and accepts the outcomes. This is real faith.

But if we don't keep the right perspective about misfortune and how it related to our faith, we may find ourselves doubting, more and more. "How can God do this to me?" Becomes "How can a loving God allow the starvation of children?" And next thing you know, you're an intellectual that's too smart to believe.

David kept his bearings. After his spell of self-pity, he always comes back to "But I will trust in God anyway." 

And this is the difference. It's the difference that kept his faith rock-solid. And after the kind of life David had, to still trust in God anyway . . . well, that may very well be more miraculous than the moving of a mountain.

Peace? Yes. But first...

As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.    - Jeremiah 28

This is an interesting thing to ponder. Apparently, we should listen to "doom and gloom" people and hold in suspicion those that preach peace.

Now don't get me wrong. Jesus obviously is the Prince of Peace. And our hope is wrapped up in the promise that there will be Peace on Earth. And we can bring that Peace today, if we model it.

But when compared to other scriptures and prophecies that talk about people with "itching ears," and that there is never a shortage of preachers giving us what we want to hear, it makes you put stuff back into some balance. A steady diet of "Everything's great! You're wonderful! If God had a refrigerator your picture would be on it!" is giving people the wrong message.

When I was going through a divorce, I felt like the "feel-good" stuff, ("What doesn't kill you makes your stronger," "Move on," etc.) was way off the mark. It never made me feel better, or stronger, or ready to move on. Rather, I wanted to hear that a wrong had committed. I wanted affirmation that divorce happened because there is sin in the world; because we are a lost and dying race. Only then did I begin to feel better. Because, only then was I being fed the cold hard facts.

Yes, our message is one of love, peace, and forgiveness. But what good is love, unless we have identified hate? Why have peace, if we keep ignoring the presence of war? Why forgive, if we haven't even mentioned sin?

A few years ago, on Christmas Eve, Matt Hook preached a sermon, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings, on the theme of "It's worse than we thought. Merry Christmas." It was the most memorable Christmas Even service in twenty years of attending them. Why? Because now we could understand Peace on Earth.

All will be well. Our young people will come home. Our country will be restored. Peace will return. Life will go on forever. 

But first, let's not turn away from the pain and sadness all around us, that desperately requires God's intervention . . . through us.

My Son

...God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.
 - Genesis 22

The account of Abraham's journey with his only son Isaac, to offer him up as an offering to God, per God's instructions, is wrought with pathos, and allusions to the future offering up of God's own, and only Son, on the cross.

As Isaac carried the wood for his own fire, so Christ carried the wood for his own crucifixion.

As Isaac was laid across an altar and tied down to it, so Christ was bound to the Cross.

As Isaac's father willingly proceeded to offer up his son, so God willingly offered His Son.

One act involved the obedience of a father, to God. The other involves the obedience of a son, to God.

I like to draw as many parallels as I can, between Christ and great heroes of the Old Testament. Abraham was the father of Israel. Jesus was the Father of the Church.

Abraham found favor, because he obeyed God. Christ found favor, because He obeyed God, the Father.

Isaac was Abraham's only son (of the promise, from out of a marriage). Jesus was God's only Son. Isaac was the second Son in order of birth. His brother Ishmael was born to a servant of Abraham. Jesus was the Second Son of God. His brother Israel was born from out of the Law, which bound us to sin and death.

But I love the words spoken from Abraham to Isaac. He said, with the innocence and trust of a child: "God will provide." And then he closes with, "My son."

We hear a lot of talk about the "culture of death" in Society today. We live in a throw-away world where anything that becomes inconvenient to us can be just disposed with: a marriage, a job, a friendship ("unfriend" on Facebook), a pregnancy. We make it all so very easy, and guilt-free. But there is also a "culture of Life." We worship life and youth. Yet . . . mortality is a given. It is a reality. In the end there's nothing we can do to extend our own lives. We worship life, and act like it never ends. But with the eternal view, by seeing things with the eyes of Christ, or of Abraham, we can act as though death really is not the end for us. We can take steps considered courageous, or even crazy: We can place our own child on an altar of sacrifice, fully prepared to finish the deed. During the Dark Ages, when people of faith were being persecuted and martyred all the time, the most faithful parents urged their young children to stand firm, and not to renounce their faith in Christ.

I heard about a Sunday School class, of middle aged people whose children had mostly reached at least the teen-aged years. The lesson was on obedience. The question came up: "What would you do if your child said he wanted to enter the foreign mission field?" To a person - at least those that spoke up - the response was "I'd try to talk him out of it." What? This is a statement that is decidedly lacking in faith.

When we get to eternity; when the day of Judgment has come and gone and we begin the life that is never-ending, I am certain we will look back on this life and wonder why we were so worried, so scared, so totally lacking in faith.

Why not just proceed, as Christ did, as Abraham did? Do we really believe there is a life after this? Do we really believe that God has called us to do whatever it takes to feed the hungry, house the homeless, care for the widow, protect the orphan? If so . . . then what are we worried about? And what are we waiting for?

God said "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." Abraham said, "Son . . . God will provide."

There are few words, more tender, in all the English language, than "Son." When you call someone "son" it means that you see yourself in that young man. You have connected yourself with him in the most confident, comfortable, and caring way.

"Son" means . . . it will be okay. For I am there with you.

Indeed, for eternity.

Why Pentecost Won't Happen for Us This Year

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place.

 - Acts 2

I could spend a full page here diagramming the above sentence, from the Second Chapter of Acts. I could define "disciples." And then we would go into depth into each of the following very important words:

"were"

"all"

"together"

"in"

"one"

"place"

But that would not make more powerful and profound, the simple point. They were together, in unison, in agreement, in one place . . . one . . . place . . . together.

And powerful things happened. Wonderful things. Miraculous things.

But on Pentecost Sunday, 2014, powerful, and wonderful, and miraculous things won't happen, because every single town in the world will have more than one Christian group, and they will not be together.

If we want to change the world and really be impressive, we need to get back to Acts.

Inevitable Snares

Take me out of the net that they have secretly set for me . . . 

 - Psalm 31

This past week, I finally achieved two financial objectives that had been vexing me for the better part of a decade. They were two major bills that are now paid in full, resulting in a savings of around $300 each month. This of course, means a huge benefit in my taking care of family and my favorite charities. And the peace of mind is no small thing!

I have learned to play information like this close to the vest. You really don't want people to know that suddenly you have a lot of extra money you did not have before! It is human nature, but they will begin expecting you to do more financially, than you had before. But that is not necessarily the case. 

Almost to the day that my improved situation had been confirmed, two big things happened: A one-time family expense hit, in the amount of $800, that I needed right away; and car work that could be put off no longer, which so far is at $300.

So, I am $300 better off, but need $1,100 right now. I had begun tithing more, contributing a little more to other debts, treating family a little more. I entrusted those funds to the Lord, and said "Please bless the use of these, Your funds." So then, why did major devastating expenses have to come just then?

No telling. But right away the pressure hit me, from the usual sources, to do a better job with my money; to "follow through" on other expectations I had set. And so now, having proclaimed my new-found independence, I had to continue acting like I had no money. 

And this, in the Bible, is called a "snare."

The secret net, meant to trap people that have struggled with money, is an onslaught of sudden, unexpected emergencies. In some cases, I lost my temper, or composure, in discussing all of this with others. This is letting myself be trapped in the snare. 

I am moving forward more and more into God's plan for me. My worries about money have ensnared me for years "Lord, I'll do more when I don't have all these bills." But the time for salvation is NOW. 

Decide to act for the Lord, even if you have problems. Leave it in God's hands, and Go.

Really, Now . . . What's Possible?

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. "Look," he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"

 - Acts 7

I read this passage today, and maybe for the first time, it hit me:

Stephen actually saw Jesus, who had died, rose again, and ascended into Heaven.

What conditions were necessary for him to see Jesus? First, he had to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And next, perhaps . . . he had to be close to death.

But what is this faith that, when it is full and complete, actually enables people to see Jesus; not a vision, not a dream . . . but Jesus himself? Whatever it is, Stephen had it. He believed completely, without an ounce of doubt. His mind, heart, and soul had been so emptied out of worldliness and doubt, which enabled the Holy Spirit to fill him completely, so that he could see the eternal realm.

What do doubters think? They will insist it was a dream. Or maybe he saw what he wanted to see: The clouds were in a formation that made the sunlight brilliant, and as he looked up, in a state of emotional euphoria (brought on by too much oxygen), the branches of a tree, or bird flying overhead, looked for a moment like the silhouette of Christ. Or maybe he made it up. Maybe Stephen lied.

But what would be the point of that? When we finally get it right, or that is, when God finally reveals the true plan of salvation for humanity, you can expect this sort of thing to happen. These things happen because Stepehen's belief was powerful enough to make it so. We only know a slight fraction of the wonders of the Universe. Why do we make excuses when something comes along we can't explain?

Stephen believed . . . and saw. And we take it as true because . . . we believe.

And perhaps the Son of God will likewise reveal Himself to us, at a time we do not expect!

The Impossible Path to Success

 . . . and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

 - Acts 2

I want you to notice two inescapable realities of the Second Chapter of Acts. We celebrate this chapter, as the high point of Church history. The Church, as you know, was barely days, if not hours, old!

But like the birth of a new child, it was where life was at its fullest and most perfect. Everything functioning naturally, without assistance. It has not yet been soiled by the fulfillment of physical needs (no earthly food has entered its mouth yet). It has not involved itself with the world. No interactions with others. No exposure to evil, to pornography, to violence, to hate.

It is in a haven of full acceptance, and boldness. When the baby inhales deeply and lets out his or her first cry, it is most fully alive. And, while experiences, success, and happiness should follow, they do so with the attendant worry and angst. 

So is the Church at its first day. It is growing like crazy, and roaring out its birth cries, drawing people to it like the miracle that it is.

And we think we can somehow get the modern Church back to that model!

First, we're not about to do the things that I did not quote above: make all things common. Meet every day. Not gonna happen.

But if we did that . . . truly did as Jesus would do . . . I have no doubt there would be miracles. Prove me wrong! You can't, because no Church would dare do that much. We're not about to share all of our possessions with one another.

But if we did . . . we would have the goodwill of all the people. Did you catch that? Wouldn't that be great? Isn't this what we crave? And if you want to know why we don't have that kind of goodwill, from everybody, then just read the rest of this chapter and notice what's missing.

The world knows our values. It knows our standard of perfection, to which we never reach. It knows we're supposed to be doing lots of charitable, loving, selfless deeds, and when we don't, it points its finger at us. It's like an overly-wise teenager pointing out his parents' own hypocrisy. You want to lash back in anger, but you know he's right.

Having the goodwill of everybody naturally leads to daily growth in the Church. If your Church grew every day, it would have at least 365 more members, one year from today.

The formula for such success is easy . . . simple.

Precious Death

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his servants.

 - Psalm 116

How can a loving God . . . ?

Well, that statement is always completed with some reference to death, or disease, famine, want.  But really those problems only have resonance because they lead to death.

How can any kind of death be precious to the Lord? Isn't death the last enemy to be destroyed? Isn't death our punishment for sin? 

Perhaps we need to take off our 21st Century understanding of "precious" as something cute, or cuddly, or adorable. Think of "precious," as in, a precious metal. It is something you want to protect, to keep, to save. You do not want harm to come to something precious. 

When a servant of the Lord dies, God's interest piques. He goes into action. He engages the everlasting arms, and keeps you safe, away from all danger. You are home-free. His dead servants have His full attention. He can't wait to rouse you from sleep, back into life. 

So then, the point is not to evade death (shame on you, narcissistic modern Americans!). Rather, make it your prime objective, to became a servant of the Lord! That way, when you die (for we will all die anyway), you will transform that horrible event into something the Lord considers precious.

This Corrupt Generation

Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.

 - Acts 2

This is a really harsh thing for Peter to say. What might he be talking about? "Generation" is a pretty broad, sweeping term! But if I say anything about a "generation" I must be referring to traits that make a particular generation distinct. 

If we discuss The Greatest Generation, I must take the good:

• Defeat the Axis Powers
• Survive The Great Depression
• Build Post-War America into the greatest super power in history

With the bad:

• Racial segregation
• Pollution
• Harmful personal habits: drinking, smoking

And there will be a lot of moral practices that future generations will find repugnant.

The same would be true of the Baby Boomers, the Gen X-ers, the Civil War Generation. There is good and bad. But the person of God knows that there are distinctives in his or her generation, that have a great effect on him/her. You cannot escape the assumptions, for good or ill, of your generation. Its practices may become so ingrained that you can no longer see clearly enough to call evil evil, and good, good.

Generations will be evil, and not know it. They will be narcissistic, and not know it. They will be implementing reforms that, in fact, take society backward, without knowing it. When things go wrong, they will blame anyone, but themselves. A Generation is the worse form of stubborn, willful human. For, it has lots of support to stay down the wrong path.

By definition, setting yourself apart from your generation, will not be a popular thing to do. People will hate you. They will call you judgmental. They call you a "hater" because you do not accept their assumptions, nor their conclusions. 

What's Peter's compelling case for why one must be saved? Well, among all the good reasons, is a hard one: Save yourself from this corrupt generation. 

With Their Own Eyes

 . . . but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses. . . 

 ~ Acts 10

If I had to boil down the New Testament beginning with The Acts of the Apostles (that is, all of it except the four Gospels), it would have to be this:

"Jesus died, and lives again . . . and we saw Him."

The testimony is emphatic. To say "He is Risen," and "He's alive!" is one thing. But when it is replete with personal eye-witness testimonies: "I saw it with my own eyes. I sat down and ate with Him. I spoke to Him, and He to me. I touched Him, and He me," then it takes on a whole new meaning.

Read the Acts, and the Epistles, again, carefully. If the writers had not personally seen Jesus, alive, after He had died, then it all has pretty much no point.

The moral lessons would have no authority.

The promises (new life, our resurrection, eternal life, establishment of His eternal kingdom, abundant life, etc.) would be empty, and hollow.

The words of prophecy would be laughable.

The entire volume of the New Testament would be wasted time, for the writer, and the readers.

We put a lot of stock on believing the writers of the New Testament were reputable. And they put a lot on the line, in terms of their own reputations, and the well-being of their families. Had they not actually seen Him, and then turned around and insisted that they did, to others, then History would have to condemn them as at best fools, and at worst despicable liars. 

But they insisted that they saw Him, and they put it in writing. The time to debunk it was while they yet lived. But nobody . . . NOBODY . . . was able to stop the spread of their accounts.

The story is inescapable. And the bold proclamations of these plain, simple fishermen have become the foundation that built the great world religion that continues to stir things up, millennia later. 

Yes, The Creator Can Do This

The dead man came out . . . 

 - John 11

This is the moment that carries the entire narrative. What good is Lazarus' sickness and his death; of what value is Christ'a lingering to get there; of them completing a formal funeral for the dead man, and burying him? 

It all hinges on the dead man coming out, under his own power, breathing as he did so. His heart is now beating. He can feel the smooth and sharp rocks under his feet. His thoughts are activated. To him, the four or so days that have passed, since he was last conscious, are but an instant. One moment he's laying in bed, struggling to breathe. The next he's lying on a hard slab, with daylight coming through the entrance to the burial cave.

I read recently, a quote by Mark Twain, stating that the Bible is full of thousands of lies.

Is this one of them?

If there is no resurrection . . . if the Lord of all creation can't even re-activate a dead person, then what good is any of it?

This moment is one of the pinnacles of 66 Bible books. Is there a "Top five" most important and breathtaking scenes in the thousands of years of history contained in Scripture? This is one of them.

If the dead do not rise, then our hope is gone. Jesus proved everything when Lazarus was raised. 

The dramatic moment informs everything we have been pondering during this season of Lent. Sin, death, decay. We are but dust. We're nothing!!!

But because of the Resurrection. Because our Father, who is able to create everything, can (logically) also restore life to anything. Thanks to him, thanks to life after death, we have become everything. And we are . . . we're everything to our Lord, God, and Savior.

Flesh and Death

To set the mind on the flesh is death.

 - Romans 8

This makes lots of sense. Flesh ages and decays. We feed the flesh, or we die. The flesh is our natural preoccupation. We make excuses for our behavior, because of what the flesh compels us to do. The more we focus on the flesh, if past a healthy point just to stay alive, the more we feed every little urge or hunger. We can no longer distinguish between survival and just "feeling good." Many contemporary Christian devotionals, even, suggest that "sexuality" is on a par with water, food, and shelter, in a list of human needs.

Jack Miles, in his two masterpieces "God - A Biography" and "Christ - A Crisis in the Life of God" suggests that the fact that we are sexual is proof that we are mortal. God cannot be a sexual being, for He does not die. How interesting! (But too big a topic to investigate here!)

But here in Romans, Paul makes essentially the same claim. The urges of the flesh, the hungers and the drives, are equivalent to death itself. This is why fasting from food is such a healthy spiritual practice. We want to live - it is our most primal, and eternal, motivator! But any time we feed more of our hungers than it takes to live, we are living according to the flesh. And this takes us away from God.

Christ went to the Cross, which was the ultimate denial of the flesh. His steps to cavalry were motivated by a desire not to live. He started His walk by fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. And He ended it by willingly offering up His own life. When He had breathed His last, they even pierced his side, so that what was left of the food and drink He had ingested, could empty out along with His blood.

In the end He had nothing at all, of this world, left.

The paradox is that life comes from a denial of the very things that make us feel good, and that even enable us to live on to the next day. When you deny the flesh, you are establishing your dominance over it.

And one cannot be holy if one cannot control one's hungers.

God: Notice Me! (Are you sure that's what you want?)

If you, LORD, were to note what is done amiss, O Lord, who could stand?

- Psalm 130

The implication of this verse . . . what it truly means, is something quite groundbreaking.

In the Hebrew, whatever was translated into "to note" must have meant something different than what we would think. If I "note" something, it means that I pay some attention to it, although in passing.

But think of the deeper meaning of "to note." It is more than just seeing or observing something. If you really "note" it, you will move the observation into your conscious thinking. You will store it away in memory. You will write it down and file it away. You might end up taking some action on it.

The Psalmist talks about God "noting," or "taking notice of," or "noticing." In the South, where my first child was born, her Southern side of the family were very keen on "noticing" a baby. Your toddler would crawl up to you while you were reading or watching TV. If you didn't look up, a nearby adult would say, whimsically: "Daddy - notice me!" 

If God were to make a conscious effort in observing us, and what we are doing wrong . . . if He really noticed . . . and jotted down some thoughts . . . if He stopped what He was doing to take care of us (i.e., like a mobster would "take care" of a rival gang member) . . then we would be in big trouble. We could not stand. He would sweep our feet out from under us and drive us to our knees. He would force us to look at the pain we have caused. He would show us how our selfish decisions have set the advancement of humanity, and of His kingdom, so far back that only His direct involvement (the Return of Christ) can make things right.

"Why would a loving God allow such evil to exist?" Why, indeed? If He took even a moment to notice us; to notice me, and to notice you . . . all of you, and all of us . . . then every hard and wicked thing we have done would be illuminated. We would see a dark side of ourselves that we didn't know was there. And the people that are the first to ask "Why would a loving God . . . " would be perhaps the first to see their own contributions to the world and its numerous messes.

Maybe it's not so smart to ask God to turn around and notice us; to pay attention to us. Is that what you really want?

Thank again.

My Bucket List Item

I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people . . . 

 - Ezekiel 37

We have a "Culture of Life" in our generation, and it's a problem.

Everything is all about "quality of life." 

"You only live once."

"Life is short, and you have to go for the gusto."

We spend hours at the gym. We save up tens of thousands of dollars for retirement. We scour the ingredients of everything we eat, to make sure it's sufficiently "organic." 

And stuff like this in moderation isn't bad.

We skip church and spiritual growth because we need time in our gardens (hobbies, reading, home projects, etc.) We work extra hours to get ahead of our peers. We make sure to go to DisneyWorld once a year. 

Stuff like this is close to the edge.

We end our marriages because "I deserve more." We put our aging parents in homes because we're too busy to care for them. We travel all over the place for our jobs, and miss our kids' high school years. We spend precious dollars on tattoos, plastic surgery and other self-indulgences.

Now . . . that's bad.

But it's for "quality of life." Don't you deserve more than the hand you have been dealt?

We worship life. We worship this life as if there really isn't more to it!

If you're a Christian, a believer, then let me recommend some prayerful reconsideration of this philosophy.

When you believe your God will truly raise up your dead, lifeless, dry, decaying bones, back to life, one day . . . then really what else matters? We'd swim the Atlantic Ocean, if we knew at the end of it was eternal life for us. So what's so inaccessible about simple belief?

Yes, time is short. Our life now, this life, is about building God's Kingdom. Our one task, our sole objective, is to become witnesses to the event shown on the video, and to invite others to share in it as well.

I am not saying we should give up things that add quality to our life. If you are responsible for a spouse, parents, and/or children, of course providing security, safety, and fun; and urging excellence in school and career, is essential to assuring that all of them make it to Resurrection Day.

But there is a balance. Our 80 years here are not all there is. We need to start acting like our life here today is only about getting into the next life. And once you're there, you'll have forever to complete your bucket list!

Not the Sin, but the Grace

 . . . he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.

 - John 9

We are so focused on fault. As much as we idealize the innocence of children, it is my lifelong observation that we are born fault-finders. It is very easy to criticize, which is one of the first behaviors manifested by children. Adults that do not mature continue to be good at it. The skill and virtue that is learned, is to note the good in others . . . all others.

Or to put it another way: we are born with an instinct to establish a legal code. We are comfortable with rules that say "do that, don't do that." "No" seems much more accessible than "yes." "No" is clear, but "yes" may involve multiple possibilities.

So it is with these pharisees that questioned Jesus: "Who sinned, so that this man was born blind." (Well, we all sin, which is why anything is wrong in our lives). But the point was, stop focusing on what was wrong with things. Christ brought us back to a connection with God's plan. In the end, we should not concern ourselves with whatever we did (I did, you did), but on what God is doing. God makes a point to everything. And it is to remind us that He is in charge.

The blind-man-given-sight is an under-sung hero of Scripture. He handles the Pharisees to perfection. All he does is answer their questions, plainly and simply. He makes no claim other than what he experienced. And that's all we need to do. Just state the facts and let God's grace handle the rest.

Sin is a reality. The result of it is death at worst, hardship and grief at best. We have our problems not directly because of some sin, or because of some sin of our parents. But because it's all tied together and we all share in the effects of sin, together. 

So we don't need to point our fingers at one another, unless one of us is immortal (evidence that we have not sinned). But now that Christ has come and grace is in the world, every bad thing is transformed into an opportunity for God's power and love to be revealed. 

Shut Up and Love

For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly . . . 

 - Ephesians 5

Paul gives us great advice today, on how to deal with the rampant sin in the world. We all know what I'm talking about. From the Left to the Right, we hear valid and convicting words of great sin (always committed by someone other than the speaker): From sexual immorality, to mistreatment of the environment, to failure to care for the poor, to mismanagement of personal and public wealth, to the idolization of celebrities, tax-collectors and other government officials, to lying, cheating, wasting, hoarding, self-loving . . . . It goes on and on.

Paul says, don't even talk about the evil deeds of others (which is one reason why the Christian Right, at least, will always lose the morality debate - they aren't allowed to talk about the details!) 

The rest of today's passage gives priority to being the light of the world. If our marriages are strong and healthy, if our parents raise their children with holiness and love. If our businesses are managed ethically. If our funds are used charitably. Do all of these things, and light will abound. What is truly evil will be revealed, and we won't have to say anything.

So basically we just all need to shut up and go about doing the right things. And we know what they are.