Parkview Blog

The harvest is in. Give thanks!

2005-11-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

PA Thanksgiving

Luke 21:1ff -- Stewardship of life

2005-11-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

Parkview Presbyterian Church 11-13-05 [1st Stewardship Sunday]
Loy D. Mershimer
Luke 21:1-4: “A Stewardship of Life”

Today’s text offers us another mystery of Jesus. Jesus sits by the Temple donation box with the disciples. Together they watch the processions of givers, some blowing their horns of announcement, others dropping in small fortunes and valued heirlooms, basking in the awe of bystanders…ostentations givers receiving due reward of crowd and glory.

In the midst of this fanfare, Jesus catches the disciples’ attention. “Look!” He said. There, behind the crowd, walked a humble widow…shawl draped around her face, head bowed low…weak from lack of nutrition and care. Slowly and quietly she approached the box, and dropped in two pennies.

The she quickly stepped away, melted into the crowd…and was gone.

Then Jesus turned to His disciples: “Truly, I tell you,” He said. “This poor widow has put in more than all the rest.”

More than all the rest!

What? Lord, we have eyes. We can see and we can count. We’ve seen the riches poured into that box today; we’ve heard the trumpets and applause. Now you try to tell us these two pennies from a poor widow are worth more than all that? Lord, have you lost it? :-)

Here again, Jesus stands over against our human wisdom. And if we look deeply into His words…we may just find that we are the crazy ones, not Him.

There’s something about the way we give and receive that shows our hearts.

This text mysteriously offers us key lessons of stewardship and life, as Jesus sits beside the Temple treasury box today…and looks at our hearts. He offers three mysteries which define true giving and show us ourselves.

The first mystery is that true giving comes from the heart. It is not motivated by return or reward.

True giving comes from the heart: Jesus words about the two pennies only make sense if there is some other calculus involved, a value system not of this world.

And that is the case. Perhaps we can better understand this concept if we look at it on a human level, and what it means to receive a gift. Let’s flip this for a moment, from giving to receiving…and see how the heart is involved in receiving.

Dr. R. W. Bulois, executive director of the New Destiny Treatment Center in Clinton, OH, tells us helping a homeless man recently.

In the November issue of the New Destiny newsletter, Dr. Bulois tells of walking to his car in a university parking lot, where he was accosted by a man asking for assistance. The man asked if he could provide a meal and a night’s lodging. Dr. Bulois looked in his wallet only to discover that he was down to his last 10 dollars.

But he handed the man the ten dollars anyway. “Here,” he said. “It’s all I have.” “You can surely get a meal for that!”

Dr. Bulois says that he will never forget how the man looked at him [in disgust]. “Are you sure you don’t have more?” the guy said.

“Yes, I’m sure,” he responded.

“You don’t care if a man has to sleep outside, as long as you have a nice warm home!” retorted the homeless man. “What good can ten dollars do me?”

Stunned, Dr. Bulois could only blink…and watch…as the man walked down the street with his last ten dollars. [1]

Only a true heart can receive a true gift. We see that in daily life. Now, Jesus shows us a higher level on that same order: Only a true heart can give a true gift. And, a true gift, though small in price, is somehow greater than the largess of larger, false gifts.

There is a divine calculus at work in these two pennies. These two pennies bring the worth of heaven into the world. These two pennies, which required a giving of the heart to heaven, released the power of heaven back into the world.

This is first thing Jesus highlights in true giving. It is from the heart, not motivated by return or reward.

Secondly, also mysteriously, He shows us that true giving comes from the essence of our life, not the excess.

Here is another hint that Jesus gives on the calculus of heaven. Verse 4: All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.

Heaven considers the heart; heaven also considers the substance: was this gift given out of the essence of life, or the excess?

This principle, when honestly applied, is so convicting. It has convicted me! So we ask, in the light and power of the Spirit:

Have we consciously eaten one less meal at a fancy restaurant because of the need in the world, or need in our church?

Have we taken one less expensive vacation? Or denied ourselves one less status symbol or one less luxury?

Until we have done even that one thing, the widow stands in judgment upon us. She gave from her want, we give from our excess.

We give God the tithe, and rightfully so, but a true tithe reveals a life of stewardship, where the whole is ordered in light of God’s call, God’s will for our world. If we view the tithe as a bargain with God whereby we can give a fraction and then spend the remainder on our own desires and programs, outside His intent, then we’ve missed the point of tithe: stewardship of life in God.

With a widow’s poverty, Jesus shows us that true giving comes from the essence, not the excess.

And finally, Jesus reveals a third mystery: true giving releases the intent of heaven, as a gift is matched by a life.

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said. “This poor widow has put in more than all the rest.”

Again, how was it more? How exactly could two copper coins be more than all the gold and silver dropped in the treasury that day? It was more only if heaven made up the difference, only if God was now in the venture instead of just human resource!

And that is precisely the case.

God never intended the tithe to be given in human strength, for human purposes. It was given as a sign of God’s sovereignty over the whole, which would bring the prosperity of God’s law and God’s rule into their world.

Thus, God comes to Israel and asks [in Malachi 3]: “Will you rob God?”

They had withheld the tithes. But what did this mean? Earlier God emphatically told them [Ps. 50], “I don’t need your food; I don’t need your money.” “If I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you…!” So what does this mean, ‘rob God?’ Will God go hungry?

No. It doesn’t mean God will go hungry. On the first level, it clearly means they haven’t honored God with their giving. But, in context, as we dig a little deeper, it reveals that they haven’t honored God with their lives. The tithes only told the story of what their hearts practiced: absence of God.

So the heavens were shut. God says in the strongest language: “The land is under a curse” [Malachi 3:9]. In their lack of giving, the resources of heaven were locked out. Drought, famine, blight and ruin were the physical signs. All their riches couldn’t give them what God intended with just a fraction, just a tithe, a life in order to goodness.

It is this weight that is behind Jesus’ words at the Temple treasury box. “I tell you the truth; she has given more than all the rest…” Jesus words were mysterious, yet so convicting that the disciples tried to change the subject. I would have tried to change the subject, too! Imagine the weight of the prophets and the failure of the people coming down in one sentence! And so they changed the subject [v. 5].

“Teacher, isn’t this a beautiful edifice!” “Look at these wonderful stones and intricate works of gold. Aren’t we enjoying our worship today?” :-)

But Jesus went to straight to the heart [v. 6ff].

‘I tell you, ‘The day is coming when not one of these stones will be left upon another.’ Prepare your hearts! Live, and give, truly…

‘Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit…’ ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the LORD Almighty.

‘Test me in this,’ says the Lord still today. Test me like this and see if it will make a difference for hurricanes, for tsunamis, for famine, fire and flood. See if it will make a difference for natural disaster, terror, and the orphan march of AIDS…

If we bring our lives, our giving in line with heaven, we just may be the ones that stand in the gap of our world’s destruction. We are not playing little games of stewardship. This is the reason of our birth and the purpose of our lives.

Through Malachi, the Lord speaks:
“I the LORD do not change...” “Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
“In tithes and offerings,” He answers.

In the offering of life…we return to the God who makes our offerings more than life.

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.”

May we enter this mystery with our whole hearts, and thus share the blessing of heaven with our world…

Amen!

______________________

Dr. R.W. Bulois, “Whatever happened to ‘Thank you?,” Destiny vol. 40 no. 11, November 2005.

True friend

2005-11-12T20:16:00.000-08:00

2 Peter 3:3ff -- The Slowness of God

2005-10-28T18:50:00.000-07:00

Parkview Presbyterian Church 10-23-05
Loy Mershimer
2 Peter 3:3-9: “The Slowness of God”

Have you ever noticed how the timing of God makes it hard to believe, sometimes?
In today’s text, some people say that they cannot believe the promise of God because of the slowness of God. In verse 4 they…say, “Where is this ‘coming’ He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

Catch the basis for doubt? “Things continue as they have been; we cannot see a difference, therefore there is no promise…” They didn’t accept the reign [return] of Christ because they just couldn’t see it reflected in current life.

This is the attitude of the scoffer, or skeptic, but it highlights an important human principle: Many times, the timing of God is a stumbling block for humans. Sometimes we cannot accept God’s promise because we do not understand His timing.

As a child, waiting for Christmas, sometimes my brothers and sister and I didn’t wait patiently. Sometimes we even tried to sneak a preview of packages under the tree, feeling, shaking, or even opening small corners. It seemed so long to have to wait! However, we children didn’t lose faith, because we could always compare the promise of the gifts under the tree with a calendar on the wall. And we marked the days down. And we were the first ones up on Christmas morning! :-)

But, something happens in grown-up life, where we can’t mark off the promise by a calendar, and so we stumble… Even for people of faith, we sometimes feel like children who have a hint of Christmas, but no calendar to track it with…a sense of promise, but no guarantee of December 25th. The answer doesn’t come when we expect it...

So the scoffer’s voice echoes inside our own head: Where is His promise? Everything goes on as usual, doesn’t it? Where is the answer?

It is a human question, for which the text offers two profound answers: One, God does not view time like we do; and two, God’s slowness is related to His work in us, and will for us.

First answer: God does not view time as we do [v. 8].
Verse 8: But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

We view time in linear fashion, in terms of hours spent waiting for answers…
But God views time as an event, and relates to us from eternity.

There is a lot wrapped up in this statement: in Scripture, those who dared to relate to God as eternity transcended time, in some way. The children of Israel did not have their feet swell or garments wear out as long as they trusted God in the wilderness. Abraham and Sarah brought forth a child of destiny long after time had declared it impossible. And, Caleb conquered giants in physical battle, long past retirement age…

God does not view time as we do, and we can relate to eternity by relating to God. This is the first answer, profound in its own right. The second answer adds even more mystery:

God’s slowness is related to His work in us [v. 8-9].
With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The answer is quite stunning: The slowness of God is related to the salvation of God.

God does not view outcomes in terms of time, as we do, but in terms of character and future. He views slowness in light of inner goodness. Thus Scripture views the slowness of God as the mercy of God, a form of His wise justice. God delays His promise so that we can be ready for its fulfillment, its appearance…not as enemies, but friends.

When we are vexed with the timing of God, when we stumble at His apparent slowness of answer, it is then that we should see His salvation at work in us, and in our world. The delay of God is the intended deliverance of God.

Here is a spiritual principle at work: When we open to the timing of God, we participate in His salvation, as a partner…not as a rebellious child, or enemy.

Again, referencing my childhood: Before taking family trips, our parents would warn us: “Behave, or else!” Now, we could take the trip one of two ways. We could go by a childish program…kick and fuss and complain and start arguments…and be miserable; or, we could listen up, go with the wise program, and get a lot out of the journey. I’ve taken trips both ways…trust me, it’s better the obedient way! :-)

This is just a small illustration of accepting the timing of God. As children of God we can actually participate in divine salvation, as a partner, benefiting from the journey and contributing to it.

These answers offer us a powerful operating principle of life: God will keep His promises, so trust. Live as if you expect God to keep His promises…

The same God that created this world out of water will take it away in fire. That much is true, so we live as unto the final day, trusting the delay in the goodness of God. This relates to all of our life and becomes a way of life – not only trusting God for the just consummation of this world, but trusting Him for consummation in our personal life, providing the things of need and promise.

Note: For entire sermon email Parkview [email on info page].

Autumn maple leaf

2005-10-13T21:29:00.000-07:00

Malawi facing famine

2005-10-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

Malawi is facing a famine...a famine quietly stalking under world radar, but deadly serious. Kamana says that Malawi is potentially "the next Niger."

Karen Allen, BBC correspondent in Malawi, relates some of the issues in this article:

The main government maize market in Mulanje is packed.

It is seven o clock in the morning and many Malawians we stumble across have been queueing for days. Queueing on empty stomachs and with bare feet.

Mothers whose breast milk has dried up due to lack of food, jostle for space, their babies strapped to their backs in the traditional African way.

Occasionally a scuffle breaks out as some hungry person, accused of pushing in, is plucked from the queue by police officers.

These are Malawi's poorest people - unable to buy maize on the open market where prices have doubled in recent months. Stocks in the main government markets are diminishing fast, so they're starting to impose rations.

Emerging food crisis

The worse harvest in a decade and failed rains are being blamed for what aid agencies warn is a rapidly emerging food crisis. What is making matters worse is HIV/Aids. One in seven people in Malawi is affected and it is fuelling the problem of extreme hunger.

Money that households would normally spend on buying seed and fertiliser, is being spent on transporting the sick to hospital and buying basic medicine instead.

Malawians, particularly in the parched south of the country, are well used to hardship, but their ability to cope is being severely eroded.

Read the article here. Also, related article here, where UN appeal for relief found no response.

We need to be aware of the developments and participate in intervention: Pray and act, and not pass by on the other side of the road...

autumn ivy leaf

2005-09-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

Vashti's summer project a success!

2005-09-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

Vashti was commission to do a Chicago mural this summer, and chose her theme as the Pullman porters -- with their grand tradition, proud heritage and parade-ground exactness. She worked several personal themes into the mural, incorporating the metaphor of African American Chicago with her childhood home.

It is a very blessed piece of artwork, expressing Vashti's prayer for dignity of life and a return to what Dr. King called 'moral values of the absolute.'

It is encouraging to hear Vashti talk about the piece, and the providential significance surrounding it! This truly is a success in every sense of the word.

God bless you, Vashti! Carry on a noble theme!

Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005

2005-08-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

If not now, when...?

Yellow Horse forwarded me a note today, dealing with the Indian Trust Reform Act of 2005. This is a bill (S. 1439) introduced by Senators McCain (AZ) and Dorgan (ND) to repay as many as 500,000 American Indians whose money disappeared while in government accounts. This is a moral issue that "must be taken seriously by congressional leadership and the White House." It is a chance to right a long-standing wrong.

Some background of the ITRA 2005 (S. 1439):

Native families have been deprived of land and lease revenues for over a century, keeping many in stark poverty generation after generation. Financial audits, congressional and Government Accountability Office reports, and media investigations document that billions of dollars have been mismanaged and misappropriated. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals both have ruled in favor of the Individual Indian Money (IIM) account holders during the past decade. The district court judge has held three cabinet officers in contempt of court. At last, Congress is considering paying the debt... Your help will be crucial if justice is to occur.

Even knowing what we know of the U.S. dismal legacy in Indian affairs, the details of this scandal are still shocking, especially as we learn that abuses continue into the present. Congressional audits as early as 1915 showed mismanaged, lost, and pilfered Indian trust funds. Government agencies such as Interior and Treasury departments also put the money of Indian families into the general funds of the U.S. Frequently, Interior did not bother to collect the land-use money owed to Indian families from corporations or non-natives. Indian land was sold without permission... Since the start of a class action case brought nine years ago by Elouise Cobell to rectify the situation, hundreds of Interiors boxes of trust records have been lost or destroyed.

Interior officials continue to resist liability and repayment, but many in Congress are practical about clearing the books and others are concerned about ethical and legal responsibilities. All agree that reform is needed and some amount of repayment is required. S. 1439 proposes to take the billions owed from the off-budget Claims Judgment Fund which is used when the federal government makes mistakes and loses cases.

If you would like support this movement of restitution, please contact your senators and ask them to be co-sponsors of this bill. If they are already co-sponsors, please thank them and ask them to speak to their colleagues.

For more information or to donate, click here.

Get involved for restitution of more than words!

Protect Darfur: video for action

2005-08-28T21:12:00.000-07:00

Have a heart for Darfur

Rape is still perpetrated as a tool of terror and control. Young girls made pregnant, wives widowed, homes destroyed...good people silenced. Please click here to watch a four-minute Darfur video.

Armed elements in the Sudanese region of Darfur, including law enforcement officers and the military, continue to perpetrate rape and sexual violence, with authorities seemingly unable or unwilling to hold them accountable, a new United Nations Human Rights Commission report concludes.

We need more than words, but we need those! Raise your voices...spread the word that we need intervention on the ground -- armed guardian angels to protect the innocent lives.

David Morse links this genocide [and world silence] with oil, calling it 'a war of the future' waged in that sprawling desert region of northeastern Africa, where the 'weapons are not futuristic' or cutting edge. Rather, they are old, and future...with a twist:

No, this war is being fought with Kalashnikovs, clubs and knives. In the western region of Sudan known as Darfur, the preferred tactics are burning and pillaging, castration and rape -- carried out by Arab militias riding on camels and horses. The most sophisticated technologies deployed are, on the one hand, the helicopters used by the Sudanese government to support the militias when they attack black African villages, and on the other hand, quite a different weapon: the seismographs used by foreign oil companies to map oil deposits hundreds of feet below the surface.

Have a heart for Darfur.

Again: please click here to watch the four-minute Darfur video.

Pray for what God would have you do. And by all means, please do not be silent!

Amen.

UPDATE: If you cannot open that video link, click here.

Darfur needs protection

2005-08-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

Protect Darfur details the recent developments and continued non-intervention in Darfur. The U.S. is still culpable in its protective inaction, and American churches, by and large, are culpable in their collective silence. It is distressing that certain voices in the PCUSA are far more concerned about making political points against Israel than about standing against true oppression, evil and genocide...in places like Darfur [et al].

In Darfur, rape and sexual violence continue against the young girls. General violence is also unabated -- lesser, by degree, but ongoing. The culprits are still not apprehended -- nor condemned by 'prophetic' church voices...whose attention could make a difference...

Tomorrow is too late. We must speak today.

In the words of Dr. James M. Smith:

In a crisis, humanitarian aid and political settlement are necessary but not sufficient to prevent genocide. People also need protection.

Indeed!

Let's offer our prayers and voices, shall we?

[Hat tip: Michael Totten].

UPDATE: Oil and Sudan genocide.

Skydiver feels warm embrace

2005-08-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

Daniel Levi Cave is giving thanks for his life.

In his first ever, supposedly safe, static-line jump...something went terribly wrong. The chute failed to properly deploy, flipping in violent spirals as he hurtled toward death...3,500 feet down.

In the deathly free-fall, Daniel called out to God. He said, "God, I believe in you and I trust you. If there is any way I can see my family again, please help me out of here." He said instantly, something warm embraced him. He said it "felt like the biggest hug in the world."

And, somehow, he is alive...with only a broken jaw, broken leg, and some internal injuries.

Coming two days after another woman, Julia Bond, died in her first ever skydive, Daniel's story is remarkable indeed. Julia took a 'safe,' tandem jump with an skydive instructor on Sunday...and tragically, with her family members watching...didn't make it.

Coming this close together, we humanly wonder why God would answer the prayer of Daniel...and not that of Julia...who surely cried out to God on her way down.

Of course, we aren't guaranteed protection when we put God to the test -- we know that. But it doesn't take away the questions...

At least Daniel and his wife can thank God tonight!

You've got a prayer in Denver

2005-08-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we can use all the good news we can get...and today has some good news!

Singer Marc Cohn was shot last night, in an attempted car-jacking...but somehow miraculously survived as the bullet just 'grazed' his head.

Blogger Scott Hinderaker puts it this way:

You've got a prayer in Denver

In 1991 Marc Cohn broke into the big time with "Walking in Memphis," a song that spoke to a lot of hearts. For me, the highlight of the song was neither in the verses nor the chorus, but rather in the interlude featuring Al Green:

They've got catfish on the table,
They've got gospel in the air.
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer.
But boy you've got a prayer in Memphis.
Marc Cohn himself, however, apparently also has a prayer in Denver: "Grammy winner Marc Cohn shot in head." After a performance last night, Cohn's van was the subject of a botched carjacking and Cohn was shot flush in the temple. "Frankly, I can't tell you how he survived," the Denver police spokesman said. I think we can file this story under "today's good news."

Definitely good!

Sometimes we have more of a prayer than we think...

Luke 12:22ff -- The Lesson of the Lilies

2005-07-17T20:12:00.000-07:00

Luke 12:22-31: “The Lesson of the Lilies”

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these…

An amazing statement! Jesus says that the lilies of the field surpass the glory of Solomon. How can a humble flower surpass a great king?

Solomon’s coffers were filled with literally thousands of tons of gold. He had so much silver that its value plunged during his reign, replacing tin and cheap metals in common usage. His storage overflowed with the most expensive spices and cedar wood. He owned so many horses that he created a vast underground stable complex to house them. And wives? Well, we know about that. He took 700 wives and 300 concubines: 1,000 in all!

How then can it be said that a fragile flower, opening and bending with the sun, is greater in glory than Solomon? Isn’t this crazy talk?

It would seem so, except for the fact that it is Jesus who says these words!

When Jesus says ‘consider the lilies,’ He uses a word which means ‘to see with the mind, to see with the soul.’ In other words, if we can see with our heart, there is a spiritual lesson in the birds of the air and flowers of the field…a lesson of life and eternity.

There is a sense in which simple lilies surpass Solomon, in all his glory….all his pleasures and possessions. Here is high wisdom, if we can learn! What does Jesus mean when He says that the glory of the flower is greater than the glory of Solomon?

I think the first point Jesus is making is something about obedience, where the lilies and birds obey God naturally, doing what they were created to do. [1] However, humans often exercise their will away from God’s will, hindering creation intention. So there is a lesson of obedience…

Jesus is also saying something about trust, dependence and order [vv. 28-30].

If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.

This is a hard verse. Jesus immediately confuses us: What? ‘Do not seek what to eat, drink, or wear?’ Do not seek the things we need? Is Jesus real, here?

This is a difficult saying, where Jesus lifts up the unconditional trust of flowers and birds as an example for our lives…in some sense it is a mind-blowing statement. 'Do not seek...'

But Jesus gives two principles in this passage, abiding principles which give us some resolution, some insight to His inner meaning.

Principle one [v. 23]: “Life is more than food, body more than clothing.” Catch that? Life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Fact: The essence of life is more important that the possessions of life.

This is a principle of spiritual relation, eternal connection.

The second principle is a principle of focus, or direction [v. 31].

Verse 31: “But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Fact: All earthy things take their proper place in light of the kingdom.

When Jesus says ‘do not seek’ the things eat, drink and wear, He is NOT pretending that we have no need of these things. Jesus is very clear that the Father knows our needs. He is making the point that we should not take the same view of these things as pagans…

C. S. Lewis says something to the effect that if we [Christians] live at the same level of luxury as other people in our income level, we are probably sinning. Point: If we are living at same level of affluence as others in our income bracket, we are most likely spending our resources like the world…

Victor Shepherd notes that since the middle nineteenth century, each succeeding generation of North Americans has been, on average, about twice as wealthy as the preceding generation. Victor says,

I am twice as wealthy as my parents, four times as wealthy as my grandparents, and so on. In other words, people today have unprecedented disposable income. What do they spend it on? They spend it on pleasures, all manner of pleasures, hoping that one of the assorted pleasures – or all of them together – will give the joy that everyone craves, but only God can give. [2]

We have far more disposable income, but what do we spend it on? More toys, more leisure, more vacations, more possessions, more distractions…? With so many orphans and chained Christians in the world...?

Solomon turned toward the strivings of the world. Solomon turned his wisdom toward what is worn, what is eaten, tasted and pleasurable, and it became foolishness: light became darkness. Something in the excesses of Solomon went against his creation intention: in exercise of natural self he violated his true-intended self.

Solomon made his physical identity into a false self, the focus of his life, and destroyed his spiritual self. Thomas Merton says that our 'own self can became the obstacle to realizing our true self.’ Catch that? Our own self can become the obstacle to realizing our true self.

I think this is the inner meaning of Jesus’ words. Human glory is intended as true self in obedience to Creator -- like flowers, opening to the Son of Heaven. But humans can turn creation glory into something far less…something else, something self-referential and self-destructive -- something less than lilies.

Listen to Solomon’s descent into despair [Ecclesiastes 2:4-11]:

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well -- the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone…before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure…

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.

Solomon exercised his natural self for possessions and killed his true, creation self.

The flowers and birds exercise daily, utter dependence on God, and so teach us the path to true self: abandonment to kingdom.

And this is how Jesus applies the sermon: But seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

Seek the kingdom, wholeheartedly. Like the flowers of the field, God knows our needs, and offers us the Son of life. Like the birds of the air, the Spirit comes as the air beneath our wings. Our calling is to trust and obey, and find our creation nature, our true intended self…destiny and glory of the Divine.

This is the wisdom of the lily!

God grant it to our hearts.

Amen.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, teach me to be like a lily, daily growing in You, opening to your morning sun, and resting in your sustaining rain, your healing dew…

Lord Jesus, set my nature at one with You, cause me to be my true self...in You, and with nature I will rise to obedience…unconditional obedience.

Lord Jesus, save me from the trap of Solomon, that would make an idol out of false self and call it true self. Let me consider the lily and seek first your kingdom! In your name, strong Son of God, healing Sun of Righteousness, I pray, Amen.

_________________________

[1] Cf. Kierkegaard: “In nature all is obedience, unconditional obedience.”
[2] Paraphrase, Victor Shepherd at http://www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Sermons/newpage43.htm.

Steelers fan laid out in recliner

2005-07-06T11:24:00.000-07:00

I saw this story and just had to shake my head. But after having lived near Pittsburgh, it doesn't sound so far fetched after all...

Believe it or not, a deceased Pittsburg Steelers fan was laid out in a recliner, 'watching' Steelers highlights:

PITTSBURGH -- James Henry Smith was a zealous Pittsburgh Steelers fan in life, and even death could not keep him from his favorite spot: in a recliner, in front of a TV showing his beloved team in action.
Smith, 55, of Pittsburgh, died of prostate cancer Thursday. Because his death wasn't unexpected, his family was able to plan for an unusual viewing Tuesday night.

The Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home erected a small stage in a viewing room, and arranged furniture on it much as it was in Smith's home on game day Sundays.

Smith's body was on the recliner, his feet crossed and a remote in his hand. He wore black and gold silk pajamas, slippers and a robe. A pack of cigarettes and a beer were at his side, while a high-definition TV played a continuous loop of Steelers highlights.

Read the story here.

It's hard to believe unless you've been to Steeler land, or lived around Pittsburgh, PA. I've never seen more hard-core fans in my life! It's a Steel City, of sons and daughter of miners and mill workers...not too far removed from 12 hour workdays and 'company stores.' Western PA is a place where floods and tragedies come and go, but football and baseball come to stay. The best quarterbacks of the NFL were raised here -- and not by accident.

It's a place where faith and football go hand in hand...sometimes not necessarily in that order! :-)

UPDATE: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an even better version of the story. btw, I predict this will become a new fad in Western PA...

Romans 7:14-25 -- Slavery to sin

2005-07-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

Romans 7:14-25: “Slavery to Sin”

The great human problem is a slavery problem…slavery of the soul.

This is July 4 weekend, where we celebrate physical independence and freedom. But as joyful as this celebration is, deep within us lurks a need that cannot be freed by armies or brave action.

The text references this need in verse 21: So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. Verse 15: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Verses 18-19: For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do -- this I keep on doing.

Can any of us identify with that? :-)

It is the law of human condition: good intentions, but often bad actions, action less than intention. It is a sad fact that we humans fall short of glory…

I learned this lesson again at youth camp this past week. I spent a night counseling a boy traumatized by grief. Word had come that his father was involved in a bad accident, in a coma and not expected to live. The boy’s grief seemed inconsolable: He grieved a father who mistreated him, a father who wanted to do good things, but could not bring himself to say the word or show love, a father who could not conquer the addictions that destroyed him from inside out. Yet even as he grieved his father, he grieved his own lack. His last words with his father were harsh words...his father treated him unjustly, and he reacted with anger and left for youth camp without saying goodbye. Now he grieved what could have been, what should have been…what they both wanted but neither could say.

And this is just one illustration of universal human nature: what we want to do, we cannot do.

The Apostle James puts it this way [1:8]: “A double minded person is unstable in every way.” This ‘double-minded’ nature characterizes our normal existence.

We live our lives under this law of human condition: We want to do good but cannot quite carry it out. Even in the attempt to be good, evil is there with us, contradicting us. The text frames this in terms of spiritual slavery.

In verse 24 the Apostle treats it as a practical death sentence: “What a miserable person I am! Who can deliver me from a life dominated by sin?” Or, as the NIV text puts it: “Who can deliver me from this body of death?”

Some scholars think these words allude to the Roman punishment of chaining a convicted criminal to the body of his victim: leg to leg and arm to arm until the body decayed, literally chained to the ‘body of death.’

It is a graphic illustration of our natural condition: slavery to sin…chained to the body of death.

Apart from Christ, every human is a slave to sin: universally and utterly.

And here the text hints at a theology of freedom. Freedom is the power to do what is right.

We often think that freedom is the power to go where we want to go and do what we want to do. And that is true on a physical level, to a degree. But there is a higher understanding of freedom, because even people physically free are spiritually enslaved by sin. It is this higher understanding which our text points us toward.

Freedom comes in righteousness. Freedom is the power to do what is right, a revived heart. But how can we obtain this inner freedom?

Here we need to be aware of two things: one, we cannot fix ourselves; and two, the enemy plays off this helpless condition. Fact one of faith is that humans cannot save themselves. But the enemy whispers that we should fix ourselves up so that we can be presentable to God.

Do you see the great lie here? The great lie is that heart slavery cannot be fixed by human power. So the enemy convinces humans to do the impossible, and then traps us in a cycle of self-help despair.

So what is the only answer for spiritual slavery? How do we obtain inner freedom?

Verses 24-25 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord!

The answer is grace.

God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

One of my professors stood before the class and told us of his deep struggles with trying to live a Christian life. He said that he tried everything, living by rules, regulations, and strict disciplines, but he could not live truly before God. In despair, he finally gave up. He told God, “God, I cannot live this Christian life!” “Please take me and live it through me!” And quietly, something happened. He said the only way he can describe it is that Christ took hold of him. From that time, he has found victorious life a possibility.

“Who will free me?” asks the Apostle. The answer comes ringing back: “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Jesus Christ offers freedom from slavery to the body of death. And only Jesus offers this grace. There is only one Redeemer: the Son of God.

Two weeks ago I heard the story of the daughter of Hindu leader, in despair of life, frustration and depression: no answers for freedom of soul. She decided to kill herself and free her soul from its imprisonment.

I learned her story by ‘accident.’ I took my trash out, it just so happened that I arrived at the dumpster at the exact moment a man who looked like he was from India. I said hello, introduced myself and asked where he was from. He said, “India.” He is a pastor who has come over to take a higher degree in theology so that he could go back and teach other pastors in his home area. He’s been persecuted, but is victorious! He told me several current stories from India.

And he told of this Hindu girl who decided to commit suicide. But before she killed herself, she went to take a bath. She was going to take a bath and then hang herself. But as she was in the bath, she heard a voice coming through the window, telling about Jesus Christ. She heard the words, “Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and will forgive your sins and come into your life, if you will open your heart. God loves you! Receive Jesus now!”

Here it was this pastor, preaching the Gospel in the open air, after traveling to her town! She began to weep, and knelt down right there in the bath, and asked Jesus to enter her life, and was renewed, inside out. She came out and began to confess Christ, with a glow and smile that would win the world – no more suicide for her! Well, to make a long story short, her father, big politico that he was, decided to kill her…since it was the only way he could save face. After all, if he couldn’t keep his daughter from converting, how could he lead the town? But God intervened, miraculously saved her life…and now, as we speak, she is sharing the good news of Jesus Christ! Amazing grace!

Who can release us from this body of death? We know what spirit slavery is, but who can set us free? Only Jesus Christ!

In the words of the Apostle John [8:36]: “If the Son therefore shall set you free, you shall be free indeed!”

Verses 24-25: Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord!

There are two laws here: the law of sin, where I want to do good, but cannot; and the law of God, where my inner being delights in good.

The law of sin is universal and the law of God is impossible. But such human dilemma is reconciled in Christ, who keeps the law of God for us, and conquers the law of sin. In grace we receive Christ’s answer as our own, and so escape spiritual slavery!

The reality of Christ releases us from the law of sin and the power of death. In Him we find true independence: the power to do what is right!

Alleluia!

Amen.

Gladiator games recreated in Jordan

2005-07-02T17:33:00.000-07:00

Gladiators Battle in Revived Jordan Games

By DALE GAVLAK, Associated Press Writer

JERASH, Jordan - "We who are about to die, salute you," some dozen gladiators, clad in tunics and clasping silver swords and wooden poles bark out in Latin. The crowd goes wild as the strongmen fight, dust flying, heaving groans with every thrust of the sword.

The cheering audience issues a thumbs up or down for the victor and suddenly they are regaled with the thunderous clap of horse-drawn chariots circling the hippodrome.

After a 2,000-year lull, games have again hit the sands of Jordan's famed Roman-ruin city of Jerash, 30 miles north of the capital, Amman, as a group of Jordanian investors and a Swedish history buff are re-creating gladiator matches and chariot racing at Jerash's 2nd Century hippodrome.

Read the story here.

The more things change the more they stay the same...

Lions act as guardian angels

2005-06-22T15:40:00.000-07:00

Lions Rescue, Guard Beaten Ethiopian Girl

By ANTHONY MITCHELL
Associated Press Writer

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- A 12-year-old girl who was abducted and beaten by men trying to force her into a marriage was found being guarded by three lions who apparently had chased off her captors, a policeman said Tuesday.

The girl, missing for a week, had been taken by seven men who wanted to force her to marry one of them, said Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo, speaking by telephone from the provincial capital of Bita Genet, about 350 miles southwest of Addis Ababa.

She was beaten repeatedly before she was found June 9 by police and relatives on the outskirts of Bita Genet, Wondimu said. She had been guarded by the lions for about half a day, he said.

"They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said.

Read the story here.

It is a heartwarming story of grace and divine intervention.

And pity our world where lions have to show mercy because of human sin...

Pity the girls who have been treated so by evil men...around the world.

God, thank you for your mercy on this girl. Have mercy on those who cry out to you in their hour of need!

In Christ's name,

Amen.

G. Washington: 17 rules for life

2005-06-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

George Washington's 17 rules for life

1) Act at all times as in the presence of God, and make it the great object in all things to please Him. In order to do this,

2) Seek first of all to gain clear views of His will and with regard to all things to be perfectly conformed to it. In doing this,

3) Cherish no thoughts, indulge no feeling, speak no words, and do no actions, but what you really think, after all the light you can gain, will most honor God, most benefit yourself and others needs, and give you the greatest joy when they come to be exhibited before the assembled universe at the judgment day.

4) Begin and end each day by a season of communion with God, and by a solemn and hearty commitment of yourself and all your interest, temporal and eternal, to His guidance, care and disposal.

5) Daily read, with deep attention and fervent prayer, a portion of the word of God, for the purpose of understanding, believing, and obeying it.

6) Never express or indulge the least degree of unkindness towards any human being, and give no needless pain to any one of the human race, or even of the animal creation.

7) Make it your object to promote the greatest happiness, on the whole, of all upon whom you may have influence, both of the present and all future generation.

8) Regard the hand of God in all the dispensations of His providence, and in whatsoever state He places you, therewith be content.

9) Envy none who are above you, and despise none who are below you: but possess and manifest the utmost goodwill towards all men.

10) Never speak to or feel towards them in a manner that you ought not to wish them, under similar circumstance, to speak to or feel with regard to you.

11) Let all statements and narrations be an exact exhibition of the real truth.

12) Act for God, for the universe, and for eternity; and in such a manner as is adapted to promote the highest good forever. In order to do this,

13) Look habitually to Jesus Christ: let your whole soul be imbued with His spirit, and manifest it in all your actions.

14) Look to the Holy Ghost as the author of all good in man; seek habitually His teaching, His illuminating and purifying influences, that He may dwell in you as His temple, and take full possession of all your powers and talents for Himself.

15) Earnestly desire that He would take of the things of Christ and more and more show them unto you; and carefully avoid everything which tends to hinder you from becoming perfectly like Him.

16) Make it as your meat and drink to do the will of God, and perseveringly have respect to all His commandments.

17) Feel and acknowledge that all the good that you ever have received, that you now receive, or ever will receive is of grace through Jesus Christ; trust in Him for all which you need, both for this life and the life to come; rely on His merits, imitate His example, and in view of every blessing give Him and the Father and the Holy Ghost all the glory.

The depraved state of North Korea

2005-06-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

Norbert Vollertsen tells of his VIP insight into North Korean society, with it's totalitarian depravity.

In my role as an emergency doctor, I also visited a number of other medical institutions besides the ten hospitals and three orphanages to which I was assigned. In every locale, I witnessed horrific conditions. There were no bandages, no scalpels, no antibiotics, no operating rooms—only ramshackle wooden beds supporting starving children waiting to die. Doctors used empty beer bottles as vessels for intravenous dripping. Safety razors were used as scalpels. I even witnessed an appendectomy performed without anesthesia. Meanwhile I found out, through my own investigations, about government storehouses and diplomatic shops carrying large stocks of bandages and other medical supplies for privileged classes.

There are two worlds in North Korea: One is the world of senior military officers, Communist Party members, and the country’s ruling elite. They enjoy a lavish lifestyle, fancy restaurants, diplomatic shops with European foods, nightclubs, even a casino.

The world for ordinary people in North Korea is completely different. In their world, one can see young children, undersized, undernourished, mute, with sunken eyes and skin stretched tight across their faces, wearing uniform blue-and-white-striped pajamas. Anyone who’s seen pictures of Dachau or Auschwitz would find the scene distressingly familiar.

Norbert believes that this human drama is conveniently unseen and unmentioned by world media.

It’s clear the United States and the world have to do something to end, or at least control, this potential nuclear nightmare. But the real problem of North Korea goes beyond the crazy bluster of its leaders, the appeasement of the South Koreans, the lack of cooperation from China, and the other subjects [discussed]. There’s a human element that sometimes gets lost in the Washington debates. Very few Westerners understand what life is really like for the average North Korean, because the country’s dictatorship keeps all conduits of information and trade sealed as tight as a drum.

He describes the everyday life of the normal, unpriveleged persons:

Most of the patients in the hospitals suffer from psychosomatic illnesses. They’re worn out by compulsory drills, innumerable parades, mandatory assemblies beginning at the crack of dawn, and constant, droning propaganda. They are tired and at the end of their tether. Clinical depression is rampant. Alcoholism is common. Young adults have no hope, no future. Everywhere you look, people are beset by anxiety.

Norbert believes that the answer begins in honesty and awareness, and is dedicating himself to that task.

The international community, working closely with the media, must put serious pressure on the North Korean regime to open up to the outside world and save the lives of their ordinary citizens. As a German born after World War II, I know all too well the guilt of my grandparents’ generation for remaining silent while the Nazis committed indescribable crimes. I believe it is my duty as a human being to expose the crimes and tyranny of the North Korean regime.

I have visited the United States, Japan, and Europe with my findings, and I will continue to travel the world for the express purpose of exposing the criminality of the secret state of North Korea. My hope is that someday soon I will have much company, and that a resulting wave of international pressure will lead to the reform of this depraved and mad corner of humanity.

I wanted to do my part, with this blog.

Let's spread the word, and pray...

Darfur: uncover your eyes

2005-06-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

"Simply an ounce of top-level attention would go a long way to save lives."

Nicholas D. Kristof places moral blame on the doorstep of this administration. He says point blank that if President Bush led a determined effort to save Darfur, there would be hope for peace. "Simply an ounce of top-level attention would go a long way to save lives."

Reporting from Labado, Sudan, Kristof makes his case:

A desert town that used to hold about 25,000 people, Labado was attacked in December by the Sudanese military and the militia known as the janjaweed. For several days, the army burned huts, looted shops, killed men and raped women. For months, Labado was completely deserted and appeared destined to become a ghost town. But then African Union forces, soldiers from across Africa who have been dispatched to stop the slaughter, set up a small security outpost of 50 troops here. Almost immediately, refugees began returning to Labado, followed by international aid groups. Today there are perhaps 5,000 people living in the town again, building new thatch roofs over their scorched mud huts. The revival of Labado underscores how little it takes to make a huge difference on the ground. If Western governments help the African Union establish security, if we lean hard on both the government and the rebels to reach a peace agreement, then by the end of this year Darfur might see peace breaking out.

Kristof is scathing in his conclusion:

Mr. Bush values a frozen embryo. But he hasn't mustered much compassion for an entire population of terrorized widows and orphans. And he is cementing in place the very hopelessness he dreads, by continuing to avert his eyes from the first genocide of the 21st century.

Molotov comments:

Preach! Sudan's Arabized Muslim government is slaughtering black people, while folks worldwide wail about Abu Ghraib and the Koran at Gitmo Bay. Shameful. And shame on the Bush administration, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and even black Americans for not pressing the issue hard enough (Asia and 'progressive' Europe have oil interests there, so count them out).

It is a serious matter...of life and death, an issue that should be before our eyes.

[Hat tip: Molotov. Also posted at diversityinbusiness.com blog.]

Romans 4:13-25 -- Impossible Righteousness

2005-06-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

Romans 4:13-25: “Impossible Righteousness”

Have you ever noticed how relationships make demands on you? Whether in families or friendships, relationships often move us out of our comfort zones.

And since confession is good for the soul, this morning I’ll admit one time where my friendship infringed on comfort! Not long after coming to Parkview, I was returning from a July 4 dinner with the Bullocks, in Wheaton. And I came upon a police roadblock, where they were pulling every car over and checking ID. I pulled up with a smile, only to have the officer say, ‘Sir, pull over here. Your license is suspended.’ What? There is some mistake! ‘No, no mistake. Do you remember a speeding ticket in Ohio?’ And then my mind went to an unpaid speeding ticket. And my heart sunk. I pulled over, with a group of people who, like me, couldn’t drive away. In many ways it was journalistic: I was the only white male detained...and I saw firsthand how minorities can be treated by some suburban police. But there I was: stuck, late at night on July 4. One great question before me: who could I call? I couldn’t call Dr. Bullock and tell about my suspended license! :-) Then, inspiration! ‘I’ll call Dan Perkins!’ So I called Dan. Good ole’ Dan! He came out, drove through late-night suburbia crawling with police, and picked me up. For sake of friendship, he moved way out of a comfort zone!

And that is the nature of relationships, sometimes. We humans instinctively know that relation brings demands. Perhaps that is why we sometimes would rather have faith be about religion and rules, than about relation.

This is why some people had a problem with the Apostle Paul. They said he had gone off the deep end. To people comfortable in ritual, the Apostle comes and preaches that rightness with God comes through relation to God, through faith in Jesus Christ: Rightness is about faith-relation, not religious rituals and sacrifices.

Such preaching caused problems. ‘We’ve been doing it this way for hundreds of years!’ Some even wanted to stone the Apostle…a huge argument echoed over the entire early Church, threatened to rip it apart.

And this is the drumbeat behind today’s text: the argument over what makes us right with God. One group of people, a very powerful and connected group, a group with the old money, said it was by keeping the law. It was by keeping the rituals of the Torah, the Hebraic way of life. One stayed right with God by offering God the proper sacrifices, attending the proper services, wearing proper clothes and keeping proper roles -- a predictable, manageable religion.

And this mindset is still around. I talked to one person recently who believes that true worship of God must be on a Saturday, the original Jewish Sabbath. Turn on Christian TV and you’ll hear rightness with God linked with how much ‘seed-money’ you give: ‘To get blessings you have to sow the seed. Sow by this number on the screen.’

Many Christians unconsciously think that they are right with God by the services they attend, or the ministry they give God.

It is precisely here that our text speaks: how are we right with God?

Religion says that by keeping certain rules, performing certain rituals, we are right before God. But God cries to Israel, ‘My People! Do you think I need ritual? Do you think I need sacrifices of bulls and goats? If I were hungry, I would not tell you!’ ‘No! I desire mercy more than sacrifice’ [Ps. 50]. I want your heart and not your buy-offs.

‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ – I desire the inner workings of a relation of love: obedience, faithfulness, mercy…

This was the message of the Apostle, in a long line of Hebrew prophets. But he was accused of selling out the true religion. He was accused of watering down the Law of God.

But in answer, the Apostle reached back to Abraham and Sarah, to show that true relation with God has always been about faith relation, even for People of the Law.

This kind of relation is not comfortable, and cannot be managed and controlled. It changes us in friendship…with God.

When God called Abram and Sarai, He called them from a life of comfort, away from family, away from Ur, the urbane center of civilization, its running water, indoor plumbing and social prestige. He called them to cross a barren desert, to live in caravan of animals, frail tents on burning sand, following the stars until He showed them a land.

“What is this Lord, a game of divine hide and seek?” “You call us and then hide the map?”

Divine relation cost them everything of their comfortable life, but in the effort God called them His own. God gave them new covenant names. Not only did God call them from former Ur-bane life, God called them from former selves to new selves, from false selves to true selves: New names: Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah.

And this relation went from level to level, faith calling from ‘deep to deep.’ As if it wasn’t enough, to call them away, the Lord then promised them a son – after they were too old to bear children: a whole new level in the call! The first level took everything they had, this level took more than they had…and Sarah just had to laugh.

“Lord, have you lost your mind? Does a woman bear a child when her body is incapable of bearing?” “How can you promise something that is impossible to accept…and then call us to accept that impossibility?”

Living in relation with God took everything they had: body, soul and spirit.

Yet, God wasn’t through. After the miracle, after the promised son, God asked for that son. “Now that I’ve given you the son, give him back to Me on the Mountain.”

“But God! You gave him to us! You promised him, and now you ask us to sacrifice him?”

How can God be so cruel, so demanding in the calling?
As one rabbi said, “G-d, you treat your friends this way -- it’s no wonder you have so few of them!”

But by now, it’s about relationship. Abraham and Sarah know…by now, this is a God who calls to the impossible. This is a God whose relation makes demands. And they believed. As Kierkegaard put it, “Abraham believed God by virtue of the absurd.” Only God could call to something like this…

They obeyed God…Abraham saddled the donkey with firewood, sharpened his knife and headed up the Mountain of God…only to find God give him back his son, and give him back the impossible dream: a generation of righteousness. Verse 18: Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Faith relation takes away our comfortable, managed spirituality…living into the calling takes everything we call our own. But it makes us children of promise in the process.

In friendship with God we find ‘the just shall live by faith.’

Question: Are you in relation with God?
Answer: Have you dreamed any impossible dreams lately? What does your faith journey look like during the week? Is it about managing God in ritual…or does divine friendship make demands on you?

Oh! What does it mean for us to hear the words, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’

Faithfulness, not ritual…
Obedience, not religion…
Wonder, not management of God.

Because we find, like Abraham and Sarah, that righteousness is impossible. Righteousness is the impossible dream. It is something we cannot attain, only something we relate to through Christ, and have granted us in faith.

Yet there, in divine relation, we have credited to us this impossible thing:
Verses 18ff: Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Yet he did not waver through unbelief…being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Verse 23-24: The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness -- for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Here is the great secret of impossibility: Righteousness is ‘credited to those who believe,’ to those who dare relate in faith. Then let us believe, relate…and be credited righteous! We will enter the impossible through faith!

Amen.

Changing Jesus to Judith

2005-06-03T01:42:00.000-07:00

Part of our national sin is a racial sin, sin against ethnic groups...naming them not by their essence or name, but rather by something which accords social power. One particulary bleak example of this was the Southern sin of calling African-Americans 'boy.' Boy -- not own name or person, but boy. Why? What is going on in such renaming?

Key: Any time you hear renaming, look to the ownership behind it.

Renaming is done for sake of power. Southerners called Blacks 'boy' in order to own, control metaphysically -- done for social power.

This is a terrible human sin. But what about when we try to do this with God?

I thought of this when I heard about a new edition of the Gospels that presents Christ as a woman named Judith Christ of Nazareth.

As WND notes, the edition attempts to correct gender and name of God to more inclusive nature. Billie Shakespeare, vice president for the publisher, says "This long-awaited revised text of the Gospels makes the moral message of Christ more accessible to many, and more illuminating to all."

According to the publisher, the new version gender revises familiar passages:

The "Prodigal Son" is transformed into the "Prodigal Daughter" and the "Lord's Prayer" into the "Lady's Prayer."
A passage compiled from Luke 2 says: "And Joseph went to Bethlehem. To be enrolled with Mary, his wife, who was then pregnant. And she brought forth her firstborn child. And her name was chosen to be Judith."
A passage on the crucifixion, from John 19, says: "And She bearing her cross went forth. There they crucified Judith."
A resurrection passage states: "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Judith who was crucified." "She is not here; for She is risen."

There is a cultural ploy at work here, which is not interested in presenting truth, or revelation, but rather in preserving a form of social power. Just as slave masters strove for political and social power by refusing Blacks the right to name themselves, so we humans now refuse God the right to reveal and name himself.

People may do this for 'proper' or PC reasons, but the result is a sin against the infinite, Holy Spirit who is our God. It rejects the self-revelation of God, treating that revelation as non-salvific.

WND quotes one reviewer of this edition as saying:

"A friend with a Hebrew doctorate noted to me: 'There is no feminine form of the name Jesus (or Joshua). Judith is the feminine form of the name Juda - or Judas.' How perfectly fitting!"

That about says it!

Approach, my soul, the mercy seat

2005-05-31T05:36:00.000-07:00

HYMN: APPROACH, MY SOUL, THE MERCY SEAT

Words: John Newton, 1779
Music: Abridge

Approach, my soul, the mercy seat,
Where Jesus answers prayer;
There humbly fall before His feet,
For none can perish there.

Thy promise is my only plea,
With this I venture nigh;
Thou callest burdened souls to Thee,
And such, O Lord, am I.

Bowed down beneath a load of sin,
By Satan sorely pressed,
By war without and fears within,
I come to Thee for rest.

Be Thou my Shield and hiding Place,
That, sheltered by Thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face,
And tell him Thou hast died!

O wondrous love! to bleed and die,
To bear the cross and shame,
That guilty sinners, such as I,
Might plead Thy gracious Name.

“Poor tempest tossed soul, be still;
My promised grace receive”;
’Tis Jesus speaks -- I must, I will,
I can, I do believe!

Alleluia!

Amen.

Memorial stones

2005-05-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

The life of faith as a life of remembrance

It is fascinating to study the commands of the Lord related to remembrance. Over and over again, God commands Israel to remember His good deeds. Why does God command people of faith to remember His past deliverances? It is somewhat mysterious, but we know enough to say that there is something in the nature of human/divine relation which makes it necessary to remember, thank and praise. The psalmists link destruction and sin with a refusal to remember. And likewise, Scripture locates blessings of spiritual health in remembrance.

Today, Memorial Day, my mind went to the great memorial stones set up by Joshua, as the People crossed into the Promised Land. The LORD commanded Joshua to set up an altar of remembrance, and Joshua did just as God said:

Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe; and Joshua said to them: "Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, "that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' "Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever" [Joshua 4:4-7 ].

God is building thanksgiving, remembrance into the life of Israel. One could say that God is teaching Israel a life based on worship. And, in study of Israel's history, it is so clear! When they remembered God, in thanks and worship, praise for His good deeds, they were spiritually and nationally strong. But when they forgot God, they weakened and went into spiritual captivity.

God so built this healthy remembrance into the life of Israel, that they could not participate as faithful believers without remembering. On Passover night, the greatest feast of faith, the entire ritual involved thanksgiving. It confessed great expectation based on past deliverance. The feast was kept with unleavened bread, special benedictions, questioning [usually the son would question the father] and Haggadah response of the father:

Questioning: Why is this night different from all other nights?

For on all other nights we eat leavened or unleavened bread; tonight we eat only unleavened bread.
For on every other night we eat all kinds of green vegetables; tonight, only bitter greens.
For on every other night we eat meat cooked, roasted, or stewed; tonight, only roasted.
For on every other night we dip once; tonight we dip twice.
Haggadah answer [cf. Deut. 26:5-8]: A wandering Aramean was my father, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, a stranger and few in number; but there God blessed him to become a great, mighty and populous nation. ‘Yet the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. ‘Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppressions and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders…this…this is the night to be remembered!'

Then the first part of the Hallel [Praise] Psalms were sung, followed by the sure third ‘cup of blessing,’ and then a fourth cup with the second part Hallel Psalms, and a blessing over the song.

Wow! What remembrance of faith, to inner health! Now, add to this context the act of Christ taking this feast to himself, as the revelation of the Lamb, the Deliverer, the Messiah...in that 'Last Supper' which would be the last and first of all faith suppers...and we begin to understand just how spiritually powerful remembrance is.

Remembrance locates us in the present presence of God.

Remembrance creates in us the ground for future blessing.

Let's take up the memorial stones, and build an altar for the descended presence of God!

Amen.

Te Deum

2005-05-25T01:38:00.000-07:00

Te Deum

We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as the Lord;
all creation worships you,
the Father everlasting.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
the cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:
Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all praise,
the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.
You, Christ, are the King of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to set us free
you humbly chose the Virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come and be our judge.
Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

Alleluia!

Amen.

I danced in the morning

2005-05-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

I Danced in the Morning

Words: Sydney Carter (c)
Tune: Lord of the Dance

I danced in the morning
when the world was begun,
and I danced in the moon
and the stars and the sun,
and I came down from heaven
and I danced on the earth,
at Bethlehem
I had my birth.

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He,
and I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
and I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He.

I danced for the scribe
and the pharisee,
but they would not dance
and they wouldn't follow me.
I danced for the fishermen,
for James and John -
they came with me
and the dance went on.

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He,
and I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
and I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He.

I danced on the Sabbath
and I cured the lame;
the holy people
said it was a shame.
they whipped and they stripped
and they hung me on high,
and they left me there
on a Cross to die.

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He,
and I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
and I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He.

I danced on a Friday
when the sky turned black;
it's hard to dance
with the devil on your back.
They buried my body
and they thought I'd gone,
but I am the Dance,
and I still go on.

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He,
and I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
and I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He.

They cut me down
and I leapt up high;
I am the Life
that'll never, never die;
I'll live in you
if you'll live in me -
I am the Lord
of the Dance, said He.

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He,
and I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
and I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He.

Help for Israel's children

2005-05-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

Help Israel's Hurting Children

Terrorism is causing economic devastation for Israel's most vulnerable citizens: her children.

One in every two children in Jerusalem now lives below the poverty line.
One in five goes to bed without having had one hot meal.

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews reports that, far too often, needy families have gone to food warehouses and soup kitchens and found them empty. So they've launched the Guardians of Israel program to alleviate the suffering of the poor Israeli children.

Follow the links and help as you can. 24 dollars feeds one child for a month -- pretty good investment!

Darfur genocide report round-up

2005-05-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

Via Instapundit, here is a round-up of Darfur stories from All Things 2 All.

Of course, we can't forget about Sudan Watch [which is among the links].

John 7:37ff -- Streams of Spirit water

2005-05-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

John 7:37-39: “Streams of Spirit Water”

In Pentecost we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit, just as Christ promised: Today our songs are of the Spirit. Our sanctuary is ablaze with balloons, vestments, paraments and the color of fire. But is this all that Pentecost means for the 21^st century -- just a celebration of past descent? Or does Pentecost mean something for daily life?

In answer to that, I would ask you to come with me this morning to Jerusalem, where Jesus attended the great feast of Tabernacles. On this day, the last day of the feast, Jesus stands and declares in a loud voice [vv. 37b-38]:

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

‘If anyone is thirsty, let her come and drink!’ ‘Believe…and streams of living water…’

Jesus’ words echo with mystery: We drink of Him, and somehow find living water…coming from deep within.

Jesus’ words carry eternal meaning in this context. The Feast of Tabernacles had two divine symbols: water, and fire. And at this Feast, Jesus takes both symbols unto himself.

One symbol of the Feast was fire, where every evening the four great Menorahs were lit on the Temple Mount, torches that illumined the entire temple area. Under this light the celebrants danced a torch dance to music of flutes, and the Levites chanted the Psalms of Ascent (120-134), one each on the fifteen steps that led up from the Court of the Women to the court of Israelites. It was celebration of the light of God: As they danced in the light, these great torches shined down into every corner of the city. The people, looking up, would see the sign of eternal light, guidance and life of God![1]

It is against this backdrop that Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life” [8:12].

Likewise, the other great symbol of the Feast was water. On the morning of the first day of the Feast a procession of priests led down to the Pool of Siloam, and brought up a jar of water: From the pool, held up the water, and carried it in solemn fashion, blowing the Shofar at the city gate…up the Mount, up the step to the Temple, and around the altar. The pilgrims processed behind, singing the Hallel, carrying their branches, crying the Messianic prayer: "Save us, we beseech thee, O LORD." As the priests circled the altar, they cried out, “Hosanna!” “ “Hoshianah (Hoshono) Rabbah.”[2]

And on the seventh day, the priests circled the altar seven times, beating the ground with their willows and pouring the water with wine. “Save us, we beseech thee, O LORD!”

The people understood well the prayer and sign: Thou, O Lord, art our sustenance and life!

And it is here, in the echo of these prayers, on the last and greatest day of the Feast, that Jesus stands forth and shouts in a loud voice [vv. 37-38]

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

Can you hear His shout? People of Israel, I am your light and life! I am your water of life, drink of Me and find streams of living water flowing from within!

In verse 39 John says: By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.

“By this He meant the Spirit…”

This brings us to the promise of Pentecost: For those who believed into Jesus, the Spirit would be for them a stream of living water, flowing from within.

For those who prayed for light -- they would find the Spirit.
For those who prayed, ‘Save us, LORD!’ -- They would find the sustenance of Spirit.

All they needed for life and service, here they found at the fountain of God, in Christ: a spring of living water welling up inside. So those who waited in the Upper Room, believing in Christ and holding on in prayer, to them descended the Spirit, and they spoke the promise of the Gospel in a pluralistic culture: different nations each hearing the words of God in their own language.

From this touch, the Apostles found power of proclamation that they never had: power to preach and heal, and show forth the kingdom.

It is the promise of Christ: Through Him, streams of Spirit water: All that we need for life, abundant life, kingdom life and proclamation…that we will have.

For Pentecost, yes! But also for all who truly believe on Christ, for all of human time!
Living, Spirit water through Christ: Power for life, power for service, power for hope and transformation: Power for now.

Consider the story of William Lerrick, an Indonesian church leader called to speak in Germany. On May 27, 1977, he went to speak to a roomful of Germans, at the Heidelberg YMCA. But when he rose to speak, he saw no interpreter. The hosts had assumed he spoke German!

He didn’t know what to do. So he bowed his head and prayed, “Lord Jesus, what do you have in mind? Help me, Lord!” He tried to apologize to the people for not knowing the language.

He bowed his head again for a moment. Suddenly, a Bible verse popped into his head – Philippians 4:13, the only verse he knew in German. So he spoke it out…

And he kept going, for 15 minutes straight, with full tonal inflection. Young people stared at him with wide eyes and open mouths. He knew what he was saying, but didn’t realize he was speaking German. But when he saw some elderly ladies with tears running down their cheeks, he knew it was German.[3]

From that moment till now, he has been able to read and speak fluent German, without Indonesian accent!

The promise of Christ is still a promise in human time: As we utterly believe in Him, we will find streams of living water, Spirit flowing forth from our inner being: sustenance for life and service: abundant life, kingdom reality.

Yesterday I told the elders at the retreat about a 90-year-old Chinese lady, who wanted to share her faith in Christ, to help others find eternal life. But faith is not exactly smiled upon by the Chinese State, and who would listen anyway? A woman, an aged woman…

So she prayed, and God gave her an idea. Near her home was a notorious ‘Lovers’ Leap,’ where people would often go to end their life, in despair of love and life. So, she went to this cliff, and posted a small sign, “Before you commit suicide, come and see me at ___________” [and gave her address].

From that one act, prayer and obedience, she has now shared Christ with around 5,000 people.

How does God want to flow through you?

What aspects of your life desperately need this Spirit touch?

The promise of Pentecost is a promise that speaks to you now: streams of Spirit water, through new faith in Christ.

Amen!

_________________________

[1] Cf. Brian Stoffregan, Exegetical Notes on John.
[2] Cf. Brian Stoffregan, Exegetical Notes on John.
[3] James Rutz, MegaShift, 90-91.

John 17:1-11 -- The Prayer of Jesus

2005-05-10T08:27:00.000-07:00

John 17:1-11: “Jesus Prayed For Us”

One of the most powerful promises of Scripture is that Jesus Christ, our Lord, has ascended to the right hand of the Father, and is there, interceding on our behalf, praying for us [Rom. 8:34]. When we say the words of the creed, “Seated on the right hand of God the Father Almighty,” we know that Jesus is there, praying for us.

But what is He praying? What if we could hear Jesus pray? What would it tell us about God…about our calling in life?

Today’s text in the Gospel of John is greatest prayer ever recorded: It is part of the high priestly prayer of Jesus, the intercessory prayer that He prayed before He ascended into heaven. In this prayer Jesus gives the keys to eternity: Jesus reveals what it means [for Him] to be called Son of God, and what it means [for us] to be called children of God.

What does it mean for Jesus to be called Son of God? The first part of His prayer reveals relation to the Father.
Verse 2: Jesus is granted authority over all people, to give eternal life.
Verse 3: Those who know Jesus know eternal life: “This is eternal life, to know the Son.”
Verse 4: Jesus has completed the work the Father gave Him to do.
Verse 5: Jesus prays to return to the glory that He had before the world began.

Four principles: Authority > Eternal Life > Completed Work > Return to Glory!

The prayer reveals spiritual mysteries. Jesus shows His nature: He is the eternal Son, One with the Father before the world began. There was never a time where He was not the Son. To see Him is to see the Father; to share in His glory is to share in the glory of God, the Father.

Who is Jesus? He is the Eternal Son, the One who brokers the eternal life of the Father. The first part of Jesus’ prayer reveals His nature, His relation to Abba.

The second part of His prayer reveals His relation to us. What does it mean for us to be called children of God?

Key, verse 8: “For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”

Nature of children: 1. accept the words of Jesus as the words of God, and 2. believe that Jesus is sent by God, the Son of God.

Do you want to know if you are a child? Ask, “Do I accept the words of Jesus as the words of God?” “Do I believe in Jesus, the Son of God?”

It is for these children, the ones who accept His word and believe in Him, that Jesus prays! And oh, what a prayer it is!

But in order to catch the great power of this prayer, we have to step back, see it in context: The setting of this prayer is the work of the Father, Son and Spirit, in us, as children, where the Father is the patron of infinite, spiritual gifts, the Son is the broker of these gifts, and we, the children, are the clients, receiving infinite gifts, spiritual life. [2]

But catch this incredible twist!

As Jesus ascends into heaven, He grants us, through the Spirit, the role of brokering Him to others. He has given great gifts to us, gifts for this task: eternal life [v. 2], word [v. 8], and a share of glory [v. 22]. We who believe become sharers in His glory, clients of His Name…then called as fellow brokers of eternal life.

And it is to this end He prays for us!

It is no small prayer that Christ prays for us. He does not pray so we can use the infinite gifts on ourselves. No! He prays that we will be one, even as He and the Father are one, so that just as He showed forth the Father, so we can show forth the Son, in the power of the Spirit, and bring great gifts back to God: the souls of fellow humans.

Jesus is not praying that believers would somehow have enough strength just to limp to church on Sunday. He is not praying that we can somehow drag ourselves over the finish line, saving ourselves but unsure of our friends and family! He is not praying that we can somehow ‘just get by’ in a terrible world against His name. No!

He is praying that we would be one in Him, just as He and the Father are one: That we would live into the heavenly task of brokering the Son to others.

If we are not living a lifestyle of sharing Christ, we are living less than His prayer.

Jim Rutz, in his recent book MegaShift, tells of a lady in a rural Chinese town, Mrs. Chang. For 21 years she had lain in bed, unable to move her arms and legs. Finally, the pain got to be too much, and she asked her eldest son to take her to the hospital, some 40 miles away. The doctors decided that some of her organs were shutting down, so they advised the son to take her home to die.
But before she left, a Christian nurse came by her bed and slipped her a copy of the Gospel of Mark. “Read this when you get home,” she whispered. So when Mrs. Chang got home, she asked her son to read from the booklet. The son opened to page one and read, “This is the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…” That is how the Gospel of Mark begins, “This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…” But before her son could read any further than these words, “This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…” Mrs. Chang felt warmth in her bones, and within moments, sat up…healed. She immediately gave her life to the Lord.
The next day she went to the village well to draw water, walking like the rest of the women for the first time in 21 years. They began to ask, “Aren’t you Mrs. Chang?” “What doctor healed you? We want to use him too!”
Mrs. Chang invited the women to her simple home, and began speaking, “This is the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…”
In only four weeks, the village of 600 people decided to follow Jesus!
But that is only the beginning…when the news got around, the police force came to stamp out this “new sect.” They beat the villagers, shot their animals and burned their crops, and left, thinking it would be the last they would hear about this Jesus Christ.
But they had no idea. Within four years, from that small village of 600, now 70,000 people in that region have turned to Jesus Christ. [2]

What are we talking about? One nurse, one real person, being faithful…one in Christ! This is happening in our world, this decade. God is at move. We need to get on board.

What can happen when we live into this prayer of Christ, through the Holy Spirit?

Our human response: But how can I share this life? It isn’t natural for me to share…how can I?

He has prayed for us.

His prayer is far beyond ‘anything we could ask or imagine.’ Just as He is one with the Father, so we would be one with the Son…just as He showed forth the glory of the Father, so we show forth the glory of the Son!

Verses 9-11: I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name -- the name you gave me -- so that they may be one as we are one.

He has prayed for us: in the power of the Spirit, we become brokers of the Son, eternal life…

Parkview, this is our destiny, our present reality, and future hope!

Amen.

_______________________

[1] James Rutz, MegaShift: The Best News since Year One (Colorado Springs: Empowerment Press, 2005), 5.
[2] Cf. Brian Stoffregan, Exegetical Notes on John.

Spring update from Vanessa Lake

2005-05-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. ~ Doug Larson

Spring 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a few months since I have written an update and until quite recently things have been going at the normal pace with my usual responsibilities in church and school. However, I am presently on the verge of an upcoming transition which takes me on an unusual but exciting turn.

I have been offered the position of personal assistant (PA) to the Rector of the International Baptist Theological Seminary (IBTS) to begin 1 May 2005. Following this past Christmas, I have been doing various errands and small projects for IBTS which has decreased some of my financial burden, and thus, has given the leadership at IBTS opportunity to see me as a colleague, as opposed to (or along with) a student; which has brought them to the point of trusting me in a position calling for more responsibility.

IBTS is a very tight and small community where 17 hours of 24 I am with others: worshipping, working, eating and living. Though it is a school where the student body is changing yearly, there is a core group of lecturers/leaders which brings the spirit, keeps the school centred and forms close relations. It is within this ‘thick’ group that I would be a part. Fortunately, those at the core have already become dear friends, close confidantes and spiritual encouragers to me. I would love to share some of my experiences with anyone of you! So please take this as an open invitation to come and visit Prague. There are very nice hotel accommodations on campus and IBTS is set in a beautiful wooded valley which is very close to downtown Prague. If you want to read about IBTS and/or the hotel (!) on the Internet you can do so at www.ibts.cz. Also, there are opportunities to come as volunteers to help out with various needs at the school. (This is mentioned on the website as well!)

This type of full-time ministry position was unexpected, but I am thrilled at the prospects of being involved in such a school that serves students, seminaries and churches spanning Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East and even reaching to Western European countries and the states. With my few years in Slovakia and now my time and education in Prague, I can use both experiences to assist the school and continue to serve others here in Central Eastern Europe. Just as God has led me to Slovakia, I believe this is another opened door through which God is guiding.

As I will be a full-time employee of IBTS I am not in need of financial support, but I would appreciate your blessing and encouragement. I also invite you to share in my delight in a transition such as this. If you do feel you would like to send monetary gifts to support the work of IBTS it would be greatly welcomed by the seminary and helpful in its ministry to believing communities all over the world.

Though I will begin this position the first of May, I am still planning to return to the states for the month of July. It will be a joy for me to meet up with many of you again! As always, I thank you for your encouragement, support and love throughout my years in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

I pray that you recognise the love of God in the beauty of spring and in the faces of loved ones.

As always, with love and appreciation,

-Vanessa

John 14:15-21 -- Signs of Divine Love

2005-05-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

John 14:15-21: “Signs of Divine Love”

One thing we humans struggle with is relationships over distance. It is so hard to relate truly, to build honesty, trust and openness over distance.

One statement means near-death for friendship: “Oh, you’re in a long-distance relationship!”

The context of today’s text is a long-distance relationship with the Lord. Jesus is preparing the disciples for His physical absence. A few verses before, Jesus tells them that He is going away to prepare a place for them. Now He says that in a little while He won’t be with them physically.

So the disciples face the question: What does it mean to have a relationship with Jesus when He is physically absent?

It’s a great question which we have wrestled with ever since. How do we relate to Jesus, when we can’t see, touch, or handle Him? How do we express relation of love when our Lord is not physically present?

Jesus gives two signs by which express love in absence, two relations whereby we show vital relationship with Him: We know that we love Jesus by our relation to His words and Spirit, our relation to His commands and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus tells His disciples that if they love Him [in absence], they will keep His commands [v. 15, 21].

Think of this on a human level. If someone we love is not immediately present, how do we show love to that person? We honor their words, their intents, their wishes.

Growing up, my father would give us chores to do. Sometimes he would have to leave, but before he left he’d say, “Do this much before I return.” And he’d smile, and be pleased if he came back and found good work done. However, sometimes I wasn’t too happy. I thought Dad didn’t know the meaning of ‘working smarter.’ He believed in working harder, in ‘busy work.’ “Dad, we could rent a machine and do this in half the time!” But the only machine he believed in was a shovel, or other tool of manual labor! Looking back, there was more going on than mere chores. Why was Dad pleased by progress? In his absence, faithful work was more than a task: it was about relation.

And, here on a far higher level, this is what Jesus says.
Verse 15: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
Verse 21: “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.”

So simple: love for Christ is shown relation to word, relation to His desire and command.

When we love someone, we find even in their absence, a desire to do their will.
I think of this when I think of Martha Rohn. We all miss Martha, with her passing last year. But when my schoolwork seems long, and days hard, I think, “Martha is pulling for me. This is what Martha would want!” And I smile, and go on.

What are we talking about? Relation to word, in absence: “If you love me, keep my commands,” said Jesus.

But we have a problem: Our human nature is such that when obedience to command conflicts with personal desires, we then can play games with the commands: “Oh, He really didn’t say that!”

Or, “I’ve read the Bible and it doesn’t say not to do this” [fill in the blank].

Imagine my shock when I completed four years of Bible college, only to have a friend tell me that the Bible was ok with marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms, because they were “natural.” :-) ‘The Bible doesn’t say not to enjoy them, and they are natural!’ And he knew all about the Bible, he said, because he read it one time!

Rabbi Mendel of Kotzsk once instructed a man in the Torah, the Hebrew Scriptures of Moses. Rabbi Mendel tried to teach the man wisdom and life, only to have the man respond: “Oh rabbi, I’ve read the Torah many times!” “Yes, that's fine,” replied the rabbi, “But how many times has the Torah read you?”

How many times has Christ’s word read us?

Humans can play games with words and commands.

And this is where Jesus’ second sign of love speaks so loudly. Jesus tells the disciples that if they love Him they will keep His commands, but then He goes on to say something about relation to the Holy Spirit [v. 16-17].

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever --- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

“The Spirit of truth…lives with you and will be in you.”

Word, now Spirit: Here we are in uncharted waters, which the world cannot understand or perceive. The Holy Spirit comes into our lives, to be with us and in us. The “Spirit of truth,” Jesus called Him, the Counselor who would lead us into all truth.
This promise looked forward to Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit descended and ignited their lives in flames of truth.

So we pray before hearing the Word, that the Holy Spirit would teach us, and fill our lives with truth…

I freely admit: when speaking of the Spirit, we are in mysterious territory. How do we explain the Holy Spirit living in us? We really can’t, except to say that a Holy wind fills us, empowers us for living, and empowers us for Christ’s command.

Jesus promised that in some silent, mysterious manner -- that the world cannot see or know -- the Spirit of truth would come to live in us.

Here we find not only words, but a vast, infinite reality of Spirit life.

It is the real mystery of the Spirit -- that changes life and renews us in the word of Christ. John develops this later, and says, “We know that we know…by the Spirit He gave us.”
Obedience to word, life in the Spirit: two signs of divine love, two signs of relation to Christ.

Here the text towers high above us, and asks: Do you want to know if you are in Christ? Do you want to know if you love Him while He is away?
Then ask: What is my relation with His word, His commands? And what is my relation with the Spirit?

Jesus gives a powerful promise here, to be with us through the Holy Spirit, in the last part of verse 21: “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

She who loves me will be loved by Abba, and I too will love her and show myself to her.

This is full circle in the mystery: For though He is away, yet He now promises to reveal himself through the Spirit, to those who love Him. Though He is not physically present, He now promises to make himself known. As He said, “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst!”

For those who love Him, those who know Him and are known by Him, He is here! He is standing here this morning…

The revelation of Christ through word and Spirit: this is the ultimate sign of divine love. What is our relation to Christ? Answer: What is our relation to His Word, and Spirit?

Here we reveal, and find, the sign of divine love…

Children of God, Parkview Christians!
Let us continue, let us persist in faith until this sign is clear in our hearts!

Amen.

Living into the calling

2005-04-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

Abraham and Sarah: The effort of calling

The distance between the call and the fruition of the call is measured in great effort. The calling is given freely, but it takes everything we have to live into the calling.

When God called Abram and Sarai, He called them from a life of comfort, away from the urbane center of civilization, its running water, indoor plumbing and social prestige. He called them to cross a barren desert, to live in caravan of animals, frail tents on burning sand, following the stars until He showed them a land.

“What is this Lord, a game of divine hide and seek?” “You call us and then hide the map?”

The call cost them everything of their comfortable life, but in the effort God called them His own. God gave them new covenant names. Not only did God call them from former Ur-bane life, God called them from former selves to new selves, from false selves to true selves: Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah.

Step by step in the calling, faith called from ‘deep to deep.’ The Lord showed up on their doorstep and promised them a son – a whole new level in the call. The first level took everything they had, this level took more than they had…and Sarah just had to laugh.

“Lord, have you lost your mind? Does a woman bear a child when her body is incapable of bearing?”

“How can you promise something that is impossible to accept…and then call us to accept that impossibility?”

Living into the calling took everything they had: body, soul and spirit.

Yet, the great call wasn’t through. After the miracle, after the promised son, God asked for that son. “Now that I’ve given you the son, sacrifice him to Me on the Mountain.”

“But God! His name is Laughter! We called him Laughter because you called us to the impossible! And now you ask him in sacrifice?”

How can God be so cruel, so demanding in the calling?

As one rabbi said, “G-d, you treat your friends this way -- it’s no wonder you have so few of them!”

But by now, Abraham knows God well enough to know that this is a God who calls to the impossible: This is a God, who when He deigns to call a person, calls that person not to the possible, but to the impossible. As Kierkegaard put it, “Abraham believed God by virtue of the absurd.” Only God could call to something like this…

Whatever else could have been said, Abraham saddled the donkey with firewood, sharpened his knife and headed up the Mountain of God. “Abba, where is the sacrifice?” asked Isaac.

“God will provide, my son!” replied Abraham. “God will provide!” “He always does.”

Abraham couldn’t tell Isaac of the years of knowing the God, this God who always called to the impossible and then provided. Abraham couldn’t tell Isaac that the holy calling always took effort that went beyond human ability. But Abraham could show him.

And he did. The rope. The wood. The descended knife…and Yhwh fulfilled the calling.

In that moment Isaac learned more of calling than mountains of books or money could have brought him.

Living into the calling takes everything we call our own. But it makes us children of promise in the process.

Alleluia!

Amen.

I heard the voice of Jesus say

2005-04-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

HYMN: I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS SAY
Words: Horatio Bonar, 1846
Tune: Kingsfold, Vox Dilecti, The Third Tune

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Come unto me and rest;
lay down, thou weary one, lay down
thy head upon my breast."
I came to Jesus as I was,
so weary, worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting place,
and He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"Behold, I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down and drink, and live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,
"I am this dark world's light;
look unto me, thy morn shall rise,
and all thy day be bright."
I looked to Jesus, and I found
in Him my Star, my Sun;
and in that light of life I'll walk
till traveling days are done.

1 Peter 2:1-12 -- A chosen people

2005-04-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

1 Peter 2:1-12: “A Chosen People”

Today’s Scripture calls us a name. It calls us stones.

Now, I don’t know about you, but where I grew up, being called a ‘stone’ was not a compliment! In our town, to say the word ‘stoner’ usually meant that your mind was somewhere else, a smoker and toker on the ‘grassy knoll.' :-) Another word we used was ‘blockhead.’ This meant that your mind was too dense to move. I was called that a few times. :-)

Stoner…blockhead…and stones!

Today’s text calls us stones, and acts as if it is a great compliment. Why is this?

Look at the picture that the text paints. The Apostle paints a spiritual picture of Christ’s building project: the palace of the heavenly King, the new kingdom temple. This building is being built even as we worship here this morning.

And how is Christ building this building? What materials does He use? Christ carves out precious stones out of human marble. Christ shapes human persons, each into their place in this holy temple.

It is in this awareness that the text calls us stones, living stones. We are living stones, chosen by Christ from the human quarry, and shaped, created fit for use in the coming heavenly kingdom! In Christ we are alive, living and growing into kingdom perfection.

And this is the highest compliment that we could be given: living stones.

Here the text teaches us of our destiny, which has meaning for our daily life. What do living stones look like? What eternal characteristics do they display? How would I know if I am a living stone?

Living stones find Christ precious to them.

The text presents two different reactions to Christ: one group of stones, the living stones, find Christ precious and build their lives on Him. But another group of stones react far differently to Christ. Look at the text [vv. 6-8]:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message – which is also what they were destined for.

These stones reject the true cornerstone, and stumble over Him.

The living stones believe, rejoice and obey Christ. The name of Christ is like honey on their lips. For them the Cornerstone of Christ is life, and foundation. But the other stones! The text says they stumble over Christ: Christ for them is only a rock over which they fall, and are crushed. It is a serious thought.

So here is the first characteristic of living stones: They find Christ precious, worthy of building their lives upon.

It is often quite amazing, the different reactions I get to the name of our Lord. Even when people are in the valley of the shadow of death, some of them do not want to hear about Christ. When I ask, “Can I pray for you?” I get varying responses. Those who love Christ, with a smile on their face, and rest in their eyes, soak up prayers and give thanks with all their being.

This week I had to privilege of praying with Apolina before she passed on. When I prayed and read Scripture with her, she received it with gratefulness: she relaxed and peace surrounded her. But not everyone reacts this way. Some stumble over the Name…

There is wisdom here for us, to consider the reaction to Christ. Learn from this…

In your work and relationships, what is the reaction to Christ? In school, what happens when the name ‘Jesus’ is used in the conversation, honestly?

Living stones find Christ precious, build around Him and grow in Him.
Verse 2-3: “You have tasted that the Lord is good,” now feed on His word like newborn babies crave milk! The name and word of Christ should be sweet to us…

The text also says that living stones live as light in the world.

Verse 9 tells us that we have been called from darkness to light. Then verses 11 and 12 apply what this means for life in the world:

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

In other words, as living stones, we can’t live like the world. Or, shouldn’t live like the world. Sometimes we do…but that is not our calling! There is a higher life for living stones: light of Christ and glory for good deeds.

At last year’s U. S. Open here in Chicago, I was impressed with Jim Furyk. Jim was leading the tourney [which he eventually won], but during his last round, a woman jumped from the gallery, partially nude, walked up to hand him a rose. Jim backed away from her…and the relation her offer implied. Later, in his press conference, he said, “I love my wife.” I love my wife. His love for his wife made a difference in the way he responded to the attractions of the world.

This is the meaning of the text: as living stones, we are being built into a heavenly kingdom. This means something for how we live in our world [v. 12]. We live above its seductions for the glory of Christ.

This means something for how we treat others. We should view others in light of their inner nature, on the basis of their potential in Christ. One wise person said [Goethe]: “Treat people as though they were what they ought to be, and you will help them become what they are capable of being.” And, in a Christian sense, this is right on. We, as living stones, should view others as possible living stones -- and show them how to live toward God.

We are talking about spirit life here. This kind of life is empowered by God’s choice of us. And here is the highest lesson of the text:

Living stones have been chosen by God.

We did not first choose God: God first chose us.

If anything should give us power for holy life, it should be this knowledge: out of the vast human quarry, God has chosen us to be living stones, built into His temple! Verses 9-10:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Once we were not a people, now a people!
Once we knew not mercy, but now received mercy!
Once we were far off, but have now been brought near...
We are no longer strangers, but a chosen people,
A holy nation
A royal priesthood
Being built into the very temple of God: living stones!

This is how we can live as children of light.
And this is the exact calling of this text: Live as chosen people.
In Christ this is our destiny: eternal life in the temple of God.

So, dear children of God, live as living stones!

Amen.

John 10:1-10 Jesus the True Shepherd

2005-04-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

John 10:1-10: “Jesus the True Shepherd”

I received a cryptic letter in the mail this week. The letter had no return address and was unsigned. Inside the envelope was a Gospel tract, with block letters that said,

DEAR PASTOR,
WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT JESUS CHRIST.

The senders said they were ‘servants’ of God, and were praying that I would become a Christian. I didn’t realize this was a job hazard of pastoring a Presbyterian church -- that some people will think I’m not a Christian! :-)

These letter senders probably meant well…even in spite of lack of charity and wrong belief on who is a Christian.

But if they had given a return address, I would tell them that Jesus is our Lord and Savior – and whom He calls, let no one despise!

This letter is an example of Christian arrogance, and false usage of truth. It forces us to consider the meaning of today’s Gospel text: Keep this letter in mind as we look into the Scripture. What is Jesus saying about himself here? How does Jesus define His followers? Who does Jesus claim as His sheep?

Jesus says some powerful things in this text.

He likens the kingdom to a sheepfold, with His followers as the sheep. And He likens himself as the shepherd of the sheep. Jesus describes himself in terms which Israel associated with God – the Shepherd of Israel.

In verses 1-5 Jesus talks about a sheepfold, but He doesn’t speak in first person. He says that thieves and robbers climb over the wall, but the shepherd enters at the gate. The shepherd leads sheep through the gate; he walks ahead of the flock and leads them by voice. It is a beautiful image of the proper shepherd…the real shepherd is not like a thief or robber, that climbs into the fold at night. No! This shepherd comes by the gate, and leads them forth at break of day, to find good pasture, calling them each by name.

The disciples know He is using a figure of speech, but they just don’t quite get it [v. 6]. So, beginning in verse 7, Jesus speaks plainly:

I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers... I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Jesus is the gate, the true shepherd. All else are thieves and robbers -- only He saves; only He gives life to the full.

This is a hard word for our world.

In a world of spiritual choices, how do we present Jesus as the true way?

We are a pluralistic culture: Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists of all kinds, Sikhs, Bahai, Spiritualists, Tribalists, psychics and followers of self…to name a few. We must face the fact that many people choose other paths, other shepherds than Jesus.

Some time ago I talked to a filmmaker, a production engineer, and we got on the subject of religion. She was a beautiful and nice person, very human and good. She talked about wanting her children to be good people, to choose their own way, and then she said, “I don’t feel the need for church personally, since I do yoga.”

“I don’t feel the need for church personally, since I do yoga.”

In a world with so many good people choosing so many other ways, how can we share Jesus as the Way…the Gate, the Shepherd?

We first must realize that it is Jesus who calls.

In verse 4 Jesus says that the sheep follow the shepherd because they know His voice. Later in the chapter [v. 27] he says, “My sheep know my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish…”

It is the voice of Christ that calls; it is His voice that leads the sheep, not ours. It is not so much our job to call, as it is our job to follow the call.

The voice and call of Christ goes out into our world, continually, daily echoing the call of eternity through the Holy Spirit. This call echoes in every community, in every home, for those who are His sheep: This call is mysterious and unexplainable, but more real than material life. It speaks deep within our spirit: “Come, follow Me!”

It is the voice of the Shepherd. If you have sensed this deep inner calling, this voice of the Spirit, you know what I am talking about.

A friend of mine was a secular ‘agnostic.’ He spoke of this calling, the Spirit conviction he could not escape…even in his faithless, searching years, he sensed the voice of Christ. He said that this call was so powerful that he was afraid to open up the Bible, for fear he would have to become a Christian. So he fled from the Bible and fled from church. But, one night, he could no longer resist. He opened up the Gospel of John and read of Christ Jesus, the one calling him. The next week found him in church. He is a believer today…

It is Jesus who calls!

We must also realize that Christ is the shepherd, we are the sheep.

We do not own the truth as much as we follow the truth. When we act as if we are the truth, we cause others to stumble.

Sadly, many sheep begin to view themselves as the owner of truth instead of a follower of truth. And these are often the ones who get the attention, the ones the media spotlight: People from one famous church attend events and hold up signs saying, “God hates fags!” Others have recently used the death of the pope to say that all Catholics are going to hell.

But this is not the Shepherd’s voice! This is a case of people confusing themselves with the Shepherd.

The life of the sheep is not to write anonymous letters or make arrogant statements, but to follow so closely, so truly, that when others sense the call, they will know what it means by seeing our true lives, true words, and true worship.

If we follow the Shepherd to pasture, then others can find pasture by following us.

Our calling is to love the Shepherd with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. And from that calling, others can say, “Yes! That is what I hear…that is my calling too!” “Let me come to pasture with you!”

In application, gently we must ask: Am I following truly when any old excuse can keep me from worship? Am I following truly when my weekly life lacks faith substance, prayer and feeding on Christ?

Jesus warns us that there is a thief that would destroy us from faith if he could.
Verse 10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Question: Have we so entered that abundant life of Christ that we even want to share it with others? Or do we accept the subtle robbery of the world in daily life?

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. That one will come in and go out, and find pasture... I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Our soul’s desire is found in the pasture of Christ.
Let us enter in, through Him, the Gate.
Let us enter in, through Him, the Good Shepherd…and find that abundant life.
Then, in love, let us share this life with those who need the call!

Amen.

With all due respect for RC friends...

2005-04-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

Here is Popapalooza 2005!

:-) [click to enlarge]

Larry sent this to me today, and I just had to chuckle. It's slightly sacrilegious, but I present it in the long Judeo-Christian tradition at seeing irony and humor layered into all of life.

Hopefully it will bring a smile to you...

And, not take away from the seriousness of what is riding on this Papal election.

Let us to our prayers, but with a smile in our hearts!

:-)

Mr. L. D. Iconclastian R. Mershimer

Grin.

Kierkegaard: Thy life is the judgment

2005-04-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

THY LIFE IS THE JUDGMENT

O LORD Jesus Christ, Thou who indeed didst not come to judge, but wilt come again to judge the world. Thy life here on earth is in reality the judgment by which we shall be judged.
Wherefore everyone who calls himself a Christian must test his life by this judgment: to discern whether he loves Thee in Thy humiliation, or loves Thee only in Thine exaltation, or simply whether he loves Thee, for if it is in only one of these two ways that he loves Thee, he loves Thee not.
But if he loves Thee, he surely shall experience humiliation [for he loves Thee in Thy humiliation], but not as when the worldly mind succumbs to humiliation -- for it was not thus that Thou didst walk here on earth in humiliation.
No, such a lover, though humiliated, is raised above humiliation: his mind, his eye being directed to the high places wherein Thou hast entered, and where he looks forward to being with Thee -- who from on high wilt draw all to Thyself.

THOU ART THE STRONGEST

LORD Jesus Christ, there are so many things to keep us and to draw us to themselves; each one of us has his or her own particular attraction, yet all of us have many.
But Thine attraction is eternally the strongest! Draw us then the more powerfully to Thee.
We call Thee our Redeemer for Thou art come into the world to break our bondage to the vain cares which we have imposed on ourselves, to break the heavy chains of sin!
We call Thee our Savior that Thou mightest save us by freeing us from all these fetters.
For it is God’s will that Thou should accomplish this and make possible our sanctification. That is why Thou hast descended into the lower regions of the earth and that is why Thou hast returned to Heaven in order to draw us to Thine own dwelling place.

THOU ALONE ART ABLE

Thou alone, O Lord, art able to move a man; Thou alone art able to move a woman!
From the moment I think of Thee, my life is at Thy service; my weak talents are perhaps great in the eyes of men, but for Thee they are nothing and in every case they are the gifts Thou has given me.
When I think of Thy sufferings, Thou, my Lord and Savior, I do not want to spend my days whimpering in a pulpit, but I want to be surrounded by insults, losing everything which is of earthly order -- if it is Thy will.

NOT TO ADMIRE BUT TO FOLLOW

O LORD Jesus Christ, Thou didst not come into the world to be served, but also surely not to be admired, or in that false sense to be worshipped. Thou wast the Way and the Truth – and it was followers only Thou didst demand.
Arouse us therefore, if we have dozed into this delusion, save us from the error of wishing to admire Thee instead of being willing to follow Thee and to resemble Thee.

This we ask for Thy kingdom’s sake O Lord, and for the glory of Thy name!

Alleluia!

Amen.

Luke 24:13-35 Homily on the Emmaus Road

2005-04-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

Luke 24:13-35: "Life After the Funeral"

Two years ago this week we buried my father. We laid him to rest in the Mershimer section of Grove City Cemetery, greeted friends at the repast, and then turned toward home. On that return trip, I wasn’t seeing too well. My soul was burdened and my eyes toward the clouds…my spirit in anguished prayer. I took a wrong turn on a road I knew very well, and ended up way out of my way. I finally made it home…much later than the rest of the family, and they asked, “Where were you? We were wondering about you!” I was too embarrassed to tell them I had turned the wrong way, so I mumbled something about “taking a scenic drive.” :-)

It’s just a fact that inner tears often blur outer vision. There’s something about grief that causes us to lose sight. There’s something about loss that blurs our ability to see. Oh, we can still see things with our physical eyes, but somehow we miss important aspects of life.

In today’s text, two followers of Christ find themselves trudging toward Emmaus, walking home after a funeral weekend in Jerusalem. Their hopes and dreams had been nailed to a cross, their Messiah buried in a borrowed tomb. So, the text says, they walked home with ‘faces downcast’ [v. 17].

Verse 14ff: They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things...Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing Him.

They did not see Him for who He was.

Sometimes our souls have to be right for our eyes to see what they should…

When Jesus walked the earth He taught us to see with our souls and minds. For example, He said:

Consider the lilies of the field:

They sow not, neither do they spin,

Yet Solomon in all his glory

Was not arrayed like one of these!

The word translated “consider” means to ‘see with the mind,’ to see with the soul. To look at a lily with physical eyes, we might say, “Oh that is pretty!” Or, “It’s just a flower in a field.” But when we see the lily with our soul, as Jesus taught us, we will see in that lily a lesson of God’s care: the Father cares for this flower of the field so well, and how much more does He care for us!

This is seeing with the soul…consider the lilies.

Key: Jesus taught us to view all of life this way, to see other people with our minds and hearts – to look and not see a physical body only, but to see the person, inside, spiritually.

But we lose the ability to see with our soul when in grief and loss.

So the Emmaus Road disciples could not see: Their inner eyes were shuttered; loss of heart caused loss of vision. How does Jesus address their need? What does Jesus offer as a cure?

Jesus first takes them back to the Word, to the promises of God.

These verses reveal an order of cure, an order of revelation. These verses also reveal the incredible personality of Jesus! There is so much here to show us of our Lord.

Jesus is a fun-loving person with a great sense of humor. I just love how Jesus plays dumb here. He walks up and says, “What are you talking about?”
And they are shocked: “What?” Are you just a visitor to Jerusalem that you don’t know what has happened?
And Jesus, the central character in all the events, innocently asks, “What things?" :-)

What things, indeed! They pull out their laundry list: “It’s so bad, you just don’t know…we thought He would bring the kingdom, we thought He was Messiah, now killed, dead, gone…and worse, now some rumors are going around that He’s not dead, and we are so confused!”

Isn’t this how we react to the Lord? We pull out our laundry list, and breathlessly recite it: and this happened, and this, and this, and it’s not working out – you don’t know how bad it is, Lord!

With a smile on His face, and a twinkle in His eye, He says, ‘Child, what things?’ ‘Tell me about it!’ The One at the center of all events says, ‘What things?’ What an amazing sense of humor; what amazing love!

Wouldn’t you just love to sit down for a meal with Jesus! “What things?” He says! He is so awesome... :-)

So, they tell Jesus about His own trial and death, and how depressed they are, because they expected Him to be Messiah.

Then Jesus gently takes them back to the Word, and begins with Genesis and the Books of Moses, walks them through the Scriptures, telling them about himself. He tells them how Christ had to suffer and then enter glory.

Here Jesus follows an order in revelation. Jesus doesn’t immediately show himself – but first shows them the promises of God, He takes them back to the word…

This is how He answers their lack of sight: He shows them himself in the promises of God; He renews them in the Word of God.

This is great advice for us. When we lack vision, when we cannot see the presence of God, we must go back to the promises of God, and there see Christ.

David Livingstone wrote in his journal of one night, 16 years into his missionary exploration in Africa, a night where he most feared for his life: January 14, 1856.
On this night, a crowd of hostile hunters threatened him and offered to take his head. He lay in his hut, surrounded by powerful men and spirits, and could not sleep. One voice said, ‘Slip away under darkness while you can.’ ‘Flee while you can.’ But another quiet Voice said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So Livingstone knelt by his bed and read again these words of Jesus: “All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, and lo! I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”
Livingstone underlined these words and then said: “It is the word of a gentleman of the highest honor. He will keep his word.” ‘That settles it!’ ‘I will not flee…I will stay and do my duty.’ He lay down and slept and woke in the morning, sustained by the word of God. Kept safe, in the promise of Christ!

So, here on the road to Emmaus, Jesus takes them back to the word and tells them of himself, through the promises of Scripture.

By now it is getting late and they ask Him to spend the evening with them. They invite Him in for a meal, and break bread. But there, in the breaking of the bread, a miracle occurs: Verse 30ff:
When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Did not our hearts burn within us? We knew something was going on! They leapt to their feet, and ran back to Jerusalem…once tired, now energized, once hopeless, now overflowing with joy.

What made the difference? The breaking of bread, the presence of risen Christ…

When God breaks bread with us, when the Spirit opens Scripture to us, when Christ visits our home, our personal sanctum…something begins to burn within us…

I believe this mysterious, awesome Presence has been made real in some of our recent prayer sessions. We’ve sensed something of the Spirit of Christ…in prayer, our spirit burns within us.

And we are changed. The Emmaus Road encounter echoes hope for our darkest days of loss…and doubt.

The presence of grief blurs our sight.
But Christ takes us back to the word, to the promises of God.
Christ makes His presence known at our table, in our inner life.
He touches us to live again. And there is life after the funeral.

The presence of the risen Christ makes all the difference. In our anxiety...in our need, we miss the great meaning of life. But the presence of Christ restores us to communion with God and others: vision, sight, 'knowing even as we are known.'

There is a lesson here for us as individuals...and as a church, Parkview!

Let us trust the words of Christ. Go back to His promises.
Let us invite Him to our table; invite Him to our inner chambers.
Let us break bread with Him, and live again…dancing back to Jerusalem!

Amen!

Langer: Meeting the Master at the Masters

2005-04-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Twenty years ago this week, Bernhard Langer surged past Curtis Strange to win his first major golf tournament...the Masters. Still feeling the rush of victory, he stepped into the Butler cabin for the winner's interview -- a destined, fateful moment! Doug Ferguson puts it this way:

Imagine the excitement he felt when he was presented the green jacket in the Butler Cabin. Then came the live interview with CBS Sports, and an innocuous question about whether he looked at the leaderboard.
The response, best Langer can recall, went something like this:

"I looked up for the first time after nine holes and I thought I was playing well, but Jesus Christ! Curtis Strange was four shots ahead.''

When Langer said the words, "Jesus Christ," he really didn't mean offense. It was just a phrase in the culture, a phrase he had grown used to saying. But now he said it on national TV!

Only later did Langer realize what he had said, and the number of people he offended.

"I was not a Christian at the time,'' he said. "It was a powerful expression, and a lot of people used it. A few weeks later, I had a number of fan mail -- well, anti-fan mail -- that said who am I to be swearing on national television? To be using Jesus' name in vain?''

When the outraged fan mail poured in, Langer, being the thinker he is, didn't react in anger. He stepped back and asked himself, "Why should people be upset with what I said?" What is going on here?

The letters didn't make him defensive. They made him think.

He began to ask himself who he was, what was important, what was meaningful to him. One of his friends on the PGA Tour was Bobby Clampett, who routinely invited him to Wednesday night Bible studies.

This time, Langer took him up on the offer and brought his wife, Vikki, whom he had met at the 1983 Inverrary Classic and married a year later. The message that night was one of faith, not good deeds.

He started reading his Bible and asking more questions.

"I thought I was doing all the right things,'' said Langer, who grew up as a Catholic altar boy. "I was taught to be a good person, and if you did good things, God will say you've been good enough and you can go to heaven. But that's not what the Bible says.''

Within three months, Langer became a born-again Christian.

He often wonders where he would be without that Masters and that off-the-cuff winner's comment in Butler cabin. It was a life-defining and life-changing moment. And as skilled as he is, he has become known as much for how he lives than tournaments he has won. "My faith has helped me not only in difficult times, but in good times -- in all times," he said.

Langer made it back to the Butler Cabin in 1993 with a four-shot victory at the Masters, the widest margin of victory in 10 years at Augusta National. This time, he was ready for the live interview with CBS. They asked him how it felt to win the Masters for the second time, and Langer talked about faith and honor.

Yes, it was quite an honor to win what he considers the greatest golf tournament in the world.

Langer couldn't help but mention that he won on Easter Sunday, and how important that day is to Christians.

He now reflects on his two visits to the cabin and draws a conclusion that makes him smile.

"I sometimes joke," he said, "that I'm the only one to mention 'Jesus Christ' in Butler Cabin twice."

:-)

Now that is an honor!

God bless Bernhard Langer!

Ancient silver scroll dates to 7th century B.C.

2005-03-31T12:38:00.000-08:00

May the LORD bless you and keep you. May the LORD make His face to shine upon you, and give you peace.

So reads the Priestly Benediction from the Book of Numbers, the oldest and most enduring blessing of the Jewish and Christian faith.

In 1979, Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay found two silver scrolls in an ancient Israelite tomb on a Jerusalem hillside. Inscribed on these scrolls was the ancient blessing: "May the LORD bless you. May the LORD make His face to shine upon you..." Based on his knowledge of Hebrew text, Barkay dated the scrolls to the 7th century B.C. -- making them the oldest existing evidence of Scriptural verse.

But this date was not accepted in academia until science caught up with reality. Recently, a team of American scholars proved the 7th century date: the scrolls are 2,600 years old. That's 400 years older than the Dead Sea Scrolls. A CBS article comments: "It took modern technology to prove their antiquity."

"We had one foot planted in the ancient past and one foot planted in the future," says Bruce Zuckerman with the University of Southern California.

Sophisticated computer photo-imaging revealed more of the text, allowing experts to confirm the early dating. The scrolls are believed to have been worn as amulets, containing the blessing to protect their wearers from evil.

Quite an amazing discovery! But what does it mean in terms of biblical lineage?

Frankly, it is very encouraging for scholars who are faith friendly. It moves the textual line back 400 years beyond the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were in themselves a smashing blow to liberal theories of Hebrew Scriptural development. Now we have this little inscribed silver scroll, from 400 years before, showing biblical text as reverenced tradition of the people of God.

It all points to the text as originating in a time frame as the text asserts for itself.

Which is quite wonderful...but not surprising for those who believed the claims of that text in the first place.

Forensic science and archeology team up to support faith. Who'da thunk it?

;-)

Maundy Thursday fast for Terri Schindler-Schiavo

2005-03-23T21:10:00.000-08:00

Friends, the death of this beautiful woman of God is near...near the day of our Lord's death at the hands of close betrayal, biased judges and politicized social system. Sound familiar?

The call has gone out for the people of faith to fast on Maundy Thursday, to fast and pray. Then let us fast and pray...during the day, let us break the bread of the Passover in the evening, but let us pray during the day for this child of God.

Amen.

Meditation on separation: 'My God, my God, why...?'

2005-03-19T22:21:00.000-08:00

“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

Of all the words from the Cross, this is the one that tears the heart. This is the cry that sears the soul, words of separation, utter loneliness…deep in our spirit we feel the fear…abandoned! Abandoned by Abba? What pain! What mystery!

How can this be? How can the Eternal Son be separated from Abba, the loving, Holy Father?

The question is one that we cannot fathom. We cannot comprehend the essence of God. So we can only approach this cry from the human side. And here it throbs with something we understand: abandonment.

Loneliness.

Separation.

For sin brings separation, and that separation we understand: Separation from God, separation from others, separation from ourselves.

In these words, Jesus cries the cry of the human race, cry penned by the ancient Psalmist, a universal reality: “My God, why? Why have You forsaken me?”

For everyone who has ever wept, “Why?” For all who have ever sensed inner separation from God, and wept over the despair of sin – its loneliness, abandonment, and separation – a light dawns in this cry of Christ. Here Jesus is bearing the separation penalty of our sin: as Jesus takes upon himself the sins of the world, in that instant He bears the actual separation of every human from God.

In this cry, Jesus takes the sting of our own forsakenness.

Jesus takes our abandonment so that we can know, no matter what our feelings, we are not forsaken by God: God himself carried our separation on the Cross.

William Cowper sought most of his life for assurance of faith. He battled despair in order to write high hymns of Christian faith. But, in his darkest hours toward the end of life, he found no comfort for his soul. In his last published poem, “The Castaway,” he termed himself a “destined wretch,” forsaken by Divine:

No voice divine the storm allay’d,
No light propitious shone;
When, snatch’d from all effectual aid,
We perish’d, each alone... [1]

In Cowper’s mind, he died without hope. He could not feel God, and so he concluded that God had left him. He felt that he was abandoned by God, and not mourned by others.

It is a dreadful story.

But was Cowper right that he was castaway by God, because he felt forsaken, lonely…separated from the Father?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning took up that same question at Cowper’s grave. Elizabeth grieved Cowper’s lonely heart and death. But at Cowper’s grave, through tears, she answered his deepest questions in light of Jesus’ cry from the Cross:

Deserted! God could separate from His own essence rather;
And Adam’s sins have swept between the righteous Son and Father;
Yea, once, Immanuel’s orphaned cry His universe hath shaken --
It when up single, echoless, “My God, I am forsaken!”

It went up from the Holy’s lips amid His lost creation,
That, of the lost, no son should use those words of desolation!
That earth’s worst frenzies, marring hope, should mar not hope’s fruition,
And I, on Cowper’s grave, should see his rapture in a vision. [3]

Oh! God bless Elizabeth Barrett Browning!

In faith she answered the worst claim that human despair can make: Our separation must be seen in light of the Eternal Son. The cry of Immanuel shook the universe, going up single, echoless, so that of lost humans, no son or daughter should ever again weep these words of desolation!

Our worst frenzies of earth, our worst separations, though they should mar our very hope, they cannot take away hope’s fruition, for that was won for us on the Cross, as Immanuel himself cried out, “Abba! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

Hope. Belonging. Son. Daughter of God.

Separation conquered.

This is the human meaning of Christ’s forsaken cry!

Alleluia!

Amen.

_______________________

[1] William Cowper, “The Castaway” (1799), English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald,
The Harvard Classics: 1909–14, http://www.bartleby.com/41/321.html.
[2] Cowper, “Castaway.”
[3] Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "Cowper's Grave," The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (London: John Murray, 1914), 143.

Kierkegaard: Not to admire but to follow

2005-03-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

NOT TO ADMIRE BUT TO FOLLOW

O LORD Jesus Christ, Thou didst not come into the world to be served,
But also surely not to be admired, or in that false sense to be worshipped.
Thou wast the Way and the Truth –
And it was followers only Thou didst demand.
Arouse us therefore, if we have dozed away into this delusion:
Save us from the error of wishing to admire Thee
Instead of being willing to follow Thee and resemble Thee.

WOULD THAT WE MIGHT FOLLOW THEE

O LORD Jesus Christ, who didst behold Thy fate in advance
And yet didst not draw back;
Thou who didst suffer Thyself to be born in poverty and lowliness,
And thereafter in poverty and loneliness didst bear the sin of the world,
Being ever a sufferer, until, hated, forsaken,
Mocked, and spat upon,
In the end deserted even by God…
Thou didst bow Thy head in the death of shame ---
Oh, but Thou didst lift it up again, Thou eternal Victor!
Thou wast not, it is true, victorious over Thine enemies in this life,
But in death wast victorious even over death;
Thou didst lift up Thy head, forever victorious, Thou who art ascended to heaven!
Would that we might follow Thee!

TO FOLLOW THEE: PATTERN AND REDEEMER

O LORD Jesus Christ, it was not to plague us humans
But to save us that Thou didst say,
“No one can serve two masters” ---
Oh, that we might be willing to accept it, by doing it,
That is, by following Thee.
Thou who art both willing and able to help, help us all and everyone…
Thou who art both the Pattern and Redeemer,
And again both the Redeemer and Pattern,
So that when we sink under the Pattern,
The Redeemer raises us up again!
And, at the same instant Thou art also the Pattern, to keep us continually striving for Thee!
Thou, our Redeemer, by Thy blessed suffering and death,
Hast made satisfaction for all and for everything;
No eternal blessedness can be earned by us --- but it has been deserved for us!
Yet Thou didst leave behind Thee the trace of Thy footsteps,
Thou the holy pattern of the human race,
And of each individual in it,
So that, saved by Thy redemption, we might every instant have confidence and boldness of will to strive to follow Thee!

Alleluia!

Strong Son of God, Savior of the world, in Thy name and for Thy sake we pray! Have this mercy upon us,

Amen.

You know it's a dictatorship...

2005-03-16T09:37:00.000-08:00

You Know its a Dictatorship When:

Michael Moore portrays the country as a kite-flying paradise
Jimmy Carter sanctioned their last election
The UN certifies that there is no genocide
They sign friendship pacts with other dictatorships (also here and here and here too)
They are a member of the UN Human Rights commission (not 100% foolproof but getting closer every year)
They were once a French colony, and/or France is opposing sanctions against it (also here too)
Their people are impoverished and they lag the world in economic growth

Thanks, Coyoteblog!

Good stuff...

:-)

John 11:1ff -- The path of death to glory

2005-03-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

John 11:1-45: “Death to Glory”

By Loy Mershimer

Today’s Gospel text is another story on the way to the cross. This day, Jesus basically signs His own death warrant by going back near Jerusalem, and working another miracle. It is the story of Lazarus. And in spite of the cross lurking in the background, it is one of my favorite Gospel texts. John relates the story with several amazing details, details which show us the person of Christ and the call of God. Here the inner working and power of God is on display…it teaches us much about relation to Him today.

The first thing we see is the delay of Christ.

The story opens with Jesus in the province of Perea, beyond the Jordan River, near the wilderness and…safely out of reach of the authorities in Jerusalem. It is here that word comes to Him from Mary and Martha: “Lord, Lazarus is ill, and near death’s door!”

These people were like family to Jesus. Their home was His home. Yet, when Jesus got the news, the text says He ‘stayed where He was.’ Verse 6: “Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days.”

Why? Why would Jesus do that? I mean, if He loves Mary and Martha and Lazarus, why would He purposefully wait…with Lazarus at death’s door? Jesus waits two days, and Lazarus dies…it doesn’t make sense.

How often does it seem that God waits two days past our limit?
Two days past our ultimate breaking point?
But God, I needed that answer two days ago!
It’s just too little, too late…

Christ’s delay caused a faith crisis for the sisters. Jesus, for all appearances, let Lazarus descend into death, when quicker action could have saved him.
The first thing Martha says when Jesus finally arrives [v. 21]: “Lord, if you had been here…” “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” In verse 32 Mary says the same thing. She sees Jesus, and falls at His feet with great weeping, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

How does Jesus reply? “Your brother will rise again.” And, verse 42: “If you believe, you will see the glory of God.” The glory of God!
The same word He gives the disciples [v. 4] is the same word He gives the sisters [v. 42]: The glory of God.

Here is a key to our relation to God: the delay of Christ is related to the glory of God.

When God waits, He has our best interests in mind. We can mark it down.

The first incredible lesson of this text is the meaning of delay: the delay of Christ reveals the glory of God in us.

The text then shows us the danger of Christ.

After waiting, Jesus says to the disciples [v. 7]: “Let us go to Judea.”

“Wait a second, Lord…” “Did you say Judea?” “They just tried to kill you there!”

But the will of Christ led back to Judea, where the secret agents of the religious elite waited. The will of Christ led into the jaws of death, to direct confrontation with death.

To walk with Christ on this path was to walk into high danger.

Thomas answers with desperate, loyal faith: “Let us go, that we may die with Him!”

The will of Christ is not always comfortable, not always manageable or even secure. But the answer of faith is: "I will go with you, Lord..." "Let us go, that we may die with Him!"

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian and pastor, resisted the Nazi regime of Hitler at risk of his life. In 1939, some friends helped him flee to the United States. Here he was safe…but after a short stay, he decided to return to Germany. He believed it was necessary to suffer with his people, and stand against evil with his life. So he returned to Germany, and opposed the tyranny of Nazis as best he could. He confronted death every day. He learned what it was to “die daily,” as each day dawned in danger. Eventually, the Nazis put him in prison… and then hanged him in 1945 -- killed for plotting against Hitler. Bonhoeffer wrote these words that still echo, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” When Christ calls a woman, he bids her come and die.

The cost of discipleship: There is a cost with Christ which is all but forgotten in American theology.

The road with Christ is not a road always comfortable and easy. Sometimes it leads back to Jerusalem, where waits a cross, and enemies…

I recently turned on Christian TV, and watched a young, impressive minister give a powerful word. I thought, “This is pretty good.” But then he looked directly into the camera, shook out his sleeve and held up his Rolex: “You see this Rolex?” he said. “If you follow Christ, you’ll have one of these too.” “Donate to this number on the screen, it will get you started…on the rewards of faith.”

Kierkegaard: If we serve God for the reward, we aren’t serving God, but serving ourselves.

So Jesus says, “Let’s go back to Judea!” “But…but Lord! That’s just two miles from where your face is on the reward posters.” “Yeah, I know. Let’s go!”

There is danger with Christ, but it is the danger of freedom. It will free us from service of self, and empower us to dance with God. And this is the second lesson of the text, the lesson of danger: There is danger with Christ, but it only frees us from the tyranny of self-control. It frees us from the ‘reward-disease.’ [1]

And, finally, this text shows us the great demand of Christ.

Here we find transcendent, and even cosmic, claims. For Jesus makes demands on death itself. Jesus takes dominion over the worst of this life…which is death.

He says, in v. 25: “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” “She who believes in me will not die forever!”

Then, in verse 43, Jesus stands before the tomb. Here, at the tomb of Lazarus, we see a preview of the power that will soon rip Christ back from the grave. Jesus faces death’s door and shouts, “Lazarus, come forth!”
That command echoed between two worlds, and called Lazarus again as whole -- body, spirit, soul…and Lazarus stumbled out, grave clothes flapping...alive, yet bound.

Then, Christ rings out those famous words of freedom [v. 44]: “Loose him, and let go!” Take off the grave clothes; it’s time to live again.

Even after hearing the call, there are things that bind us: The wrappings, the vestiges, the weaknesses of the former life.
But the power of Christ speaks to even these things. “Loose him, and let him go!” “Take off the grave clothes and let her go!”

The freedom of Christ is for every Christian – not just for pastors, elders and “saints.”

It is for us. In Christ, in His great demand, He commands our death, our wrappings of the grave. By grace we can see the risen Christ for who He is! In faith, through the Holy Spirit, we can encounter the power and rule of Christ, our holy Lord.

At this time of year, my mind goes to an Easter vigil of 1998, where the Lord Jesus Christ drew near in the power of the Spirit. I cannot get away from that revelation. And recently, in our Lenten vigils, our prayer services, Christ has been making His presence known. To see Jesus like this, to sense and encounter His holy presence, His demand…is to find the old things breaking away.

And here is a challenge from the truth today: The challenge is to take that one thing that most binds you, and offer it, open it to the command of Christ.

In this command, even death leads to glory.

The Lazarus story says that we can be free…as we embrace the ways of God, the delay, the danger…and enter the holy demand: “Come forth!” “Be free!”

Do we know death? Oh, yes we do! But in Christ our journey is from death to glory!

Amen.

______________________

[1] Kierkegaard talks about the ‘reward-disease’ that afflicts modern Christians [note: the real place of spiritual warfare today]. Christians – good people – find themselves unable to truly follow Christ into purity because they unconsciously demand reward from their faith -- comfort, the ‘good life,’ prestige, position and power. In other words, pretty much everything that American Christians sell out their lives for, all the while intending to give Christ something, some noble act or ‘sacrifice’ – if just Christ gives them all the things of prestige and comfort: luxury cars, houses, and high profile relationships! But, softly and unconsciously, this ‘reward-disease’ eats away the true intended person, banishing purity of heart. [Cf. Soren Kierkegaard, “Barriers to Willing One Thing: The Reward Disease,” Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing, translated from the Danish by Douglas V. Steere (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1938), 41-52.]

John 9:1-41 -- homily: spiritual blindness

2005-03-07T22:28:00.000-08:00

John 9:1-41: “Spiritual Blindness”

By Loy Mershimer

Today’s text tells us a story. It is a story of a man born blind – a man born blind who meets Jesus, the One who heals the blind.

Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. From backwater Galilee, He has come for this great Feast. Tabernacles, a feast of light -- a powerful religious festival: large candelabra were lighted in the temple courts, high above the city. From this high elevation, light shined down into the city, visible from every point. This symbolized the light and truth of the Jewish faith, going out to the world. And twice during this Feast, with this light shining down into the city, Jesus said, ‘I AM the Light of the world…!’

And this day He backs it up by giving a man new sight [vv. 1-7]:

As Jesus walked along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Him a theological question, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” “We must be about the work of God while it is day.” “…I am the light of the world.”

As soon as Jesus said, ‘I am the Light of the world,’ He spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. “Go,” He told him, “Wash in the Pool of Siloam for your healing.” So the man went and washed, and was healed.

It is a fascinating story. And, this first part is all positive: It reveals several key principles of God’s action, principles of healing and intervention.

First principle: For children of faith, adversity is linked to greater glory. Affliction is not always discipline. “Who sinned?” “No one,” Jesus said. “But this happened that the glory of God might be revealed…the works of God done.” In faith, adversity leads to greater glory.

Second principle: God acts on different time tables. Sometimes He heals quickly, sometimes over a period of time. In today’s text, Jesus heals in a several step process, a process involving divine action and human obedience. In faith, we sign on for the process.

Third principle: God often heals in ways that we wouldn’t. Here Jesus uses spit and mud!

Modern person: “Hey! Did you just spit? And make mud?” “You’re not putting that on my eyes!” “That’s the problem with those country preachers – always going around spitting and making mud…” “And, now He says go to the pool of Siloam!” “Yeah, right…!” :-)

Answers to prayer are with divine means, in divine timing. So we trust the means...even mud. We obey, and wait. As the Hebrew prophet said, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…” [Isaiah 40:31]. “The Lord has pleasure in those who fear Him, on those who await His gracious favor” [Psalm 147:11]. Again and again Scripture makes this point: To wait in hope for God is the highest sign of faith: Process, and obedience! Process, and obedience…! Hope lies in a 'passion of patience.'

So the story starts off positive: it shows us divine means, divine timing…and human obedience.

At first it is so beautiful!
But then something turns in verse 13. Some people aren’t happy…why not?
Verse 14: Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath!
Ah! Jesus broke the protocol of their religious politics…and the leaders aren’t happy!
They protest the healing! Verse 16: “This man is not from God!”

As I meditated on this text, my mind went to a friend who converted to Christ…in the midst of a personal seeking, he came to faith -- saved from drugs and new age expressions. But his conversion to Christ took him out of the old family church. When his parents found out, they disowned him. They would rather have him on drugs, broken…and still part of the old code, than healed…whole once again, but not attending their church!

These religious leaders would rather have the man still blind, than healed on the Sabbath.

This raises the question: How often would we rather have God not act, then to have Him act in ways that affect our comfort zones?

Here the story is uncomfortable. We want God in a box, where we can take off the lid, use Him at our need, then put Him back when everything is ok.
But text shows that as only religious atheism: It is the religious professionals who have real problems with Jesus because He doesn’t fit their old codes.

Here we must bow, and ask: God, how often have I denied your presence because you didn’t fit my ‘codes’ – my expectations and ‘normal’ thoughts?

The story gets worse. The religious leaders grow more hostile…They summon the family for interrogation, and twice summon the man for questioning. In verse 24 they give the ultimatum: “Give glory to God,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

The man replied [v. 25]: “All I know, I once was blind, but now I see!”
He then passionately declares belief in v. 27, belief that judges them: “Why are you asking me these questions?” “Do you want to believe in Him, also?” :-)
And then, in vv. 32-33: “Since the beginning of the world, who has opened the eyes of a man born blind?” “If He were not from God, He could do nothing!”

They couldn’t answer him. All they could do was attack him: “You sinner!” “You were steeped in sin at your mother’s birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out [v. 33].
Excommunicated!
How can we make sense of this?
Why would they hate a man who had been healed? Why?
The answer is in verse 39: Jesus says, “For judgment I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will be made blind.”

For judgment I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will be made blind.

So the story is not so much about physical blindness, but about spiritual blindness.

The physical healing of the man exposed their own spiritual need, and so they hated the sign of his healing…and hated his belief. Claiming to know, to see…they were so blind.

This is a hard lesson: Those who follow the light, open to Christ…will find sight, but those who embrace their own religious power will remain in darkness.
How does this judge us, as people in American culture…a culture of people…in love with their own ‘spiritual’ power?

Here the text towers above us: Only those who follow the Light will find spiritual sight --- the great challenge, then, is to believe in spite of our own contradictions! The struggle is to accept vital belief…in spite of our own circumstances, our past, our comfortable, entrenched, normal thoughts…to enter the healing vision of Christ.

In a story I shared last October, Martin Buber, the Jewish philosopher, tells a story of his grandfather, who was paralyzed. One day they asked this paralyzed grandfather to tell a story about his teacher, the Holy Baal Shem Tov. So the grandfather told of how his loved teacher, Holy Baal Shem Tov, used to jump and dance while he was praying. ‘My grandfather stood up’ Buber says. ‘He stood up while he was telling the story’ and was so caught up and carried away in its power that ‘he had to jump and dance to show how the master prayed’ -- a paralyzed man, in the power of holy memory, jumping and dancing. ‘From that moment, my grandfather was healed…’

The snap of fingers and the holy dance, and he entered a healing he didn’t understand…

So this blind man gets caught up in something he doesn’t understand…but he believes! He goes to the pool of Siloam, washes, testifies to Christ, gets tossed out of the Temple for his words…and then stands before Christ, whom he sees for the first time.

Jesus asks him, point blank: “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
“Who is He, sir -- that I may believe in Him?” “The one speaking to you is He!”
“Lord, I believe!” and he fell down and worshipped Jesus.

Then Jesus spoke a word that echoed for all hearing…and echoes down through time into our worship today: “For judgment I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will be made blind.”

Here then is the great contradiction of faith:

If we confess our blindness, we will find new sight.
But if we claim to see, we will become blind.

Our prayer of faith must be: Lord, give us eyes to see! Give us eyes to see your means, a heart to see your methods, and faith to wait your answers…

O Parkview! Christians! May we be among those who see the Light of the world for who He is…and so find what it means to see!

Amen!

Prayer: O God, let us wait for you with faith that dances into your healing…even when we have no strength to walk. Let us confess our blindness to You, and then in that very blindness, begin to see again! By your grace, through faith, may we worship like this…O Spirit of the Living God! This we ask in the strong Name of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, amen!

Tens of thousands of girls raped in Congo

2005-03-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

In a heartrending report, an international human rights organization reported tens of thousands of rapes occuring in East Congo.

KINSHASA, Congo - Militiamen and renegade soldiers have raped and beaten tens of thousands of women and young girls in eastern Congo, and nearly all the crimes have gone unpunished by the country's broken judicial system, an international human rights group said Monday.

Hundreds of new rapes are reported every week, but only 10 soldiers and militants have been convicted of rape in relatively lawless eastern Congo since the end of the country's devastating war in 2002, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report.

"Perpetrators of sexual violence are members of virtually all the armed forces and armed groups that operate in eastern Congo," according to the 52-page report.

"The Congolese justice system has to date failed to address the egregious problem."

Rape is often a preferred weapon of armed groups fighting the east's myriad battles, as it was during the 1998-2002 war — Monday's report quotes a World Health Organization study that documented over 40,000 rapes in two eastern provinces during the conflict.

Marauding gunmen gang-raped children as young as 3-years-old, and often raped women and young girls — some to the point of death — as their families helplessly watched, the report said.

At least 10 women were being raped every day in the tiny, embattled town of Bunia as recently as October 2004, according to the report.

Warring ethnic Hema and Lendu militia continue to terrorize Bunia — kicking down doors in the night and snatching girls in the fields — despite the presence of thousands of U.N. peacekeepers based there.

And, the story gets even worse --- now it is revealed that even the U.N. peacekeepers there have taken part in the wholescale raping of young girls.

Unbelievable. What madness is loosed upon our world?

We must take up our prayers, as a two-edged sword...and lift our voices and lives against this darkness upon our world.

Are we not in battle? How can we constantly live with personal comfort the first order of our lives?

Seven million prison children

2005-03-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

In a recent interview on black family and prisons, US Dream Academy leader Wintley Phipps said that 7 million children go to bed every night with one or more of their parents in prison.

However that number is sliced, it is a serious sign.

Prison Fellowship notes several harder statistics, that there are 2 million prisoners in our country’s correctional facilities today and 4.5 million men and women on parole. There are 2.3 million children with at least one parent incarcerated and 10 million children who have had a parent in prison as they were growing up. Again, powerful signs of cultural loss of faith.

Toward the end of reaching this segment of society with a transformative Gospel, Prison Fellowship has established a new campus ministry initiative in an effort to raise up a new generation of leaders in the church. The goal is to develop men and women who are confident in sharing their faith in our culture: "In a world where crime is outrunning the development of correctional facilities and the rates of recidivism seem to only be increasing, something new must be implemented."

Prison Fellowship and US Dream Academy have created a partnership toward that goal, of education and intervention from a spiritual point of view.

A great venue of intervention, with which we all can partner!

By grace, and our prayers, these seven million prison children can become chosen children of God!

From tolerance to scandal

2005-03-04T16:30:00.000-08:00

In the largest pedophilia trial in history, 39 French men and 27 women are charged with rape or selling their children for sex in a sordid ring of abuse. As of now, the case involves at least 45 children...some practically babies. And this follows on the heels of a similar trial in Northern France, involving town and family members.

"I don't dare believe that this is specific to France, but it shows that there is gangrene in our society," said Yves Crespin, a lawyer for the children. One editorial quoted a historian to say: "We have gone...from tolerance to scandal... "

From tolerance to scandal.

There is gangrene in our society.

These words are incisive: 'We have gone from tolerance to scandal...' In other words, we have gone from 'niceness' being the highest good, the highest *truth* of society...to the total lack of being able to judge between falsehood and truth, good and evil. After all, if we are 'nice' we don't judge, right?

C. S. Lewis warned that the day was coming when they would praise a person not by saying they were true, but by saying they were nice, or 'tolerant.' Only those who are awake will see the connection of this dogma to inner decay...

The editorial reaches a moral conclusion: "That this trial is happening at the same time as that of Michael Jackson's is not coincidental either." "But in Angers, there is no glitter, just mud and night."

No glitter, just mud and night.

There, friends, is the end of tolerance without true spiritual center.

Whether it is priests who have ceased to believe in God, or entire French towns which now disbelieve in God, humanistic dogma leads to human abuse. It always does.

And the blood of innocents cries out from the ground...

Darfur update

2005-03-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Instapundit, a Darfur update. More of the same, friends.

DARFUR UPDATE:

WASHINGTON, Sudan's government and the militia it supports persist in committing atrocities in the Darfur region despite repeated promises to end brutal abuses and killings, the U.S. State Department says.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed over the past two years, many as a result of disease and hunger, and more than 1.8 million displaced from Darfur in fighting which the United States has called genocide.

"Despite the government's repeated commitments to refrain from further violence in Darfur, the atrocities continued," said the State Department's annual report of human rights abuses worldwide, published Monday.

Last year, then Secretary of State Colin Powell concluded genocide was being committed against the people of Darfur and that Sudan's government and the Janjaweed militia bore responsibility.

The United States wants the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions against Sudan but China and Russia have opposed such penalties, particularly on oil.

The full report is here. The section on Sudan and Darfur is here.

Thanks, Glen, for your continued vigilance on Darfur.

Also, read Sudan Watch...

More here: Darfur attacks 'led by Khartoum'

Musa Hilal said Sudanese army commanders were involved

Evidence that Sudan's government is backing Arab militias in Darfur has come from a leader of the forces, US-based Human Rights Watch has said.

Musa Hilal, named by the US as a Janjaweed leader, told the group that militia attacks on ethnic Africans were directed by Sudanese army commanders.

"These people get their orders... from Khartoum," he said in an interview transcript released by the group.

The Sudanese government has strongly denied supporting the militias.

Human Rights Watch said Mr Hilal made the allegations during a videotaped interview in Arabic, conducted in September last year.

The group released part of the interview on Wednesday, saying that translation and formatting of the tape had delayed its publication.

War crimes

"All the people in the field are led by top army commanders," Mr Hilal told researchers during the interview.

"These people get their orders from the Western command centre and from Khartoum."

Read it here.

Rom. 5:1-11 -- homily: counterintuitive gospel

2005-02-28T12:56:00.000-08:00

Romans 5:1-11: “The Counterintuitive Gospel”

By Loy Mershimer

As we study the Scriptures, we see again and again the fact…that God doesn’t do things the way we do them. The Lord spoke through the prophets saying, “People, My ways are not your ways, and My thoughts not your thoughts…as the heavens are high above the earth, so are My thoughts above yours” [Isaiah 55:8-9].
Then Jesus Christ came, and He was so different from their expectations that many religious people rejected Him. Believe it or not!

And…yes, we do believe it, because that has been our struggle with the Gospel ever since: It doesn’t fit into a nice box. Just when we think we have it all figured out, faith relation takes another twist and we face a crisis: can we really trust the ways of God…?

So very often, what we conceive in human wisdom, what we ‘intuit’ through conventional knowledge, God does the opposite! This causes a faith crisis…trust, or not?

Today’s text presents several aspects of the Gospel that shatter our conventional wisdom, divine claims that counter human intuition. And as we learn the ways of God, we are better equipped to follow…so let’s listen to the text.

The first surprising claim of the text is that suffering can be good.

Shocked? I’ll say it again: Suffering can be good! :-)

Our immediate reaction: ‘Suffering? No way!’ ‘Suffering is bad – we all know that.’ ‘Are you saying God is a masochist or something?’

No, God is not a masochist. He doesn’t delight in random suffering. He’s not like a Marine drill instructor gone bad. :-) My brother came home from Paris Island Marine Corps boot camp, and related some horror stories of DIs who would inflict extreme physical pain on the recruits just to see their reaction – take pleasure in it. God is not like that!

However, God does look at suffering differently than we do. We look at suffering and flee the pain, numb the pain any way we can. In fact, the story of many lives is a story of numbing reality. We flee the struggle at any cost, sometimes. But God looks at suffering and says, “That is a bad thing my child is going through…but it will help her become more than she is now…” “That is a struggle he is going through…but I will work my glory in him through it!”

In verses 3 and 4, the text says that we can not only rejoice in the hope of God, but we can also ‘rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.’

That is an amazing statement. The fruit of suffering is perseverance…character, and the end of suffering is hope. Hope! Hope, with access to the glory and grace of God [as v. 2 puts it], and poured out love through the Holy Spirit [v. 5].
This is so amazing because it means that suffering can take us to a higher level in God, if we let it. The implication is incredible: that we actually participate in the very life of God, through faithfulness to Christ, in suffering.

Suffering can open us to the sweet, poured out grace of God, through the Holy Spirit. And this kind of hope will not disappoint us [v. 5].

God is not a masochist, but He will use those bad things we struggle with…for our benefit!

This so overturns our normal thinking. But by faith we can say, suffering can be good [if it produces godliness].

There is a second surprising Gospel claim in today’s text. It is that peace is in relation to God.

Peace is in relation to God! Humanly speaking, we think of peace in so many ways, relation to conflict, relation to things…right house, right possessions, right status.

But verse 1 implies that real peace is something related to God. “We have peace with God through Jesus Christ,’ the text says. Peace here is based on something…
What does it say? Verse 1: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God…”

Since we have been justified, we have peace…

We’ve all heard the human phrase, “No justice, no peace.” But our text says, in effect, “Know justification, know peace!”

Verse 1: Since justified, we have peace…justified is a legal term, which means being placed right with God. One child said it best: “It means God looks at me just-as-if-I’d never sinned!” :-)

Consider the story of a woman, in great inner turmoil and praying desperately for a sign of God’s care in. She decided to take a different path to her destination, and as the Lord would have it, she passed a little church with a sign that said, ‘No Christ, no peace.’ ‘Know Christ, know peace!’ Something struck her deep within…an urge that said, ‘Stop and go in that church.’ But she went on [so much like us!]. She was only going to be in that neighborhood two more days, so she went by the next day, passed the sign, ‘Know Christ, know peace!’…and yet went on. The third day, the last…she went by, passed the sign…but then stopped, returned to the church and went in. The pastor smiled and greeted her as she walked in. He said, ‘I was waiting for you.’ “I’ve seen you pass by for three days…” “God is calling you. Would you like to know God’s love?” There, in tears, the woman received Christ’s forgiveness…and was flooded with such peace as she had never known.

Peace is based in right relation [justification] with God. When something troubles our spirit, the proper place to go is to God. When we are burdened, perhaps troubled over some struggle…or troubled by the wrong path that loved ones take, our proper place is the presence of God, in prayer.

For again, overturning our wisdom, peace is relation to God [not relation to things]!

And finally, the text surprises us with the claim that salvation is by faith.

Deep within, our human instinct is that we must somehow deserve salvation, somehow work our way to being right with God.

People often say something like, “I’ll come to church, pastor, when I can get a few things straightened up in my life.” Some variation on that theme -- which means, ‘Let me try to fix things myself…’ ‘Let me somehow make myself more deserving of God.’
I reply: ‘Come to church and let God make you what you ought to be!’

Because, guess what? We don’t deserve grace! None of us do. But God gives it to us in Christ, and not only that…God gives it while we are still at odds with Him!
Verses 6-8: You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God’s love is so far beyond our love that we cannot fathom it. While we are still at spiritual enmity with God, He reaches out to us in Christ…to make us His own.

This calling overturns our highest thoughts and dreams: salvation is by faith [not goodness]!

In this grace we become ‘children of reconciliation.’ Reconciled to God [vv. 10-11], we are empowered to reach out this reconciliation to others…

This is the incredible, counterintuitive Gospel: God offers to meet us in Christ, and grant us the free gift of grace…bringing us peace through justification, and blessing every aspect of our human suffering…to the goal of hope and glory!

No, God doesn’t do things the way we do…and I’m so glad He doesn’t!

As one youth said to me this summer, when hearing of the high path, the counterintuitive call of God: “I would have never believed it…” “Thanks for giving me something worth living for; thanks for giving me something worth dying for!”
That is the Gospel. It overturns our human thinking, but in the process, remakes us…recalls us back, to the very image of God, in Christ Jesus! Life worth living…

Let’s receive that Gospel again this Lent…bow to Christ’s wisdom…and be changed.

Amen.

Latent racism in Darfur inaction

2005-02-26T20:21:00.000-08:00

James K. Glassman echoes Michael J. Totten, and says that the genocide in Sudan is playing out the Genovese Syndrome on a large scale -- a reference to Kitty Genovese, who was knifed to death in New York in 1964 as neighbors looked on without trying to help her. Glassman goes on to draw the parallels between the "good people" who stood by and watched Kitty brutally slain, and the "good people" of America who can't be bothered to change even one aspect of their comfortable lives for Darfur.

Now, the Syndrome is being played out in Sudan, whose Darfur region is the site of an "ethnic cleansing," or genocidal, campaign by militias with government support -- in a replay of Rwanda. The U.N. Security Council has passed resolutions threatening sanctions, but it hasn't issued sanctions or taken serious steps to restrain the attackers, who have killed an estimated 70,000 and created 800,000 refugees.

President Bush was among those moved by "Hotel Rwanda" and recently asked to meet with Paul and Tatiana Rusesabagina, who now live in Zambia. They got together in the Oval Office on Feb. 17, along with Mrs. Bush, Chief of Staff Andrew Card and National Security Advisor Steve Hadley.

Read the story here: "We think you're dirt."

People, we need to be involved!

Write to congress. Collect petitions from your community. Tell others, repeatedly. Pray without ceasing...

Follow the links in the posts below, if you want to do something...

God save those who weep tonight, in fear for their lives!

Christianity's center moves to Africa

2005-02-26T14:01:00.000-08:00

CHRISTIANITY'S CENTER MOVES TO SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

The pews of Africa's churches now hold 390 million worshippers – more than three times the total of 35 years ago. Over the next two decades, Africa's congregation is likely to grow by another 200 million, causing a huge shift in the character of the Christian faith.

Its heartland will move decisively southwards, away from the empty churches of Europe and into the developing world.

The Centre for the Study of Global Christianity, an American think-tank based in a Protestant seminary, is charting this transformation and its findings are dramatic. Already, its study of "World Christian Trends" shows that white Europeans and Americans account for only 43 per cent of the world's Christians.

Read the article here.

The statistics are daunting: The rise of the mega-church in America has been paralleled by the greatest loss of faith this country has ever known. As American Christianity becomes a marketplace industry, locked into modes of easy-faith and consumer appeal, and as American Christians -- good people! -- become more addicted to comfort and personal economic positioning than committed to faith journey, the loss of true faith has become so dramatic that the figures are heartrending.

There will be a time when awake people look back and see what the consumer-based mega-church in America was really saying about America's faith, and weep.

As for now, the facts are in: Christianity is becoming a 4/5 world center -- no longer America and the West.

I applaud the growth of faith in the Southern Hemisphere, but I hurt for my own country...

Chilling tsunami photos

2005-02-25T17:00:00.000-08:00

Here are several recovered photos from a tourist couple's digital camera, which was found following the disaster. They were taking photos of the approaching tsunami...when it must have overwhelmed them.

This is a tribute to the couple, in respect of them -- the photos they gave their lives to take.

Darfur secret genocide archive photos

2005-02-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

In this link are four photos from a secret genocide archive, which contains thousands of photo documented deaths -- a drop in the bucket among the deaths.

Note: DISTURBING PHOTOS. Please do not read this link if you are easily disturbed.

But what is being said here needs to be said, and documented.

I offer it here as an ongoing call to the U.N. -- in hopes that they will call it what it is, genocide, and that some true intervention will be pressed... I also offer it as a wake up call to the Americans so addicted to comfort that they will do nothing, no letter, no outrage, no prayer -- nothing that will even slightly interrupt their 'normal' lives of pleasure and chasing dollars...

Quote from the article:

What will really stop this genocide is indignation. Senator Paul Simon, who died in 2003, said after the Rwandan genocide, "If every member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would have been different."
The same is true this time. Web sites like www.darfurgenocide.org and www.savedarfur.org are trying to galvanize Americans, but the response has been pathetic.

I'm sorry for inflicting these horrific photos on you. But the real obscenity isn't in printing pictures of dead babies - it's in our passivity, which allows these people to be slaughtered.

Link here. [Thanks to Instapundit.]

God bless the departed loved ones, the raped girls, and rape babies born from acts of hatred and violence...

John 3:1-17 -- homily: Christian atheism

2005-02-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

John 3:1-17: “Born from Above”

By Loy Mershimer

Today’s text faces us with the inner mystery of Christian doctrine.

Divine truth is like that – it brings us pretty quickly to mystery, to the end of conventional human wisdom. When Jesus speaks, we humans face a choice: we can bow and be transformed, or we can cling to what we think we know…and stay the same.

So the text confronts us: Will we choose wisdom from above, or below?

Many modern theologians approach divine reality from a default position of human wisdom: ‘I can’t believe that!’ And so they don’t…

John Shelby Spong is a retired Episcopal Bishop who doesn’t believe in Jesus. Spong once asked, “My daughter has her Ph.D. in physics. How on earth is she expected to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus?”
To which Dr. Willimon, dean of Duke Chapel, responded, “Well, I guess we’d have to meet your daughter. Has she any imagination, some physicists don’t. Has she ever traveled outside New Jersey? Does she enjoy surprises?”[1] :-)

In today’s text Jesus pointedly says that it is impossible to understand divine reality with mere human thinking.

A religious leader named Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night.
Perhaps you can see him in his manicured religious robes, outlined in the smoky lanterns of early Judean evening: He walks quietly, softly…with somewhat guarded step. After all, one cannot be too careful with one’s reputation! But he has deep questions. He has heard truth calling, and so seeks in the night: “Jesus?” “You’re the one the call Jesus?” “Who are you, what are you?”

Verse 2: “Rabbi, [surely] you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with Him.”

Jesus replies with an answer of mystery: Verse 3: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “No one can enter the kingdom unless she is born from above.” ‘If you really want to know who I am, you must be born again.’

Nicodemus is stunned. “Born again?” He has no answer for this.
Mystery: What would you say?
Nicodemus stutters out the reply that most of us would have given [v. 4]: “How can we be born when we are old?” “Surely we cannot enter a second time into our mother's womb to be born!”

Nicodemus, like us, stumbles over divine truth.

Unless we are born again, we cannot see the kingdom of heaven.

What is this new birth? Jesus replies: It is a birth of the Spirit.

Or, as John later says, “We know that we know Him…we know that He lives in us, by the Spirit He gave us” [1 John 3:24].

So Jesus replies to Nicodemus: ‘You have a Ph.D. in religion, Nicodemus, and you do not know this?’ Verse 10: “You are Israel's teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?”

Religion, education…and goodness all fall short. What then is it?

It is a Spirit birth through Christ Jesus: ‘Son of Man’ descended from heaven to save.

Jesus speaks to the religious leaders: Vv. 12-13: I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven -- the Son of Man.
“I am the One who has come from heaven, for the sake of this new birth…”
Then the verse that echoes the center of the Gospel: Verse16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This is something we can hear about from others, but must experience for ourselves.

Consider Blaise Pascal: The most brilliant mind in France, yet in need of God. Intelligence, yes: In his spare time, working between the years 1642 and 1645, he invented the first digital calculator. He went on to prove the vacuum, directly disproving Descartes. From May 1653 he worked on mathematics and physics, in that year producing a complete and systematic outline of hydrostatics, the first in the history of science. And this as a young man, feted by France!

In all the worldly acclaim, Blaise grew cold in soul and hungered for God. He entered a period of Scripture meditation, fasting and prayer. And on the night of 23 November 1654, something happened. There, “from about half past ten in the evening…” Blaise experienced the wind of the Spirit. The revelation of Christ was so intimate that Pascal wrote an account, “Memorial,” and sewed it into the lining of his coat, carried it over his heart, hidden from the eyes of the world…found only upon his death.

FIRE!

God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob,

not of philosophers and savants.

Certitude. Certitude. Heartfelt. Joy. Peace.

God of Jesus Christ.[2]

This revelation of God shaped the rest of his life. It founded his calling upon certitude and weaned him from secularism. It formed his theological method that astounded his world, and astounds us still.[3]

What are we talking about? Being born of the Spirit!

You and I probably won’t have Pascal’s experience, but we will have our own…encounter with Christ and new birth.

However, there is something frightening here, for us. Jesus says, ‘The wind blows where it will…” The Spirit moves where He will, not where we will…
This causes us issues! New birth means Spirit life, Spirit control…to those of us caught up in managing, controlling our lives and plans, this is dangerous, and we shy away.

Joan Osborne asks some haunting questions that highlight faith’s mystery, demand:

If God had a face what would it look like
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that you would have to believe
In things like heaven and in Jesus and…all the prophets?

Or, our text today would ask: Would you want to see…if it meant giving Spirit control?

Being ‘born again’ is not just some religious experience we claim in the past, wear it on a bracelet or necklace, but then go on living life in human wisdom, controlling life just like the rest of the world…such thing may be called ‘born again,’ but it is not life in the Spirit.
To say ‘born again’ without Spirit control is only comfortable, modern ‘Christian’ atheism.

Being born again is, in the power of Christ, opening every room, every chamber of our spirit to the Holy wind of the Spirit of God.

It is an utter scandal, to our human minds, that the Spirit blows like wind, wherever He will…we cannot measure it, we cannot quantify it, we cannot own or control it…
But when this Holy wind sweeps over us…it catches us up to the very life of God!

There is a birth of flesh, and there is a birth of the Spirit. Until we are born of the Spirit, we cannot understand reality…we cannot even understand ourselves.
Until we are utterly open to the Spirit, we are living life in false control, with false understanding. You cannot see the kingdom, unless born from above…

This is such a hard word! It is the inner mystery of the Gospel.

How does Nicodemus respond?
Our text today does not record his answer, but these words must have burned in his soul! For, we see him next, after the Cross… bringing spices…for the body of Christ – on the very scandal day of Christ!
From coming to Jesus at night, he is now a child of the day, owning the Cross, owning Christ in death…caught up in the wind of the Spirit! Mysteriously changed…

That wind is blowing still! Can you feel it?

We, like Nicodemus, come to Jesus by night…perhaps hoping to hold onto the old ways, at least in part…perhaps hoping for control, power and managed life…but the wind of the Spirit in the name of Christ…sweeps away the old, and offers us new…life…new birth.

That wind is blowing still…

Can you feel it?

Will you bow?

Will you be born…anew…from Above?

Amen.

_____________________

[1] http://www.chapel.duke.edu/chapel/worship/sunday/viewsermon.aspx?id=60
[2] Blaise Pascal, “Memorial,” quoted in Bruce Gordon, “Living Reasons: Blaise Pascal and the Rationality of Religious Belief,” Foundations: The Journal of the Religious and Theological Studies Fellowship, 5 no 1 Win 1997, 5.
[3] Cf. Emile Cailliet, The Clue to Pascal, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1943.

Vashti display in soul cafe

2005-02-18T22:41:00.000-08:00

Soul Café Art Showcase

featuring Parkview artist Vashti Varnado, with other local artists

Sunday, February 20 at First United Methodist Church, Oak Park

324 N. Oak Park Ave

Come at 4:00 p.m. and browse the exhibits

Soul Food at 4:45

Poetry and program at 5:15

Tickets are 10:00 and will benefit Wiley College

Hotel Rwanda redux in Darfur

2005-02-17T22:17:00.000-08:00

President Bush Meets With Real-Life Manager of 'Hotel Rwanda,' Paul Rusesabagina

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Feb 17, 2005 — Paul Rusesabagina, the hotel manager portrayed in the movie "Hotel Rwanda," told President Bush on Thursday that the situation in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region mirrors the genocide he survived in Rwanda a decade ago.

"What is going on in Darfur is exactly what was going on in Rwanda," said Rusesabagina, who says he wants to work with the president to raise awareness about world crises.

Read the story here.

It's the point we've been making all along: The U.N. utterly fails of action that can truly be considered moral when lives are on the line -- African lives, that is.

To paraphrase a protest song: "Mr. U.N., why are some more equal than others?"

Why won't you call this genocide? Why such posturing and no definitive intervention?

Give me the wings of faith to rise

2005-02-15T22:42:00.000-08:00

HYMN: Give Me the Wings of Faith to Rise
Words: Isaac Watts, 1709
Tune: Song 67

Give me the wings of faith to rise
within the veil, and see
the saints above, how great their joys,
how bright their glories be.

Once they were mourning here below,
and wet their couch with tears:
they wrestled hard, as we do now,
with sins, and doubts, and fears.

I ask them whence their victory came:
they, with united breath,
ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,
their triumph to His death.

They marked the footsteps that He trod,
His zeal inspired their breast;
and following their incarnate God,
possess the promised rest.

Our glorious Leader claims our praise
for His own pattern given;
while the long cloud of witnesses
show the same path to heaven!

Herr docktor OTphilosApu, Chris

2005-02-15T13:02:00.000-08:00

In a recent IM conversation with Chris Lund, he shared that he would make a good OT prof. I asked, "Why?"

He responded, "I'm a classicist, I don't mind a wrathful God, and I am dull to listen to for extended periods of time!"

I almost fell out of my chair laughing! Dr. Bullock, what sayest thou? :-)

But, in honor of that honest self-disclosure, and in honor of his recent birthday, I hereby stretch forth a hand to 'prophemistify' and see a future Chris: Herr Docktor OTphilosApu!

Herr Docktor OTphilosApu is an ancient title, bestowed only upon the most honorable and deserving of victims, er, cough, persons! By this esteemed title, we perceive Chris as teaching OT in a classical drone, soaring to moments of excruciating brilliance and extended periods of monotone torture, er, cough...teachure! Of course, the whole will be punctuated by classical Simpson wit and dry humor [so dry we might even call him a desert father, before it's all over!].

But wait, there is more! This title also reveals Chris moonlighting as a philosophy prof at WhatsaMattaU!

And yet, even more! In order to pay the bills not covered by philosophy moonlighting, Chris takes part time midnight shift at the local UniMart, perfecting practical philology: "Paper or plastic, sir?"

Ah, Apu, WhatsaMattaU? I present you: Herr Docktor OTphilosApu, Chris!

Happy belated Birthday!

:-)

Lenten meditation on blindness

2005-02-14T11:07:00.000-08:00

John 9:1ff

Story: Jesus heals a man born blind, and the religious leaders get upset about it...because the healing broke their protocol, and power.

And [the Pharisees] asked [his parents], saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind; but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself.”

And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.”

Prayer:

Lord God, the darkness is as light as day to you. Even if I sought darkness, you would see me there. “Darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as noonday.” I cannot hide from you – I can only hide you from me. I can only blind myself. Yet my heart speaks for light! Even then, my God, I find that you are the Lord of the blind. “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.” Ah! Then I am blind, but you are Lord! My blindness is as clear sight to you, my God!

So I see you Jesus. You healed the man born blind in John 9. His physical blindness caused his church no consternation, but his renewed eyesight caused much consternation. Yet they who objected to his healing claimed to see! So the meaning of the act was not about blindness of eyes, but about blindness of heart. I hear your words, Jesus: “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

Ah, Lord and Christ! Then I am blind, I am blind! I confess: I am blind. Be my God, Lord of the blind, I pray! And in such Lordship, teach me to see.

Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!
Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!

“Child, what would you have me do for you?”

Oh, dear Lord…that I might receive my sight…Rabboni…I pray, Amen.

That I might receive my sight, Amen!

Your sight, Lord! Amen!

O Jesus, I have promised

2005-02-13T19:15:00.000-08:00

HYMN: O Jesus, I have promised
Words: John Ernest Bode, 1868
Tune: Llanfyllin

O Jesus, I have promised
to serve thee to the end:
be thou ever near me,
my Master and my friend;
I shall not fear the battle
if thou art by my side,
nor wander from the pathway
if thou wilt be my guide.

O let me feel thee near me!
The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
the tempting sounds I hear;
my foes are ever near me,
around me and within;
but Jesus, draw thou nearer,
and shield my soul from sin.

O let me hear thee speaking
in accents clear and still,
above the storms of passion,
the murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
to hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen,
thou guardian of my soul.

O let me see thy features,
the look that once could make
so many a true disciple
leave all things for thy sake:
the look that beamed on Peter
when he thy name denied;
the look that draws thy lovers
close to thy pierced side.

O Jesus, thou hast promised
to all who follow thee,
that where thou art in glory
there shall thy servant be;
and, Jesus I have promised
to serve thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow,
my Master and my friend.

O let me see thy footmarks,
and in them plant mine own;
My hope to follow duly
is in thy strength alone.
O guide me, call me, draw me,
uphold me to the end;
and then in heaven receive me,
my Savior and my Friend!

Uncle Tom's real cabin

2005-02-13T16:36:00.000-08:00

		RESTORED HOUSE: Visitors can tour the home of the former slave whose life supplied the details for 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.' ONTARIO TOURISM

Uncle Tom was a real person; his cabin is in Canada.

By Ilona Kauremszky

DRESDEN, ONTARIO – 'When my feet first touched the Canada shore, I threw myself on the ground, rolled in the sand, seized handfuls of it and kissed them and danced around, till, in the eyes of several who were present, I passed for a madman.'
- Josiah Henson

Harriet Beecher Stowe, a small-town Connecticut woman whose family was known as the "Beecher preachers" for their long lineage of ministers, was so appalled by slavery, she penned a story about one fugitive slave's life and called it "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Her novel was based largely on the autobiography "The Life of Josiah Henson Formerly a Slave."

The acclaimed "Uncle Tom's Cabin" became America's first international bestseller. During its first year, it sold more than 1 million copies in England and 300,000 copies across the US, outselling even the Bible. The year was 1852.

"Uncle Tom's Cabin," which has since been translated into 62 languages, was used as a rallying cry for abolitionists during the Civil War. It's been said that President Lincoln, upon meeting Mrs. Stowe, remarked, "So this is the little lady who made this big war."

Read the story here.

It is a touching tribute to Josiah Henson, the real 'Uncle Tom,' and the thousands who traveled the Underground Railroad to freedom.

On this month, it is good to look back, to reflect...in confession and remembrance.

God has brought us to such a time as this -- may our lives express the hope and reconciliation of the Gospel!

Lenten journey of prayer

2005-02-08T13:32:00.000-08:00

Photo by Kris Haig [1]

Take a few moments with this picture, as if this picture enters you to a meeting place with Christ. Perhaps He is meeting you beside the sea, today.
With intelligence, imagination and love...what prayer is birthed within you?
As this prayer wells up within you, journal it...write it down.
It will be your entrance to Lent, a door to Easter faith!
If you feel like sharing that prayer here, please do so...it will encourage others.
God bless your journey of Lent! May you be cleansed, strengthened and renewed!

Alleluia!

Lenten devotional observances:

Ash Wednesday service in chapel, at 7:30 p.m.

Prayer services in chapel, each Wednesday of Lent, at 7:30 p.m.

Attend and be blessed, and keep the fast of Lent!

Alleluia!

_______________________
Note: prayer picture from In Plain Sight spiritual formation -- thank you!

John 12:27ff -- homily: death as power

2005-02-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

John 12:27-36a: “When Jesus is Lifted Up”

By Loy Mershimer

How are we to make sense of a world which holds such grandeur and beauty, and yet…a world in which such great evil is also present? Every sunrise and sunset paints beauty upon the skies, yet each day’s news reports bring evidence of a world gone wrong.

In yesterday’s news, a Florida couple was caught by law-enforcement agents in Utah. The couple is suspected of torturing their five adopted children. [1] In Alabama, a mother was accused of killing her three children, each child found on the floor of her apartment. [2]

How is it that this world can be as beautiful as a painted sunset, or a newborn baby’s smile, and yet so ugly that people actually torture [and kill] babies?

Some people look at the evil…throw up their hands and say, “God cannot exist.”

How are we, as people of faith, to deal with loss of innocence, presence of evil…that we face every day? Are there answers?

Jesus, in the Gospel of John, painted the issue in terms of a power struggle: in His words, a war of light vs. darkness [cf. vv. 35-36]. What we see in our world is a reflection of that cosmic struggle. In other words, the beauty that shines in a baby’s smile is a reflection of the Goodness that created the world; the ugliness of those who torture and kill innocents is a reflection of the evil, the chaos that seeks to overturn God’s creation.

Jesus not only talked in terms of a power struggle, He also acted as if His death on the Cross was the central act in the war against evil. Today’s Gospel text is of Jesus on the way to the Cross. Jesus talked of the death He was going to die, and the people essentially replied, “How can you be Messiah and die?”
Verse 34: The crowd answered him, “We have heard…that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”

But Jesus seems to say, “Not only is Messiah, the Son of Man, going to die…it is for this reason that He came, and in His death He will conquer death; His death will cast down the prince of evil.”
Verses 31-32 [verses that strike at the heart of our spiritual reality]: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Here is a mystery: Jesus acted as if His death, being lifted up on the Cross, was the exact thing that would judge the dark powers in the world. He acted as if His Cross would in some way bind the forces of evil. “Now the prince of this world will be driven out; and when I am lifted up…I will draw all people to myself.”

Mysterious words…here we brush up against the mystery of the Cross, the paradox we talked about last week: How is it that God frees us from sin and death’s control…yet does so through the Cross: weakness, self-giving, sacrifice and death?

But this is exactly what we find! The weakness of God on the Cross is the very thing that liberates us from the chaotic forces. It is the name of Jesus that conquers the powers. It is true, as Scripture says, “The demons believe…and tremble” at the power in the Name.
The Cross is the central act in the real War on Terror!
It is one thing to see cosmic evil reflected around the world; it is quite another thing to encounter evil in personal life: sin, failure, brokenness… It is here that we experience the power of the Name: Jesus!

If the name of Jesus is spoken honestly, as a prayer of the heart, there is infinite power!

I’ve seen the name of Jesus free people from dark spiritual control, break addictions…
I’ve seen the name of Jesus repair relationships, broken beyond hope.
I’ve seen the name of Jesus bring physical healing…
Living in comfortable suburbia, we don’t hear much of spiritual encounters…but if we just scratch the surface of our rampant anxieties and dis-ease…often we’ll find a deeper spiritual issue, in need of Christ’s power…His name.

Since we are human players in a cosmic struggle of light vs. darkness, then what is our plan of battle? How do we partner with light? Jesus answers…
Verse 35: “Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you.”
Verse 36: “While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”
The great challenge is for those who say they have light, to actually walk in the light…to believe in the light and become children of light.
Or, as John later writes: “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin” [1 John 1:7].

Wow! Walk in the light…believe in the light: this is how we partner with God. See this ‘walking in light’ in…

An executive, who for the sake of Christ chooses honesty…even when no one would know the difference.
A husband who carries the Cross, and chooses faithfulness to his wife, even when temptation is freely, secretly offered.
A mother, who faithfully prays for her children, and then lives that life, even when the world does not see.
A schoolgirl, who quietly resists the false pressures of a sell-out world, even when giving in would be far easier.

It is here that the miracle of fellowship and cleansing comes.
It is here that the attraction of Christ becomes a subtle and irresistible force…transforming one life at a time.

We are in a power play, where forces of evil range about our world. We see these forces every day, but today’s text witnesses that the opening act of freedom has already been accomplished. “The prince of this world is judged…” And we proclaim this victory in our days, in little ways, as we walk as children of light. Our lives begin to answer the question of evil…

This is how we share Christ's present and future victory: When we lift Him up in personal life, when we begin to live the meaning of His death, His light.

Thus we receive the promise of Christ: “When I am lifted up, I will draw…all…to Me!”

Herein is the victory that overcomes the world! This is our answer, Parkview!

Amen.

[1] http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/topstories_story_035204614.html
[2] http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,146513,00.html

A hot water bottle and a baby doll

2005-02-07T05:49:00.000-08:00

A true story of faith

Helen Roseveare, a doctor missionary from England to Zaire, Africa, told this story in her book "Living Faith." Helen has written about the revival that took place in the 1950's in what was then the Belgian Congo. Some of her vision can be accessed here.

Isaiah 65:24

One night, in Central Africa, I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward. However, in spite of all that we could do, she died...leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying, two-year-old daughter.

We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive. We had no incubator. We had no electricity to run an incubator, and no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.

A student-midwife went for the box we had for such babies and for the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly, in distress, to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates. "It is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk....in Central Africait is no good crying over a burst water bottle. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways. All right," I said, "Put the baby as near the fire as you safely can. Sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with many of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if it got chilled. I also told them about the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died. During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt consciousness of our African children. "Please, God," she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, the baby'll be dead -- so, please send it this afternoon." While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of corollary, " ...And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?" As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, "Amen?" I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything: The Bible says so, but there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time that I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel! I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so, I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then, there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children began to look a little bored. Next, came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas -- that would make a nice batch of buns for the weekend. As I put my hand in again, I felt the...could it really be? I grasped it, and pulled it out. Yes! A brand-new rubber, hot water bottle! I had not asked God to send it -- I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!" Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone: She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked, "Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday School class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. One of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child -- five months earlier in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "That afternoon!"

Isaiah 65:24: "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."

Alleluia!

Amen!

U.N. politics feed Darfur deaths

2005-02-04T21:23:00.000-08:00

Glenn Reynolds comments: "This editorial cartoon from the new D.C. Examiner says it all, doesn't it?"

There are some hard questions that need to be asked of the U.N.
Scroll down and read the updates on the U.N. 'moralizing' while people are dying in Darfur.
Much like what happened in Rwanda a decade ago, the U.N. stands by and refuses to call it genocide.

Meanwhile, iAbolish Freedom Action Network says, "U.N., don't hide from genocide!"

For more updates, read Sudan Watch daily.

More on this story later...

I Cor. 1:18-31 -- homily on the cross

2005-01-31T20:16:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 1:18-31: “The Wisdom of God”

By Loy Mershimer

One of the toughest things about the walk of faith is the lack of easy guidance.

For those who believe, almost every week finds us praying for signs, praying for special intervention…a kind of universal language for those who reference God in any way.

Along these lines, Train released a song that was a finalist for a 2003 Grammy:

I need a sign to let me know you're here
All of these lines are being crossed over the atmosphere
I need to know that things are gonna look up
Cause I feel us drowning in a sea spilled from a cup…
And I'm calling all angels
And I'm calling all you angels...[1]

The universal cry of those who have [some] faith is for signs.
The search of the world is for cultured ‘wisdom’ or proof…certain knowledge.

In today’s text, the Apostle Paul writes to a fragmented Corinthian church:

“You Jews, or natural church people, seek signs…

“You Greeks, or cultured secular people, seek wisdom…

“But there is something that trumps both signs and human wisdom…

“I’m talking about the cross!”

In an intersection of rough, splintered wood, riven with iron nails, the cross of Christ is both the sign and wisdom of God.

But it sure doesn’t make sense in human terms! The cross – the Roman electric chair!

This answer must have confounded those Corinthians who sought signs and wisdom.

To conceive their reaction, imagine driving to the closest penitentiary that still has an electric chair…and taking a picture, framing it and hanging it on your mantle…as a sign of hope.
Or, worse yet, imagine passing around pictures of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq…as a sign of redemption!

Here Paul offers cross – the first century instrument of public humiliation, death, and torture – as the wisdom of God! It is this that the Apostle lifts up, to a broken church, as their sign of cure.

Verses 24-25: “…To those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.”

Verse 23 says that Christ crucified is a ‘stumbling block’ to Jews and ‘foolishness’ to Greeks.

A stumbling block for Jews: It was written in Jewish law: “cursed is the one who hangs on a tree.”
And foolishness for Greeks: literally, “scandalon” [σκανδαλον]…word from which we get scandal!

How can this stumbling block, this curse, this scandal, be…a sign of God’s wisdom?
Verse 25: “…the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”

What we could not do in strength, self-help, worldly power…God did in weakness.
Or, what we cannot do through Dr. Phil, Oprah and Christian TV…God does in the cross.

As the early church hymn put it [Philippians 2:6ff]:

Jesus, very nature God, did not grasp equality with Him

But made himself nothing, and took on Him human nature…

And being found in likeness as a man,

He humbled himself to death…even the death of the cross!

That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow

And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…!

God, in weakness, in the cross of the incarnate Christ, destroyed the strength of sin.

Notice the method of God in breaking the stronghold of sin. God chooses

‘Weak things to confound the strong…and

“Calls forth that which is nothing…as if it were…to trump that which is!”

Thus the cross rips away the temporal things in which we trust…so foolish and counter-intuitive that it exposes our motives.

In what do you trust?

If we were honest this morning, our trust is in many things: pensions, perks, solid positions, power plays, control, security, benefits, desired relationships…the wisdom of the world.

Our trust is in school, prestige…physical health and beauty…being ‘desirable.’

Even as a pastor, the seductive temptation is to begin trusting in strength, in human effort, in business as usual, words of accolade…

But the cross strips that away. This is why adversity is a blessing…it opens us to the way of the cross, all over again.

In my Pennsylvania hometown, I often visited an elderly member of our church – someone much further along in this wisdom of the cross than I. We affectionately called her ‘Sister Williams,’ a saintly, gentle soul, rich in prayer. [And, truth be told, perhaps one person most responsible for that little church staying open…] I would stop to check on her…often in a day of rushing here, rushing there, doing ‘church work’ yet feeling somewhat empty and harried. But as soon as I walked into her door, there was a calmness, a gentle presence of God…to all the world it looked as if just another helpless widow lived there, in a modest house…but when you entered her home, you entered the power of the cross: something sacrificial and gentle that confounded the power structures of the world.

She’s gone on to her heavenly reward now, but she didn’t leave until that little church grew in health, and spread Christ’s light across that Pennsylvania valley…I owe her a lot.

William Willimon, dean of Duke Chapel, tells of visiting a lady in the hospital…someone a lot wiser in faith than he was…

He pulled up a chair close to her bed. She was in great pain, flung down by a serious illness which had kept her in hospital for weeks.
She spoke to him and said, “I keep asking myself, ‘Is this God’s will? Is God trying to tell me something?’”
Dr. Willimon, in his haste to be compassionate and ‘pastoral,’ quickly said, “No, God didn’t will this; this isn’t some message from God. It’s a virus!”
She quietly answered, “Can you be sure, preacher?”
“I’m an awfully proud person: Takes a lot to get my attention. And then, well after the cross, who can be sure what God might be trying to tell us?" [2]

Here is wisdom: to see the cross in our own weakness, to see the redemptive power of God in that one thing that seems most devastating at the moment. To look up, with eyes of faith, even through tears, and say, ‘Here is God!’ And to confess -- in an utter act of faith in Jesus’ cross -- that this weakness, this hurt, this struggle, this pain, is the very thing through which His glorious power can be made known…

The cross signs out that the titanic strength of sin is conquered in the incarnate weakness of God.

Verse 18: For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Verse 28: He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are

There is a word here for our personal lives: our worst failure, our greatest sin, our most hopeless dream…is the exact avenue through which God’s power can bring forth redemption.

There is a word here for our collective lives: that which we have been through, Parkview, God can redeem to the future, so that we can become a sign…of the power of the cross: unity, wholeness, reconciliation!

Our wisdom is no longer the wisdom of the world: size, spreadsheets and prestige.

Verse 30: …Christ Jesus…has become for us wisdom from God -- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let [every one] who boasts boast in the Lord.”

If we can get our minds [hearts] around the cross, we will not lack for signs, we will not lack for wisdom…

And we will take spiritual light and power into our world.

Amen.

[1] Train, “Calling All Angels” from the CD Alive at Last, 2003.
[2] William H. Willimon, “The Word of the Cross,” at http://www.chapel.duke.edu/chapel/worship/sunday/viewsermon.aspx?id=45

Note: If you desire past sermons, just email Parkview at parkviewpresby@yahoo.com

U.N. refuses to call Darfur killings genocide

2005-01-31T11:23:00.000-08:00

Sudan: U.N. Darfur Report Does Not See Genocide

Mon Jan 31, 2005 08:14 AM ET

ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) - A keenly awaited U.N. investigation into human rights abuse in Sudan's Darfur region does not describe violence against villagers there as "genocide," said Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail.

"We have a copy of that report and they didn't say there is a genocide," Ismail told reporters Monday on the sidelines of an African Union summit in the Nigerian capital.

There has been no confirmation of the contents of the report from U.N. officials.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in two years of fighting, many from disease and malnourishment, and 1.8 million have been forced from their homes.

The conflict erupted in western Sudan after rebel groups took up arms in February 2003 charging the government with neglecting the vast arid region.

Read the story here.

But, are we really surprised? No. In following the story for months, we notice that the U.N., for all its moralizing, refuses to take concrete steps against the Darfur genocide. This is one reason why the U.S. refuses to allow a global court to determine Darfur cases. The U.S. wants a war crimes tribunal, set in Tanzania -- more fitting for genocide.

Read Sudan Watch, specific items here.

Loy

UPDATE from Sundan Watch:

GOAL chief executive slams UN approach to Darfur

The chief executive of Irish aid agency GOAL has launched a scathing attack on the United Nations for failing to describe the situation in Darfur as genocide.
A UN commission stopped short of describing the situation as genocide, which would legally require the United Nations to intervene.
This has angered GOAL chief executive John O'Shea, who claimed today the UN's failure to use the word genocide was linked to its alleged fear of facing up to China, which has oil interests in Sudan. - IOL Feb 1.

And U.S. pushes for a war crimes tribunal, in Tanzania. So far the UN resists such efforts.

Feb 1 Sudan atrocities strain US relations: Clash of views. US allies and others see Darfur as a clear case for the ICC. These allies include Britain, though for the moment the British government is treading carefully. "We have said that we must ensure that those responsible are brought to justice," said a Foreign Office spokesman, "We support the ICC, but whether this is taken to the ICC is for the Security Council." Opposition to the ICC by the Bush administration has been strong and remains so. The US has proposed instead that a special war crimes tribunal for Darfur be set up. This would sit in Tanzania and would be run by the UN and the African Union.

Pray for the Iraqi voting

2005-01-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

John Hinderaker at Powerline posts this picture and quote:

After decades of tyranny, Iraqi expatriates have already begun to elect leaders to draft a new constitution. In the photo below, seventy-year-old exile Mehsin Imgoter weeps after casting his vote at a polling place in Southgate, Michigan. Imgoter explained to a reporter that he was crying because his son, who was killed during the 1990-91 Shiite uprising, was not able to vote with him.

Hinderaker predicts most of the violence will occur today, as Sunday will be too late to stop the voting.

Please pray for the Iraqi people, and our troops, at this hinge 0f history.

God bless!

Loy

UPDATE: Iraqis dance for joy in Nashville, show off ink-stained fingers

January 29, 2005, 5:15 PM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Abdul al-Najr woke up early Saturday with his wife, piled into a car with three friends and drove 250 miles from St. Louis to the polling place here, where jubilant Iraqis danced and held hands in the steady, cold rain.

"I'm so happy because I'm human," al-Najr, 38, said after casting a ballot for the first time in his life. "I get to say I'm human now."

Read the story here.

UPDATE: Iraqi official sees big turnout

By Sharon Behn
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

BAGHDAD — Iraq's deputy prime minister yesterday predicted that voter turnout to form a National Assembly tomorrow will prove skeptics wrong and exceed voting in U.S. national elections.
Barham Salih also said the stakes are enormous for the entire world, not just Iraq and nations in the U.S.-led coalition.
"It will definitely be better than voter turnout in the U.S. and the United Kingdom," Mr. Salih said in an interview while sitting beneath palm trees outside his marbled office in Baghdad's fortified green zone.

Read the story here.

Amazing things are happening!

Keep praying...

UPDATE: Amazing, just amazing results! Many answers to prayer...as follows:

PURPLE BADGE OF COURAGE

By DEBORAH ORIN

IT was the blue badge of courage — Iraqis defied evil and danced through the Valley of the Shadow of Death to cast their ballots and then wave the purple ink-stained fingers that proved they'd voted.

The sheer joy recalled the fall of the Berlin Wall, some said, but the Germans dancing around that wall didn't have to face down evil because communism had already fallen, while Iraqis knew they risked death — and more than 30 were killed. "The people have won . . . Take a look today to meet the model of courage and human desire to achieve freedom, people walking across the fire to cast their votes," proudly wrote the Iraqi bloggers Mohammed and Omar.

Read the story here.

UPDATE: Chrenkoff in WSJ Opinion page:

Happy Birthday
A roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq.

BY ARTHUR CHRENKOFF
Monday, January 31, 2005 12:01 a.m. EST

Readers must've felt as if they'd gone through a time warp if they picked up their paper Sunday morning after watching the news on television. In scenes unimaginable only two years ago--and unimaginable to the press's professional pessimists two days ago--millions of ordinary Iraqi men and women braved terrorist violence and came out to vote in their first free election.

The first to cast ballots were Iraqi expatriates around the world, starting Friday. And the first exiles to vote, thanks to the International Date Line, were in my country, Australia. Kassim Abood, a senior adviser to the out-of-country voting program, told journalists outside a polling station in Sydney, "I think a lot of Iraqis are very proud today. People coming to me, shake [my] hand, hug me, kissing me and tell me 'congratulations,' it's wonderful." London's Daily Telegraph reported that "exiles danced in the street as they cast their ballots at nine polling stations in Australia. Turnout was high and some proudly displayed the blue ink on their fingers which proved that they had cast their ballots, calling it 'a mark of freedom.' "

Iraqis also voted in Syria and Iran, two countries whose citizens may start to wonder why their rulers are unelected. Polling places were set up near five U.S. cities: Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Nashville and Washington. And although there were no polling places in Israel, and some reports said Israeli-Iraqis would not be allowed to vote, one of them made his way to Amman, Jordan, where he cast a ballot. Overall, the International Organization for Migration, which coordinated the overseas vote, estimated that around 30% of Iraqis living outside of their country would have voted.

Turnout in Iraq itself was considerably higher. Millions came out to vote, despite well-advertised threats of Election Day violence. Some three dozen people around the country died in suicide, grenade and mortar attacks, but vastly more Iraqis were stained with ink than with blood.

As predicted, the turnout was highest in the Shia and Kurdish parts of the country, moderate in mixed areas, and lowest in Sunni strongholds, but everywhere it exceeded expectations. The total turnout figures are preliminary at this stage; Farid Ayar, the spokesman for the Independent Electoral Commission says that around 60%, or eight million, of those registered to vote did so. Earlier unconfirmed figures put the percentage even higher, at around 72%. Either figure puts to shame the average election turnout in many Western countries, where there is no danger that the journey to the polling station could be your last.

Read the whole thing here.

Truly, truly amazing! Many answers to prayer. History before our eyes, light is going forth and darkness just took a step back.

And honestly, those Americans, who for the sake of politics, cast their lot with the Islamo-fascist terrorists...must look in the mirror and do a lot of soul searching...

Loy

Aslan and the dumb beasts

2005-01-29T11:06:00.000-08:00

C. S. Lewis posits the thought that, in denying our creation destiny, in choosing against our calling in Christ, we actually become something different, something lesser than we were intended to be.

Lewis termed this abdication of high destiny, the 'abolition of man.'

Or, as Kierkegaard might put it, 'the abandonment of our true self.'

Lewis presents this philosophy in narrative form, in the story of Narnia, where beasts are gifted by Aslan with higher powers: the ability to talk, perceive the levels of reality and react accordingly. However, as the story develops, one notices that Talking Beasts can give up their privileged position and cease to view themselves as anything other than Dumb Beasts. They can view themselves “from below” and see their kinship with the Dumb Beasts. This freedom -- even to be less -- is part of their creation. [1]

Gilbert Meilaender comments:

However, in so doing they turn from the nature that is theirs. That is why, at the great scene of judgment at the end of Narnia, the Talking Beasts who look in the face of Aslan with hatred rather than love cease in that moment to be Talking Beasts...A freely chosen abolition of their nature occurs. [2]

When the powers of evil enter Narnia, some Talking Beasts begin to go bad. In Prince Caspian a bear attacks Lucy. After Trumpkin the Dwarf kills the bear, the children speculate whether at one time it might have been a talking bear.

“That’s the trouble of it,” said Trumpkin, “when most of the beasts have gone to the enemy and gone dumb, there are still some of the other kind left. You never know, and you daren’t wait to see.”

With horror, Lucy wonders if a similar process could take place in their world:

“Wouldn’t it be dreadful if some day in our own world at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you’d never know which were which?” [3]

This is the end of a demonized culture, where truth is exchanged for the lie and the proffer of true nature is rejected for the dumb, the counterfeit.

Here Lewis is incredibly profound and prophetic. It's like he looked into the soul of 21st century culture, and saw people -- good men and women, even -- choosing less than their calling, less than their high destiny. It's like he saw the terror of a world gradually going wild inside...

It is word both convicting and hopeful...

It calls us to choose our true selves in Christ, regardless of the gradual dumbing of our culture and the encroaching moral deafness of the world.

May we hear and be healed!

Amen.

______________________

[1] Cf. Gilbert Meilaender, “The Primeval Moral Platitudes,” The Taste for the Other: The Social and Ethical Thought of C. S. Lewis (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 179.

[2] Meilaender, “Primeval,” 179, quoting Lewis from The Last Battle, 146.

[3] This is Gilbert Meilaender’s rephrasing of the issue, in his chapter, “Primeval,” 179-180. He is quoting Lewis from Prince Caspian, 100-101.

Original article posted here.

Awake, my soul, and with the sun

2005-01-27T13:23:00.000-08:00

HYMN: AWAKE MY SOUL, AND WITH THE SUN

Words: Thomas Ken, 1695, 1709
Tune: Morning Hymn

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
thy daily stage of duty run;
shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise
to pay thy morning sacrifice.

Lord, I my vows to thee renew;
disperse my sins as morning dew;
guard my first springs of thought and will,
and with thyself my spirit fill.

Direct, control, suggest, this day,
all I design or do or say;
that all my powers, with all their might,
in thy sole glory may unite.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host:
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Alleluia!

Amen!

Resurrection implications

2005-01-25T23:31:00.000-08:00

Karl Barth talks about the resurrection of Jesus Christ in terms of elevating the actual human body, from temporality to eternity:

Christ…elevated from time into an eternal mode of existence without losing his essential temporality. Consequently, the risen Christ, in His saving significance, is able to be the Contemporary of each and every human being, in all times and places. In and through the living Christ, crucified and risen, God relates to the entire human race. God's affirmation and judgment of the human race in the life-history of Jesus Christ is the beginning and end of all things.

In other words, ‘I am the Alpha and Omega!’

In other words, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age!’

In other words, ‘Where two or three of you are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst!’

Christ meets us, at every bend and turn of our lives, at every wrinkle in human time…Contemporary and present, showing us the face of the Father, by the power of the resurrection.

The resurrection carries vast implications of current relation to Christ Jesus -- implications that are beyond profound. Jesus meets us in the breaking of the Bread, and at every meal of our family table…

Think about it. Meditate on this concept for a moment: bidden, He is here! Alleluia!

Bow your head from the computer screen, and sense His presence…

Amen!