hedges and walls

There is a lot of bad stuff going on in our world... I read about it in the news and see it on TV: foreign wars, gang-banging, murders...

and I learn about stuff in my own little myopic world: families crumbling.... cancer progressing... moms leaving, daddies cheating...

and it is hard to reconcile all this... it's difficult to understand... I want to apply a 'cause' to every 'effect', but it doesn't always add up.

yeah, I suppose one could see (through 20/20 hindsight, of course) how this flirtation or that stray look or that 'what if' thought could lead to cheating and disappointment and hurt and separation. ...or how ignoring the family to climb one more ladder rung could lead to resentment and loss.

but what do I do with a 17 yr old in a coma after a car accident which he couldn't avoid? or a dying momma succumbing to the ravages of cancer?

I am not sure.

But I pray every day that God continue to build a hedge around my family... and that His Spirit give me strength to fortify the wall around my heart with prayer and Bible study.

At the end of the day, I just have to understand that I don't understand. So I have to fix my mind on Him and surround myself with His people and do everything in my power to stay vigilant and watchful... to avoid temptation when I see it and pray God's protection when I don't see it.

and i have to believe He is in control. ....that the sovereign God of the universe who sent His only Son to die for me knows what I need. and provides it.

Blessings!

Jonathan Richardson remembered

I met him only a couple times at family gatherings.

Technically speaking, he was my step-nephew. My daddy married his grandma 12 years ago after we lost momma to lung cancer.

Last Tuesday he was warming his hands by the fire at the Army Base in Khost, Afghanistan, when a Taliban suicide bomber dressed as an Afghan Police officer walked up and pulled the ripcord on his bomb vest, ending the lives of Jonathan and his best friend... two more American Soldiers in their mid twenties who joined the growing number of Americans killed in action in operation Enduring Freedom.

Jonathan leaves behind a wife and a momma and brother.

He was a decorated Soldier who died way to young in a place which is, by definition, God-forsaken.

I am not politically active anymore. And this is not the time or place to rant about the 'why'...

I simply want to honor Jonathan: another hero who came home from this war to be buried and remembered.

You are missed here, my young friend. terribly missed.

I know the angels are celebrating your arrival there. And from that we will gain peace.

God Bless

what goodbye looks like

I saw what a 70 year goodbye looks like yesterday.

After the mourners paid their respects and made their exit, it was just the family.

and after the nieces and nephews and cousins and son and daughter said their farewell, it was Jimmy's turn.

'til death do us part.

it takes on a new meaning when you watch a broken man say goodbye to the only love he ever knew.

The music had long since stopped playing...

and finally it was just this frail old beautiful man... touching the face and hands of his beloved best friend. Sobbing openly and loudly... pouring out the contents of his heart. Bidding farewell to his bride of almost 70 years.

It was a very sobering and lovely moment.

And if I live to be 120 years old, I will never forget it.

compromised immune system

When I was a boy, mom and dad smoked. A lot. When you walked from room to room, you could actually see the 'clouds' part as you cut through them... sorta like a jet airplane leaving those cool swirly contrails as it knifes through fog...

Most everyone's parents smoked. It was the thing to do... I mean, think of how popular a gift the ashtray was... How would you like to own an ashtray company today?

Anyhow, a few weeks ago, my family was passing around a winter headcold... they're very thoughtful that way. and, of course, I caught it.

But because my momma and daddy smoked for all 18 of my years at home, a simple head cold descended into my compromised lungs and became bronchitis, heading toward pneumonia. And I did what I have done at least once a year for most of my adult life: I went to the doctor, got a steroid shot, started on a high-powered antibiotic and a codeine-laced cough syrup and laid in bed for a couple days while God and the medicine did their work.

It's miserable. It's not end-of-the-world miserable (though my wife will tell you I am the BIGGEST BABY on the planet... and she's right!), but it is very very unpleasant.

and it got me to thinking... how many of my peers and fellow adults are smoking around their kids and grand kids. I think I will start preaching my message to every idiot who lights up in a confined space - like a car - with a child inside... yeah, I think I will...

but it also got me to thinking something else... when we are 'surrounded' and daily bombarded with spiritual pollution, what long-term affects might that have?

I mean, if my lungs are indeed unable to defend themselves against a common head cold - like most peoples' lungs can easily do - how bout my soul? How is THAT affected by all the 'smoke' I have inhaled (wittingly or not) over the years?

That's the thing with sin. You may think you are maintaining a perfectly healthy defense system... but all the while you are letting junk into your mind that erodes and corrupts your spiritual immune system.

'minor' temptations then become not so minor. and falling into habitual sin becomes much more possible...

what antibiotic do you take then? what shot do you get? How do you undo the damage from all the garbage you have allowed to enter your soul?

here's the deal with my lungs... I asked the doc if there was anything I could do to repair whatever damage has been done. I was a little bit scared to learn that there is not. I will always have a compromised respiratory system because of what I was exposed to when I was a boy. Period.

thankfully, God does give us a salve that can heal. I pray daily that God will remove the bad things from my 'soulmemory' that I have exposed my heart to over the years... and His Word is a healing balm that WILL undo what damage we have done.

Thank God!

From Eternity to Here

My First Frank Viola book was Pagan Christianity, and it gave me a voracious appetite to read whatever else Mr Viola had to say on the subject of 'church'.

and I have not been disappointed! His books speak to my heart in a way that no other writings on the subject ever have... and I suspect I am not alone. I am 47 years old and, like most of my friends, woke up a decade or so ago to ask "is this it?"

I was 'raised in the church' like most of my peer group... but always felt like what I was 'doing' - which consisted of spending an inordinate amount of time deciding and executing what was done at a building 2 hours a week - was empty and relatively meaningless.

Mr Viola hits me right between the eyes with each of the books I have read... and 'from eternity to here' (like his other books) does not simply sit back and take potshots at organized religion, it gives terrific, real, relevant, Biblical insight to the burning question of my day: "what IS church?"

I highly recommend this book to any serious seeker of the Way!

Blessings!

the Message

So my friend Doyne introduced me to a new (to me) version of the Word... it is called the Message... many of you have heard of it.... I had.

But I hadn't read it until a few weeks ago... and I gotta admit I am hooked!

Some will argue that it is a watered down version... others, no doubt, will call it a per-version (instead of a 'version'... cute play on words, don't you think?) The latter group are the same ilk who once stated that 'NIV' would be more aptly titled the 'HIV' because it is a virus... (yeah, I know... sorta blasphemous, huh?)

anyhow, it occurred to me yesterday - during a sermon which culminated with the 'fruit of the spirit' in Galatians 5 - why this version may be so good. It certainly speaks to the heart of most seekers.... it is in plain language and is very easy to read and simple to understand (sorta like the Gospel, right?)

but the one piece of it which I believe makes 'the Message' very important is this:

it speaks about concepts instead of lists

which drives the anal retentive (like me) absolutely nuts!

I like lists! I crave them!

and my old KJV (and even, to a lesser extent, my NIV) really does an incredible job of satisfying my 'list hunger'...

but yesterday, while I was listening to the preacher - who read from the NIV while I followed in my 'message' - it hit me! Here is the difference:

NIV:
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage; selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

now there are some GREAT LISTS! and pretty easy to understand, no doubt.... but we like lists SO MUCH that we memorize the list... we write tunes to go with them so we can sing them in Children's Church! (and there is nothing wrong with that....) but...

I believe with all that is in me that Paul is NOT trying to provide us with an exhaustive list of 'bad things' that we must avoid... he is drawing a character sketch, describing for us the types of things unGodly people habitually DO which makes them WHO they ARE! (obviously we want to avoid becoming THAT way, so we will run away from everything on the 'list'...)

nor is he trying to give us a complete list of all good things... he is painting a masterpiece of what a Godly person looks like by listing a sampling of what Godly people DO which makes them WHO they ARE!

here is the Message's "take" on Galatians 5:19-23:
"It is obvious what kind of life develops from trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods, magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness, cut-throat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied-wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits, the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community; I could go on. This isn't the first time I've warned you, you know... If you use your freedom in this way, you will not inherit God's Kingdom.
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about."

Harder to make a song out of that, I know.... but I believe it paints an accurate picture of a Godly person versus an unGodly one.

I am certain that Bible Scholars will not agree with my assessment of 'the Message'. I wouldn't expect them to.... they are paid to make lists and test students on those lists...

I am no longer certain that any of THAT matters.

I am fearful that we have replaced the Bible command to 'engraft' the word in our hearts (James 1:21) with the rote memorization of lists from a particular Bible translation... we have become those Pharisees Jesus talks about in harsh tones who 'pray to be seen by men' and 'wear their phylacteries (scripture boxes) on their heads for all to see....'

I don't know that 'the Message' will change any of that.... but this version speaks to my heart... it reads like a novel, and I cannot put it down!

Blessings!

grace growers

we've all got em'.

grace growers... you may not know it, but you've got 'em...

don't believe me?

take this test:

• Is there someone in my life that make my life more difficult?
• Does it seem like no matter where I go or what I do, THAT person is there, testing my patience?

yeah, me too....

and until last week, I looked at that person with.... well.... let's say my attitude toward that person was less than great. (OK, I wished they would move away from here and that I would NEVER have to see them again!) sorry. that's how I felt.

but last week a friend was describing a person in her life that was an absolute thorn in her side... consistently and continually.

but she did not describe this person as her nemesis or as an enemy or as the devil (all descriptions which I have used for MY thorn)... she described HER thorn as a grace grower.

yep, a grace grower.... someone who God places (and keeps) in your life to teach you grace.

wow. grace growers...

we've all got 'em... and God is using them to teach us. He's using mine to teach me... to be merciful and gracious and forgiving. and less judgemental and less harsh...

James says we should count it as pure joy when we are tried. I never made the connection between THAT and my grace grower..... til now.

it doesn't make it any more pleasant for me.... but maybe pleasant is not exactly what God has for me... perhaps pleasant is not what I need.

(you see 'em differently now, don't you? maybe you see them a little more like God does....)

blessings!