...for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
- From Luke 6
Thoughts are good. We want to be thoughtful. It's better to think of someone, than not. It is better to consider those that are hurting, than to ignore them.
Prayers are good. Even atheists understand the value of reflection, and connection with your surroundings. An atheist can understand that, in a culture of violence and fear . . . the best solution might very well be to get people to just stop . . . reflect . . . and think of others. Prayer is like that.
Of course we need more thoughts and prayers. But I'm afraid we really need it from those that mock it. Do we want the tensions in our generation to subside? Of course we do.
Christ implored his followers, to be kind to those that hate them. He never once advocated resistance to the government. He did not talk about politics. He focused on people one to one. Real love is best practiced, perhaps only practiced, in person. Anything else seems like posturing, in order to project some desired image.
Because, Christ affirmed: God is kind, even to the wicked.
And I posit, that a young man's rage may be partly due to the inflamed culture where people refuse to be kind to one another.
To be defeated, spiritual jiu jitsu has to be employed against evil. Resistance just hardens the resolve on the other side. Defeat evil, not with more evil . . . but with anti-evil.
. . . which is love.
If someone offers "thoughts and prayers," let your response not be disdain. Let it be a show of support, and the consideration, on your own part, that perhaps you should think, and pray, too.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Thoughts and Prayers IV
...their minds are set on earthly things.
- From Philippians 3
What are "thoughts and prayers," really?
Paul, the Apostle, wrote to the Philippians. He urged them to be of one mind, to remember the fundamental things, the concepts that they all learned in the first place. They needed to be reminded, for the same reasons that we need to be reminded: because we forget, and we are easily influenced by whatever is popular, current, or "cool." We want to be liked.
So if our initial thought is that we have to keep the Church of God in one mind, i.e., thinking the same "thoughts," then that's a good thing.
Therefore, when half of the believers go join up with some political movement, and make that their priority, and then agree with non-believers that say "Thoughts and prayers don't work," then they have broken our covenant with one another; the covenant being, that we promise to hold ourselves together.
We have lost the game already, if we cannot even stay of one mind.
If your thoughts are not on Christ, then they are on earthly things. And what are "earthly things"?
- From Philippians 3
What are "thoughts and prayers," really?
Paul, the Apostle, wrote to the Philippians. He urged them to be of one mind, to remember the fundamental things, the concepts that they all learned in the first place. They needed to be reminded, for the same reasons that we need to be reminded: because we forget, and we are easily influenced by whatever is popular, current, or "cool." We want to be liked.
So if our initial thought is that we have to keep the Church of God in one mind, i.e., thinking the same "thoughts," then that's a good thing.
Therefore, when half of the believers go join up with some political movement, and make that their priority, and then agree with non-believers that say "Thoughts and prayers don't work," then they have broken our covenant with one another; the covenant being, that we promise to hold ourselves together.
We have lost the game already, if we cannot even stay of one mind.
If your thoughts are not on Christ, then they are on earthly things. And what are "earthly things"?
- Whatever I want. That's an earthly thing. The earth is defiantly a place where people put their own selfish needs first. I just want myself to feel good . . . and really, I don't care about anybody else.
- Whatever feels good. "Their god is their belly." Temporary, immediate, and selfish appetites are earthly things. Yes, we all want to do what feels good. That doesn't mean it's good for others, and may even be harmful for others. We're all in this together, and we have to think of other people.
- Obsession with death. Death is an earthly thing. It is sin, and it's evil. Wild mass shooters are earthly. They are the ultimate in earthly. But rage goes along with being earthly, and if your response to evil is to become enraged against your political opposition, rather than against the perpetrator of a crime, you may be thinking in too earthly of a way.
If your thoughts are on life: life for all . . . then they are not on earthly things. The earthly person wants revenge, and wants to do something . . . NOW. But life and death are eternal matters. It has taken humanity millennia, during which we have obsessed about life and death, and have not mastered either of them, yet. You don't solve it in one day, or as the result of one tragedy.
I often wonder: If a person really . . . really . . . believed in eternal life, would they care so much about politics? We'll wake up one day and laugh at our immature insecurities.
Let's go beyond thinking about the victims and their survivors. Pray for them, help them, yes. But put your thoughts also on what you can do about it. Don't call your representative. Help your neighbor! Don't participate in a march. Visit someone in prison!! Don's sign a petition. Become a Big Brother or Sister to a fatherless child!!!
Your thoughts should be on your response. What will you do?
And then, the prayers will take care of themselves.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Thoughts and Prayers Pt III
...a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
- From Psalm 51
The Man or Woman of God is a solitary soul. He ascends a mountain, alone, to pray and commune with the Father. She finds herself alone, the only one serving, at the Master's feet. He is laughed at and mocked by scores of false prophets. She is the only one left in Jericho, with the desire and a plan to help the Hebrews take it.
The LORD, Himself, was a Man of Sorrows. By the time He set his sights on Jerusalem, his crowd had dwindled down to a dozen or so . . . and even they dispersed when it got real.
An angry mob stirred itself up against Him, and delivered Him to the Cross.
The Crossroad always starts with a crowd . . . but it ends with a Single Person. The world's solutions; it's causes, it's passions . . . always start with a crowd, but ends with an overwhelming gang, that feeds on its own anger.
Thoughts and Prayers, for public consumption, are meaningless. But one devout and sincere Woman of God, secretly locking herself away in her study, can think about the victims of a mass shooting, and then say a prayer for them. Yet without drawing any attention to herself, she will have done more than twelve nightly newscasts.
Thoughts and prayers for the victims do work! How do we know they don't? Do we actually go out and ask the survivors: "Did prayer work?" We don't know.
But how many people offering "Thoughts and Prayers" actually do so, on behalf of prospective shooters? Do we pray for them? Aren't they the ones we should be praying for? And how do we know that such prayers haven't already turned down a score of prospective shooters?
We don't know.
This idea of "Thoughts and Prayers" may have become the rallying cry for an angry mob . . . the way that "Give us Barabbas!" ushered in History's greatest crime. It can be anything . . . when it comes to mob mentality.
But God Himself occupies a very quiet and private place . . . the heart of a devout man or woman. Thoughts and Prayers may be uttered there.
And they'll do worlds of good.
And nobody will ever know it.
- From Psalm 51
The Man or Woman of God is a solitary soul. He ascends a mountain, alone, to pray and commune with the Father. She finds herself alone, the only one serving, at the Master's feet. He is laughed at and mocked by scores of false prophets. She is the only one left in Jericho, with the desire and a plan to help the Hebrews take it.
The LORD, Himself, was a Man of Sorrows. By the time He set his sights on Jerusalem, his crowd had dwindled down to a dozen or so . . . and even they dispersed when it got real.
An angry mob stirred itself up against Him, and delivered Him to the Cross.
The Crossroad always starts with a crowd . . . but it ends with a Single Person. The world's solutions; it's causes, it's passions . . . always start with a crowd, but ends with an overwhelming gang, that feeds on its own anger.
Thoughts and Prayers, for public consumption, are meaningless. But one devout and sincere Woman of God, secretly locking herself away in her study, can think about the victims of a mass shooting, and then say a prayer for them. Yet without drawing any attention to herself, she will have done more than twelve nightly newscasts.
Thoughts and prayers for the victims do work! How do we know they don't? Do we actually go out and ask the survivors: "Did prayer work?" We don't know.
But how many people offering "Thoughts and Prayers" actually do so, on behalf of prospective shooters? Do we pray for them? Aren't they the ones we should be praying for? And how do we know that such prayers haven't already turned down a score of prospective shooters?
We don't know.
This idea of "Thoughts and Prayers" may have become the rallying cry for an angry mob . . . the way that "Give us Barabbas!" ushered in History's greatest crime. It can be anything . . . when it comes to mob mentality.
But God Himself occupies a very quiet and private place . . . the heart of a devout man or woman. Thoughts and Prayers may be uttered there.
And they'll do worlds of good.
And nobody will ever know it.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Thoughts and Prayers Pt II
... call upon him while he is near.
- From Isaiah 55
Isaiah 55 is a great passage full of optimism and promise.
It is certain: God's plan will be completed. His Word is like seed. He speaks, and it goes forth. It is planted in the ground, in a process that is disruptive to the soil. At the micro level, the ground is churned up, violently, causing havoc to countless microscopic ecosystems. Rain waters come, and choke out billions of lives while enriching the soft loam. What kills over here, brings life over there . . . yet even the organisms killed benefits from the continuous cycle.
The sun begins to provide it's energy to the budding life, which enlivens the growth process and creates new essential nutrients. But in so doing, the soil is dried and hardened, which makes life impossible for other members of the biome . . . for now.
But the end is life . . . Life. Universal, neverending Life. To understand God's plan, just look at the rain cycle. Or really, anything in Nature. It is one way in which He instructs us.
Thoughts and Prayers work. But Isaiah pleads with us to ask God, and seek Him out, when He's near. This means there are times when He is not near. Our hearts have to be ready and open. Our ears must be listening, and our hands and feet must be ready to go where He leads, and do what He directs.
Just as God can be near to a person, so can He be near to a nation.
Is our nation open to God? Would He draw near to us now, when we need Him the most? Or do we hear, more clearly, the words of people like Neal deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, or that super popular high school teacher that always hashtags "Thoughts and Prayers don't work"?
Who are we hearing? deGrasse Tyson feels welcome and empowered across the fruited plane.
But does God?
Even if God is not near . . . let us at least act as if He is. Because where He is, or whatever He is doing . . . His plan is clearly, constantly, being rolled out.
- From Isaiah 55
Isaiah 55 is a great passage full of optimism and promise.
It is certain: God's plan will be completed. His Word is like seed. He speaks, and it goes forth. It is planted in the ground, in a process that is disruptive to the soil. At the micro level, the ground is churned up, violently, causing havoc to countless microscopic ecosystems. Rain waters come, and choke out billions of lives while enriching the soft loam. What kills over here, brings life over there . . . yet even the organisms killed benefits from the continuous cycle.
The sun begins to provide it's energy to the budding life, which enlivens the growth process and creates new essential nutrients. But in so doing, the soil is dried and hardened, which makes life impossible for other members of the biome . . . for now.
But the end is life . . . Life. Universal, neverending Life. To understand God's plan, just look at the rain cycle. Or really, anything in Nature. It is one way in which He instructs us.
Thoughts and Prayers work. But Isaiah pleads with us to ask God, and seek Him out, when He's near. This means there are times when He is not near. Our hearts have to be ready and open. Our ears must be listening, and our hands and feet must be ready to go where He leads, and do what He directs.
Just as God can be near to a person, so can He be near to a nation.
Is our nation open to God? Would He draw near to us now, when we need Him the most? Or do we hear, more clearly, the words of people like Neal deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, or that super popular high school teacher that always hashtags "Thoughts and Prayers don't work"?
Who are we hearing? deGrasse Tyson feels welcome and empowered across the fruited plane.
But does God?
Even if God is not near . . . let us at least act as if He is. Because where He is, or whatever He is doing . . . His plan is clearly, constantly, being rolled out.
Monday, February 19, 2018
When?
Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?"
- From Matthew 25
The first meaningful division of humanity will occur at the return of Christ. Every denomination or partisan group, prior to that time, is pointless. In the end, there will be just two groups of humanity: The eternal ones, and the finite ones.
The passages is fraught with multiples layers and colorings. It makes a variety of points with just a few phrases:
- From Matthew 25
The first meaningful division of humanity will occur at the return of Christ. Every denomination or partisan group, prior to that time, is pointless. In the end, there will be just two groups of humanity: The eternal ones, and the finite ones.
The passages is fraught with multiples layers and colorings. It makes a variety of points with just a few phrases:
- Christ places His family in priority over others
- There's a right, and a left
- Well, there is one division that matters prior to judgment: "nations."
- It is implied that one nation may be more favored than another
- Caring for others, is paramount
This visiting of prisoners and the sick, of feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, of welcoming strangers . . . this is serious stuff, and when the chips are down, in both testaments, it really is the only thing God really cares about, when it comes to behaviors and attitudes that will save you.
And when you're taking care of the people right there in your midst: your family, your neighbors . . . you won't have time for politics, or social justice, or being part of some mass movement.
The people on the left (the goats), ask Christ when He was sick, in prison, etc., and they didn't take care of Him?
You see . . . those on the left had reason to believe that they had, indeed, cared for Christ. They built him a big church. They ran programs in the community. They voted for tax increases so that the poor could be helped.
But Christ asks "Did you do it for the least of these?" In other words . . . did you show love for the really invisible ones? The unattractive ones that are really hurting? The ones that don't make the national news? Or was it all for show? Were you happy letting others do your dirty work for you, as long as you got the credit for having antagonistic bumper stickers?
Nobody knows the ones that are really serving Christ . . . because they do it quietly, in the shadows, and they don't get drawn into stupid arguments.
Don't go into judgment day not sure whether or not you actually helped people.
Real people.
With real needs.
With a personal touch.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
God's Zone
. . . in order to bring you to God.
- From 1 Peter 3
It is very important to God, that you be in a place where He can fellowship with you.
God is a very happy person. He loves life. He loves creation. He loves the buoyancy of being with other intelligent and wonderful beings like Himself.
People like us.
We have been fearfully and wonderfully made. We are in God's own image. He wanted people that He could relate to, and that could relate to Him. And He wanted there to be a growing, and infinite number of beings like Himself, to make the possibilities for wonder, joy and fulfillment to be infinite
We all know what it's like to be part of a great team, or in a group of friends, or a family, that is highly functional. In sports it's called "being in the zone." In the world of music, one writer called it "The Inner Game of Music."
There is magic when we do things beyond ourselves, when we connect with others into new synergies. And when we reach for the highest point of knowledge, achievement, or morality, and attain it. It's a great feeling. You feel more alive than ever, and it is indescribable.
God wants that for us. Imagine being in God's Zone.
So Christ went through an awful lot, to get us there. His job was to "bring us to God."
Wow. He had to go out, and in some cases, drag us to God, kicking and screaming. Because, for whatever reason, we prefer the pain, and misery, and death, of being apart from God.
Whatever.
Some people choose the run away from God . . . towards death and frustration.
In God's zone, there are no childish adults ruining a good thing. There are no stupid arguments. No broken families. No unfriending. No idiotic political campaigns. No disease and no discord over immunizations or organic diets.
No forms of entertainment that glorify sex and violence. No people desperate to change who they are, neither surgically nor chemically.
In God's Zone, there are no wild shooters.
Christ did what he had to do, to bring us there.
- From 1 Peter 3
It is very important to God, that you be in a place where He can fellowship with you.
God is a very happy person. He loves life. He loves creation. He loves the buoyancy of being with other intelligent and wonderful beings like Himself.
People like us.
We have been fearfully and wonderfully made. We are in God's own image. He wanted people that He could relate to, and that could relate to Him. And He wanted there to be a growing, and infinite number of beings like Himself, to make the possibilities for wonder, joy and fulfillment to be infinite
We all know what it's like to be part of a great team, or in a group of friends, or a family, that is highly functional. In sports it's called "being in the zone." In the world of music, one writer called it "The Inner Game of Music."
There is magic when we do things beyond ourselves, when we connect with others into new synergies. And when we reach for the highest point of knowledge, achievement, or morality, and attain it. It's a great feeling. You feel more alive than ever, and it is indescribable.
God wants that for us. Imagine being in God's Zone.
So Christ went through an awful lot, to get us there. His job was to "bring us to God."
Wow. He had to go out, and in some cases, drag us to God, kicking and screaming. Because, for whatever reason, we prefer the pain, and misery, and death, of being apart from God.
Whatever.
Some people choose the run away from God . . . towards death and frustration.
In God's zone, there are no childish adults ruining a good thing. There are no stupid arguments. No broken families. No unfriending. No idiotic political campaigns. No disease and no discord over immunizations or organic diets.
No forms of entertainment that glorify sex and violence. No people desperate to change who they are, neither surgically nor chemically.
In God's Zone, there are no wild shooters.
Christ did what he had to do, to bring us there.
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Thoughts and Prayers
...save your servant who puts his trust in you.
- From Psalm 86
Here, the Psalmist seems solitary . . . speaking to the Lord, one to one. There are no expansive hymns of praise or worship to the Lord of the Universe. Just a set of statements, simple affirmations of trust in the Lord that watches over me. Not "us," but "me." This Psalm is very personal.
Is that selfish? No, I think not. We cannot control what goes on in other people's heads and hearts. And, as on commercial flights that are in trouble, you take care of yourself first. Only then, are you equipped to make others safe.
There's a natural principle in there: The best way to save the most lives, is to first save your own.
Now this does not negate acts of heroism and sacrifice. Notice the point is to save the most lives.
Salvation works like this: You cannot bring others to Christ (save them) until you have come to Christ (save yourself). Because you have to be a pathfinder. People are more willing to follow someone else, someone that is between them and danger.
When we say "thoughts and prayers" after every great disaster, both natural and man-made, we are inevitably met with a wave of ridicule. "Thoughts and prayers don't save lives."
But, what if I pray as the Psalmist is, here? What if I thank God for protecting me, for guiding me, and saving me? This is both a recognition of God's authority, as well as an equipping of myself, to go in and face danger; to put myself between the danger and others.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the victims" should also be a pledge and confirmation that I am ready and willing to save lives from now on.
- From Psalm 86
Here, the Psalmist seems solitary . . . speaking to the Lord, one to one. There are no expansive hymns of praise or worship to the Lord of the Universe. Just a set of statements, simple affirmations of trust in the Lord that watches over me. Not "us," but "me." This Psalm is very personal.
Is that selfish? No, I think not. We cannot control what goes on in other people's heads and hearts. And, as on commercial flights that are in trouble, you take care of yourself first. Only then, are you equipped to make others safe.
There's a natural principle in there: The best way to save the most lives, is to first save your own.
Now this does not negate acts of heroism and sacrifice. Notice the point is to save the most lives.
Salvation works like this: You cannot bring others to Christ (save them) until you have come to Christ (save yourself). Because you have to be a pathfinder. People are more willing to follow someone else, someone that is between them and danger.
When we say "thoughts and prayers" after every great disaster, both natural and man-made, we are inevitably met with a wave of ridicule. "Thoughts and prayers don't save lives."
But, what if I pray as the Psalmist is, here? What if I thank God for protecting me, for guiding me, and saving me? This is both a recognition of God's authority, as well as an equipping of myself, to go in and face danger; to put myself between the danger and others.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the victims" should also be a pledge and confirmation that I am ready and willing to save lives from now on.
Lord in Heaven - You are God, and You are in charge.
You are greater than the worst disaster to strike humanity.
Thank you, God, for saving me, and protecting me, today. Thank you for protecting my family.
I pray for the victims today - - - unfortunate souls that got in the way of Satan's evil, and paid the ultimate price.
I pray for their families.
Lord, place an image of suffering families, in my mind, and on my heart.
Let me not look past them, when I come across them in public.
Let me not ignore the words of pain and loss shared with me.
Father - - - if there is a young man somewhere, bitter and angry about life; about loss, and rejection; if there is a desperate and lonely person out there, who is starting to believe that the only answer, for him, is to lash out violently at others that seem more happy than he, and he wants to give them what he thinks they deserve, then, please . . .
Send that young man to me . . . and fill my spirit with the presence of Christ. In my loving and caring response to him. may he see Christ, and may he lay both his defenses, and his weapons, down.
Father, You have spared me, so that perhaps I can be Your agent in the world, to catch these falling souls and point them back to You.
Open my eyes to see the pain, the hurt, the loneliness, the sadness, and the desperation in the souls of Your most troubled children. Place me between my loved ones and danger.
In Jesus Name . . . Amen.
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