Monday, December 13, 2010

Hello

It's been a while since I've entered anything here and for that I apologize. Perhaps 2011 will be kinder to my planning and thinking and writing and thus contribute more to this space. But for now, go to my Facebook page under "notes" and you'll see everything I've written to date. If you're not my friend on FB, why not?! Just ask and you shall receive.

Monday, May 31, 2010

To save a forest or make an electronic shift in things literary, that is the question.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 at 12:23pm | Edit Note | Delete
As I see it…
I closed the pages one more time on a book I’ve read at least a half of a dozen times over the years. To know me is to realize my respectful love affair with literary things that are Tozer’s. The book is, The Knowledge of the Holy. Each page, each sentence, is filled with astute thinking and God-honoring prose. I will probably revisit this book again in the near future. The question right now is, “In what form will the book be the next time I open it?” I read an article in this morning’s paper that reflects my current condition and dilemma. The article was reviewing the current phenomenon turned literary rage among those of us who are bookophiles (sorry, it’s a made up term, if you don’t understand it, don’t grieve over it). The current question is: will the book I will read in the future be printed paper or lit-up electronic digits? e-books are now a thing, a very real thing! You first must choose your instrument or reading preference: Kindle®, Ipad/ipod/iphone®, or other like constructed electronic media. My instrument of choice has led me to make my e-bed with the Apple® people. (My son told me that sooner or later I would come over to the “dark” side of computing; alas, it’s happened.) And now my conundrum, I have owned a library of printed books (yes the old fashioned kind, enough to make Gutenberg proud!) that has amassed to over 2,000 units. I have started to wean myself away from some of my woody friends. Saving a forest is not my motive; retirement and convenience is. Again, my conundrum: I love the smell of books; I love their feel; I love the sense of completion by turning the pages and ultimately shutting the book when finished. I will miss all of that, though not completely. What I mean is, most of the books in my current library will eventually be sold or given away. My wife will rejoice and somewhere in the darkness of a cold, blustery night, I will cry…softly, but still I will cry. But so much for melancholy, I have elected to move in the direction that those of Applessque and related electronic wizardry have concocted; I do it kicking and screaming, but I do it. Yes, I suppose the Holy Spirit can still bless the words of electronic writ. But somehow I have a hard time imagining the Apostle saying to Timothy as he wrapped up his ministry: “Please bring the ipad and my pc, but most importantly don’t forget the wifi modem.” I wonder, since I’m giving up the sound of pages being turned, will I ever hear a complete book make a sound as it’s downloaded into my Apple® thingy?

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Have we lost our minds?

As I see it…
Have we lost our minds? More specifically, have Christians lost their minds? I’ve been reading Mark Noll’s book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, and though I’m about 15 years late in reading it, I like what I see. He argues articulately for a position I’ve been advocating for the last ten years, at least. If I had realized what Mark had already written, I would have shut up more and just recommended his book! My concern has been that Christians have put their brains on hold and let the world do their thinking for them. We have allowed the “touchy/feely” side of humanity to impact the guidelines for a Christian voice in our culture far too long. We have stepped aside from the exercise of our brain and have allowed just “gut feeling” to take over in our arguments concerning our Christian witness. It starts at conversion and gets worse. People are encouraged to “come to Christ” and he’ll make all things well rather than preach the convicting work of the Holy Spirit against the raw discharge of our sin against a holy God. We even start many of our testimony times with “What would you like to share with us today?” rather than what has the Lord been teaching you in his Word or how has God convicted you about your Christian conduct? We have traded the exercising of our minds unto godliness for mindless exercises of endless hours of computer games and their ilk. Rather than sanctifying our thought life with the contemplation of the grandeur of God and his holiness as presented in the Word of God, we have schlepped off to our favorite easy chair and cuddled up with “Christian” romantic novels or worse. Both Paul and Peter admonish us about the use of our brains: “…present your bodies as living sacrifices…by the renewing of your mind…”; “…stirring up your minds by means of remembrance…” Basically, we have just become lazy when it comes to our thought life. We don’t think anymore; we allow others to do our thinking for us. We don’t seek the face of God on a personal basis, we accept the Sunday morning sermon as a reasonable substitute. If we were put in the position of giving the reasons for the hope that is within us how long would it take us to establish a biblical train of thought? Do we even bother to be “…renewed in the spirit of our mind…” as Paul encourages us (Ephesians 4)? I call upon my Christian brothers and sisters to firm up the muscles of your mind and lose the flab of emotional dribble that prevents intimate fellowship with a holy God.

Salt and pepper...

As I see it…
I’ve traded in a salt and pepper beard for salt and pepper grandkids. After all, the beard had long since made the slide to abundant saltiness a long time ago; it simply time to admit it. We have five grandchildren to date: three the old fashioned and conventional way, and two by way of adoption (well, almost…bureaucracy is still very much in the mix of things). Three kids are Anglo-American and a slightly bronzed-white flavor. Two are of Haitian decent, quite brown, born in the Dominican Republic and being raised by a transplanted Hoosier mom who now is very much a Lone Star State refugee. This vibrant amalgam got together this past weekend for a celebration of God’s faithfulness. We invited a few guests, added a few relatives, spiced it with some neighbors and mixed it all together with a congregational stock that produced a pretty decent celebratory stew! You see, the twins were separated almost immediately at birth, one left to fend for himself and the other carted off without the rest of the world knowing he existed. Through a series of Divine interventions, the twin left to defend for himself, was soiled, sickly and dehydrated when he was rescued and revived. He was later deposited with our daughter and asked if she would care for him. The other twin was introduced into the mixture a while later when their mom decided she would walk away from both of them. The separated duo was now a renewed pair and life continued to improve immensely for both of them: physically, socially and spiritually. Meanwhile, they had three cousins enjoying the goodness of God several hundred miles to the north of the twin’s Caribbean habitat. Through another series of Divine interventions, God brought the twins and their adopted mom from the Dominican to the States. This last weekend they ALL invaded our little place in the woods. And voila, we had controlled pandemonium. As a bit of disclaimer, neither of the grandparents minded the pandemonium one bit. The cousins played, laughed and wrestled with granddad until either he or they collapsed from exhaustion (I’ll leave it to the reader to pick which succumbed first). The whole noisy and excited occasion left me with a multitude of thoughts. One of them (just one, mind you!) was could this little cross-cultural yet unified family mêlée be a foretaste of the multitudes from every tribe, tongue and nation that will ultimately inhabit heaven. But until then, we will continue to celebrate God’s microcosm of faithfulness here on earth until the great event occurs in heaven!

Turning the corner of life

As I see it…
When turning the corner as you make your way along life’s corridors, you are bound to bump into situations from time to time you simply did not expect. But then again, life it that way. Unless we are spending all our time hibernating, we are bound to bump into the unexpected sooner or later. The unexpected usually provides a basis for change. At the minimum that change is an acquisition of new knowledge. At the maximum, that change can set in motion a series of chain events that can alter the way we do life: a new person added to our acquaintance, a change in vocation, a move to another place, the purchase of something significant. Handling these changes is enviably the spice that goes into the stew of our existence. Granted, some of us would just as soon keep the stew bland and barely simmering. Others of us embrace the change and the accompanying spice and any other thing that might make the pot boil a little. Now change is going to happen. That’s a rather obvious statement. Proof of the obvious is just sit down and look at a series of pictures of yourself over a 10 to 20 year period. If you don’t see any change, I want the name of your plastic surgeon. I grew up in a family whose “ventures” meant that I attended 13 different schools in grades kindergarten through graduating from high school… in four states and three different time zones. So the concept and practice of change is neither new nor particularly dramatic to me. On the other hand, the older I get, the more I appreciate stationary! There’s just something about my favorite easy chair and sweats in the winter and shorts in the summer. That’s one wardrobe that’s easy to maintain and comfortable to wear. Still, I marvel at the Patriarchs in the OT. At and after the age of 90 they’re moving from one end of the Fertile Crescent to the other, up and down the Ridge Route of Samaria and Judea, side trips to the Jordan Valley and Egypt, all the while simply trusting an unseen God to get them there and back…without the help (or hindrance) of a GPS device. I think it’s also safe to say that they bumped into a few unexpected people and circumstances along the way. Still, they trusted their unseen but very personal God. I do believe that it does say something about their faith in their unseen God. But I also believe that it says more about the faithfulness of that unseen and very personal God. “And [they] went out, knowing not where [they] were going.” If it was good enough for the Patriarchs, then…

Worshipper's heart

As I see it…
I was just wondering…when was the last time that Christians went to church for just, you know, the main attraction? When was the last time that believers entered a building designed for worshipping the Most High God that that objective actually took place? How long has it been since there entered into the heart of each person present at a Christian worship service the person of Christ in his complete majesty, awe inspiring presence, and be the delight of each worshipper’s heart? When was the last time you walked through the doors of your favorite church building and your first thoughts were not who you would see, what classroom you needed to visit, how quickly you could make it to the restroom or wondered whether the music was going to be to your satisfaction? How long has it been since you attended a worship service and your sheer delight was to meet with other believers in the presence of a Holy God? When you thought to yourself, “I wonder what the Lord has in store for me from his Word today?” Or, have you lost your personal respect for the majesty of God? Has church attendance become just a step above a pool party at the YMCA or the social aura that accompanies meeting someone for lunch following church? While speaking of the importance of the transcendence of God, Tozer wrote many years ago: If some watcher or holy one who has spent his glad centuries by the sea of fire were to come to earth, how meaningless to him would be the ceaseless chatter of the busy tribes of men. How strange to him and how empty would sound the flat, stale, and profitless words heard in the average pulpit from week to week. And were such a one to speak on earth would he not speak of God? Would he not charm and fascinate his hearers with rapturous descriptions of the Godhead? And after hearing him could we ever again consent to listen to anything less than theology, the doctrine of God? Would we not thereafter demand of those who would presume to teach us that they speak to us from the mount of divine vision or remain silent altogether? Pastor and parishioner alike, it’s time we examined the state of our hearts for public (and private) worship!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Walk down a hall of memories...

As I see it…
The walk down the hall for the first time flooded my mind of similar long ago trips down almost an identical hall when I was in junior high school. That’s back when we called it, “junior high.” Now days, it’s middle school. You accomplish that my dropping one grade on either end of this awkward-period-in-life spectrum: you go from 7-9 to 6-8. You can decide which is better or how much difference it makes… But there I was, following my younger friend down the hallway to her classroom. Turns out, she attended and graduated from this very Christian school a few years back; now she’s teaching there. I was invited to convey some of what I know about Israel and its geography (complete with maps and pictures). I had 3-one hour sessions each day for two days. Other than being totally “wiped out” at the end of my commitment, nothing outstanding took place. I observed that kids of this age, no matter what the culture, and no matter the change in times or improvement in technology are still pretty much the same. They are caught in the twilight zone of a puberty transition. Bodies, voices and self-confidence factors all go through enormous peaks and valleys. Once in a while a few awkwardness issues occur, but hey, that can happen at any age. It was evident that they enjoyed (if not really loved) their teacher; in turn, she reciprocated the feeling. I can’t remember the last time I observed a teacher who enjoyed with open pleasantness her vocation, her peers and her “kids.” No matter the circumstance or the question, it was treated with graciousness and a smile. Now I want you to know I wasn’t trying to compete with my friend for her student’s affection, but I knew that bribery frequently pays dividends. So, I gave a homework assignment on day one for the next day. (There wasn’t too much grumbling.) But I had made up my mind that no matter the answers to the assignment (open book, open resource, open internet) they would each get a reward. So I stopped at my favorite coffee shop and bought a few dozen donut “holes.” It was an instant success! But just like my donut holes, my impact upon these students only lasted for a moment. For their teacher, though, her discipleship lasted all year long, year after year. It is a great encouragement to my heart to know that Christ’s presence is being manifested in the classroom now days. But no matter the vocation, Jesus still needs to be seen in each of our lives, in each of our experiences.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Marveling at magnifude...

As I see it…
Marveling at magnitude… Superlatives are tossed around in this culture and society with so much ease it is like watching seven year olds downing a bag of m & m’s®. And we preachers don’t help much. We have a tendency toward hyperbole or we expand our numbers by the “evangelistically speaking” formula. With those disclaimers out of the way, consider these statements: Most high God, Everlasting Father, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him.” Which causes me to ask, is there anyone as wise as God? Indeed, is anyone like God? Even God asked that question of himself. To my knowledge, no one has come up with a reply to this point. God is a God against whom there is no comparison. And speaking of his wisdom, the psalmist declares, “His understanding is infinite.” (Now at this point I need to digress just a little bit. Those that know me know that I have little patience with those who would add superlatives or modifiers in connection with two non-modifiable words: infinite and unique. If you are unique, one of a kind, how can you be more/most unique or “more/most” one of a kind? Similarly, can one be “very infinite?” It should grate against your collective grammatical nerves to even tolerate such thinking/speech! Okay, digression over…) Since God’s understanding (wisdom) is infinite, He remains in a class by himself. Tozer writes, All God’s acts are done in perfect wisdom, first for His own glory, and then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time. And all his acts are as pure as they are wise, and as good as they are wise and pure. Not only could His acts not be better done; a better way to do them could not be imagined. Such a statement should leave the child of God breathless! All of the above reminds me of the first stanza of one of my favorite hymns: Immortal, invisible, God only wise; In light inaccessible, hid from our eyes; Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days; Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise! There’s not much left to say after that…

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

God, elaborate...

As I see it…
Ravi Zacharias tells of the time he was taking senior exams (if I remember correctly) in theology. His first question was: “God, elaborate.” I’m not sure what his grade was, but Ravi indicated that he felt like he could write for hours on the topic. Then I wondered to myself, if I were asked such a question, what would be my response? Then there was James Boice, who stated at a Bible conference once that (his multiple academic accomplishments notwithstanding), he had turned down several invitation to teach at the seminary or college level. His reason? He believed that his congregation needed good theology. And, as far as he was concerned, he was his congregation’s resident theologian. He remained in that position until the Lord took him. I’ve thought of each man’s comments recently. There are very few of his on this planet that have the brilliant mind of Ravi or the meticulous devotion to the Word of God like Boice. However, by virtue of their presence in and impact upon the Christian world, they have collectively raised the standard by which we should measure our ministry, at least our teaching ministry. Being a country preacher, until recently, I hadn’t thought much about my measure as a theologian. Then it occurred to me that ultimately each counseling session (formal or informal), each phone call from a troubled friend, each contact with a person in a hospital room, each funeral service, each and every wedding and baptismal service, indeed, each and every message I preach brings theology into focus. Every time the Lord calls upon me to minister to someone’s life, theology is the “maid in hand” that I bring along. Conscious or not of her presence, she is the aroma of doctrinal perfume that tints the air. Theology is the study of God. If, as a minister of the Gospel, I do not allow her accompaniment to my conversations, her confirmation to my prayers and her life to my living, I am no better than a mere philosopher. I have forsaken the God of my spiritual fathers and left my audience, singular or plural in number, with a verbal vacuum. Then each of us, audience and I, has a latter end worse than our first. We will become of all men, most miserable. So now I ask you to fill in the blanks: “God, elaborate!” How did you do?

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Tuesdays with Mark

As I see it…
Tuesdays with Mark. For several years, Toni opened her kitchen and laundry room to her bachelor brother on Tuesday evenings. Since Mark would show up earlier than we would get home, he had a key to get in, start his laundry, turn on ESPN and generally make himself at home until we arrived. That pattern lasted quite a while until another sister in the area offered an “every other Tuesday” routine to help out. These supper times with my brother-in-law turned out to be interesting in many ways. Mark could be quite moody (can’t we all!) at times. So our conversations would be determined many times by his state of being. He basically had two passions: sports and spaghetti. He was strongly opinionated about both! There was an occasion when his sister tried to take him on about why the Phillies won their first divisional series in decades: Phillies came on too strong or the Mets choked? It was a vibrant discussion! I was proud of my little wife taking on her, ahem, louder brother, but alas, he was too vociferous for her. As I remember it, they were having this discussion sitting at the table opposite one another over a plate of spaghetti. I kept my head down and concentrated on the pasta. No matter the subject though, you never won an argument with Mark; he just knew he was always right. At least it provided for a little mix occasionally for our dinner time conversations. There was one exception to Mark’s “rightness.” We had a pattern of finishing off dinner time by reading a chapter from the Bible. We started with the Gospels, went through the book of Acts and then started on Psalms. After almost each reading, Mark would ask thoughtful questions or make interesting observations. That would generally lead to some healthy exchange of conversation about biblical content. Mark came to Christ just a few years ago. For him it was a long, difficult and private journey. He realized he wasn’t an expert in the Bible, so he was willing to ask questions. Mark’s health declined rapidly in his last few months; he went to be with the Lord a few weeks ago. I was at his hospital bedside his last afternoon on earth and prayed with him. Mark always appreciated prayers on his behalf, saying a quick, quiet, “Thanks, Keith.” Our Tuesday evenings are once again our own. And, no matter how the Phillies do this year, I won’t be able to eat a plate of spaghetti again without thinking about Mark…and the Gospels, and Acts, and…

Friday, February 26, 2010

Mutations and other changes

As I see it…
Mutation: I first became aware of the term in junior high school. I first understood the term in college. Simply, it is a word that describes change. It is most frequently used in the scientific world to describe change that takes place as presented in an evolutionary context. But that is not the purpose of this article. Instead, I want to delve into the theological usage of the term. In that case, we go in the opposite direction. Instead of talking about things that change, we talk about a God who is changeless. For that we use the term: immutable. For created objects and beings, change is matter of our existence. That is, since we are made of a host of composite parts, almost by definition we are subject to change. That’s what composite elements/obstacles do, they change. Change also means that you can either gain or lose something (in time). For humans, that can cover a host of items: weight, color, size, skin tone, maturation, etc. If you’re made of parts, sooner or later, those parts will change, decay, cease functioning, lose flexibility…you get the picture! Change is also a mantra of sorts in our modern culture. Rarely do people stay in the same place for their entire existence. And recently, more rarely do people remain in the same vocation, or even field of endeavor. When change happens, the question of adaptability comes in to play. For Christians, adaptability is joined with faith to explore God’s direction and purpose. But why would faith then enter the picture? Basically for one reason, since God is immutable, he’s the only one we can trust to know how to handle “mutation.” Whether the influences of change are external or internal, God has all the bases covered. The immutability of God appears in its most perfect beauty when viewed against the mutability of men. In God, no change is possible; in men, change is impossible to escape. Neither the man is fixed nor his world, but he and it are in constant flux. So writes Tozer. If we’re going to handle the inevitability of change, then we must trust the God who does not change. For, we live in and are creatures of a world system he has designed; and he has designed change as part of that system. Faith then, makes the journey a whole lot more pleasant!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

The LORD snowed last night

As I see it…
The Lord snowed last night. The blanket of white crystalline was just enough to cover the ground and a little more. It really was a beautiful sight. The snow was light enough to be pushable; you needn’t shovel it. That’s good for us cardiac types. It was also just deep enough to clearly distinguish deer tracks; each duplicate set was in close proximity and arranged in a delicate pattern. The branches and leaves of evergreen were covered enough that the appearance of neatly arranged marshmallows rested on each protrusion.
The Lord snowed last night. It was another reminder of his marvelous creativity. I wonder how many of us creatures who have been made in his image took time to marvel at and thank the Lord for snowing. It’s a good thing children love it; there may not be too many above the height of four feet or the age of 12 that get enamored any more with God’s whiteness. I know the birds appreciate it. I heard their pleasant chirps and serenades as I rearranged God’s white blanket a little. I believe they were encouraging me to be careful and not desecrate Deity’s divine delicacies.
The Lord snowed last night. He’s been doing it for thousands of years. Of course he’s experienced with such atmospheric displays, but it’s still beautiful to see and a wonder to behold. Sadly, we can only enjoy occasional bursts of his cold whiteness. There are mountain ranges and cold climes worldwide that, without us ever realizing it get powered frequently, deeply and without fanfare. God is good at what he does. None of us, with even the combined energy of sheer willpower could generate one snowflake. Yet, without thinking about it, God can cover hundreds of square miles inches to feet deep in a matter of minutes or hours. God is good at what he does!
The Lord snowed last night. And, the psalmists rejoiced. They have been telling us for millennia how wonderful, powerful; even inspiring the Lord is when he snows. What’s that you say? You don’t believe me? Well listen to the writer of Psalm 147: Praise the LORD…He gives snow like wool; He scatters the hoarfrost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments; who can stand before his cold? Who, indeed!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Ministry in the midst of tradgedy

It's virtually impossible to recount the horror, devastation and "lostness" of the earthquake that recently impacted Haiti. However, if you would like a GREAT first hand account of what it was like to minister in Jesus name in the hours that immediately followed Haiti's national nightmare, PLEASE read this blog: http://totheleastofthese-laura.blogspot.com/
If it does not touch your heart to pray and open your eyes to what God can do in the midst of grief, nothing much will.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Banana Spiders and other delicacies....

As I see it…
Banana spiders and Dominican cockroaches: if you’ve ever traveled to or lived in a tropical climate, such critters are relatively common residents of the land. On the one hand you should not be surprised to encounter this semi-select group of God’s creatures. On the other hand it’s nice to be warned in advance that such encounters can indeed take place. First the good news: banana spiders are only interested in mosquitoes; and their hard-shelled 12th cousins are only interested in night life and crumbs (I think!). Now the not-so-good news: banana spiders (mature ones, that is) are the size of a grown man’s hand; Dominican cockroaches (like some of their Floridian kin-folk) have the ability to fly, coming complete with landing gears and head lights. As the King James folks would put it, “my hap was to light” upon one each at the same time about midnight. I was not startled so much as I was frozen in time. Neither of these critters was concerned at the fact that I had turned on the light: the spider refused to move and the cockroach continued scurrying around as if my presence was inconsequential. I took care of my business, obtained a glass of water, making sure no other critters were in the glass, took my pills and quietly backed out of the kitchen and turned off the light. I did not bother to look over my shoulder to see if either was following me. My midnight encounter has caused me to wonder: Since I wasn’t present at creation, I have no idea why my Heavenly Father chose to make such “living creatures which crawl upon the face of the earth” (I certainly hope it was because of the fall, not before it!). He certainly doesn’t need my permission. But, it is a mild inconvenience to have to share the same continent or even island with the likes of these arthropods. The hymn writer explored the fact and praised our Lord for “all creatures, great and small.” I wonder if he ever came face to insect with a banana spider before he penned such words?

Friday, January 15, 2010

Spice and your devotional time

As I see it…
How would like to spice up your devotional life? I know, it doesn’t sound very spiritual to speak about our time with the Lord as “spicy.” However, my intent isn’t to cheapen, it’s to enliven. I try to read a mixture of godly sources with my Bible reading each day. Nothing, and I mean nothing, exceeds or replaces my Bible reading; but it’s good to hear other voices speak of our mutual journey with the Lord. I have read men like Tozer, O. Chambers, Vance Havner, DA Carson, CS Lewis, Chuck Swindoll and others down through the years. I have even waded into the sometimes unusual waters of those who have been called church mystics. But recently, I’ve expanded devotional borders even further. It’s at this point that I would like to encourage my fundamentalist friends to take a deep breath, elevate your feet higher than your head and then continue. Recently I’ve explored the writings of men (and a few women) who have established their Christian renown in Roman Catholic (and other denominational) circles. There are those, for example, who have argued that CS Lewis was a little too “catholic” for their liking. Wherever you land on that argument, you cannot deny his Christian apologetic genius. In turn, his heritage included men like GK Chesterton, Augustine, Athanasius, Ambrose and the like. You can get a taste of these contributors and many others in the book, From the Library of C. S. Lewis. Some of the content is philosophical drivel, but just some. Much of the content exposes the fountains from which Lewis drank. Interestingly enough, the title of Lewis’s own spiritual journal is derived from his reading of Richard Baxter (a Puritan giant of letters in his own right), Mere Christianity. I have found that many of these writers/authors have contributed much to my Christian and apologetic thinking. But then, discernment is always the key when reading anyone. (By contrast, I have a few fundamentalist-authored books whose content hasn’t really done all that much to raise my spiritual thermometer. This is said not to pronounce judgment, just an opinion from a country preacher.) The proof, they say, is in the pudding. In this case, looking beyond the labels and into a person’s soul certainly will affect the impact of their contribution to your life. So, are you ready for a little spice?

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Haiti

Our daughter has a ministry next door to Haiti. The Dominican Republic and Haiti share an island but their existence is worlds apart. There is a mountain range that essentially serves as a natural border between the two countries. The DR side is lush and green. It's towns and villages are populated by a medium-class to a poor but vibrant people. The Haitian side manifests a poverty that defies description. The land is barren and the government, for much of its history has been plagued with corruption. Several years ago, the nation declared Voodoo as its national religion. Tonight, the country marks its second night of a meager yet mass survival. Sadly, their worse days may not as yet have happened. As we met for our midweek prayer time tonight, we started by reading emails and blogs of various Christians who tried to describe the devastation that now marks their land. My thoughts went to Jonah and Nineveh. Prayer is sprinkled throughout that brief little OT book. The prophet prays, the pagan sailors pray, and the inhabitants of Nineveh even learn to humble themselves before the Lord. No matter their background, each and every one in this small book lift their voices in prayer. As Port-au-Prince cries out tonight for help, many have cried out to the God of creation on their behalf to grant them comfort and aid. My prayer for Haiti is that the God of Scripture will show them a benevolence and redemption that their practice of Voodoo could never comprehend let alone display.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Newspapers and other old fashioned stuff...

I was just wondering, would all of you who regularly subscribe to and read a newspaper please raise your hand? Hmmm, I was afraid of that. This last decade I've watched as one old rag after another slowly bit the dust or tried to prevent it from happening. Our local paper, Philly Inq, is fighting chapter 13 as I write. I must agree with CS Lewis who said, if I may paraphrase him, "You ought to read the old with the new." He was speaking of books, mind you, but the principle is still the same. I try to demonstrate my multi-tasking ability to this generation by adjusting my glasses, walking down my driveway to pick up my newspaper each morning while thumbing through my Pre for my emails all at the same time. Does that qualify me as a member of the now/current generation of x'ers, y-ers and other alphabet chromosome possessors? If not, I'm fine with it. I can still use my newspaper to sop up wet carbon footprints, line appropriate facilities and help start the wood burner in my fireplace with old copies of the Inq. Let's see you gen-exers do that with your iphones/pods/apples ad nausea. I know, I know, if Windows 95 was good enough for my father, than it ought to be ancient history to me. And so it is; I tried apple vicariously through my wife for a while, wasn't impressed. Nonetheless, I'll keep googling uncertain terms and unknown people in the mean time (by the way, when did we first start to use "google" as a verb form...?). When the Lord returns, I'll be leaving my laptop and pre behind. I have a feeling there won't be cell towers in heaven...

Church Mouse's View of Leadership

As I see it…
I received a renewed reminder last night of the importance of the body of Christ – the whole body! The leadership (church council, i.e. deacons and elders and pastoral staff) met for one of those “free for all” sessions. It probably isn’t as bloody as it sounds. Our men just have the ability to close the meeting room door, bang the gates of heaven for Spirit-led discussion as we all prepared ourselves with a season of prayer and then have it at. A no holds barred and no defenses allowed session. It’s a great y-chromosome experience! No touchy, feely stuff allowed. When everything is said and done, I straitened my virtual clerical collar, swallowed my differences and joined the fray. The men were gracious enough to give me the first volley and then they took off! I listened for at least an hour before I spoke again. These men love the Lord, love his church and want to make sure that, as best as they can discern it, they want to do church right! While talks of visionary concepts are allowed, ignoring present tense needs is not tolerated. What are we doing now to plug the holes, fill the gaps, staff the needs, address the issues and make ourselves more acceptable to visitors and regular attendees? There was little hand wringing, it was more: tell-it-like-it-is and rejoice-where-we’ve-gotten-it-right but don’t pat yourself on the back too much because there’s-much-to-be-done-yet. If anyone got bruised, too bad; if anyone got it right, thanks, but there are still things to accomplish. It’s okay to admit that any one person can’t do it all. But, it’s not okay to say that the status is quo (that’s Latin for “the mess we’re in”) and pretend that it doesn’t matter. Malaise (spiritual, emotional or any other kind) is no longer tolerated. We want Christ honored, but not at the cost of overlooking the obvious; not without planning to equip the saints, disciple the younger and needy Christians and generally look to cover each other’s back in the process. The atmosphere was electric; the points of view were just that, pointed; and the genuine loving attitude demonstrated for the body of believers (and others) was palpable. After the “free for all” we assessed the damage, took roll call and gave out assignments. We’re not looking back; we are moving forward. And by God’s grace, starting now, we want to do church right, for the glory of God. Since accountability is the proof of the pudding, in a few months we’ll let you know who made the cut and who didn’t! Stay tuned because the rest of the body of Christ and heavenly hosts are watching to see if we get it right!

Monday, January 4, 2010

More Bible reading

My daughter-in-law discovered for her family and reminded me of yet another good resource of through the Bible reading.
Please check this out:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/12349985/Professor-Grant-Horners-Bible-Reading-System
Of all the "systems" that are out there, this is one of the best.

Friday, January 1, 2010

New Years...Bible reading?

I was impressed the other day in our local newspaper (yes, I still read it!) that a reporter went into center city Philly and interviewed several people about resolutions for the new year. My amazement was that two young women, independent of each other, responded by saying they were going to read their Bible more or entirely during the new year. I was pleasantly surprised at their responses, even more surprised that the reported recorded it, the editor passed it and it got published! My heartfelt congrats go these young women, may their tribe increase. (My then 10 year old grandson informed me last year that he had a goal of reading through the Bible as well. I check with him from time to time: his response is, "It's hard work!) Along a similar line, our church elders have discussed what it would mean to have a new (renewed) emphasis on Bible reading and study. After prayerful consideration, we're going to take a break in the Gospel of John and take a few months to review the Bible. Set some goals about reading, memorizing and studying it. I look forward to seeing what our congregation's response may be. As I read the biography's of various saints of church history, I'm impressed with number who not only emphasized the importance of the reading of the Word of God, many gave their lives to scholarship and defense of it's maintenance and preservation. So, whatever else you might have planned for this new year, gave some healthy thought to renewing your quest of reading the Bible. It wouldn't hoit!