Tom was always an encourager to me. It was funny, because when I'd first introduce him to a new person who was close to me, Tom took advantage. He invariably began the conversation with a straight face and a "crooked" comment.
I would watch the person talking with Tom for the first time to see the reaction. His very first words to the new person would be something like, "How on earth did you come to hang around with someone like John?" And he wouldn't crack a smile at all. Usually had a stern look. And the other person, depending on how quick he was might say, "Well, uh, uh..." And Tom would then rescue him and break out in a smile and say, "I'm just kidding."
He flew commercial planes and jets his whole career. (United I think). He told me that in the fifties, when he'd fly passengers from Seattle to San Francisco, on occasion they'd spot a pod of whales out over the Pacific - maybe a hundred miles off the coast of northern California. He'd come over the loud speaker and mention it to the passengers. And then maybe something like, "shall we go down and take a look?" And they did! I think this was before the jets, the 707s; so it was a prop plane, and he'd probably come down from 15,000 to - who knows what! - and the people would love it. They'd get a bird's eye view of the whales in migration.
And then there was Crater Lake in Oregon. It's that super-blue, super-deep beautiful lake that fills a crater in the Cascades. At least on one occasion he rolled over and swooped almost into the basin so the people had the ride and view of their life. You'd get fired for doing that today, of course.
As I say, Tom was an encourager to me. Here at the church where I serve in south Seattle, he was an elder. A senior elder, so he didn't attend meetings as often. Margaret went home to be with the Lord a few years back, and it has really been tough on Tom. She was his wife of (I'm guessing) 60+ years. After my dentist appointment this morning, I saw the blue sky after a squall, and thought, "maybe I can jump on the Southworth Ferry and see him again. So, when I got to the office, I got the word, "Tom died last night." Another friend nearby said, "he's got his reward."
That's for sure. A very great reward. (Psalm 16:5; Gen. 15:1)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Waiting Up Late For Me - or - A Major Turning Point
(I first wrote this for one of my relatives. Maybe it can help you.)
Going off to college was a turning point in my life. I think we have many turning points, but for me this was one of those major ones. I knew God, read my Bible and had even witnessed to friends a few times before this. When I got back to Northfield, Minnesota, I met people my age who were also Christians. They had a joy and confidence that I didn’t have. I also felt humbled, because, although I had heard the Word all my life, some of these new friends studied the Bible and knew parts of it better than I did; and I knew that they hadn’t been Christians as long. That got my attention.
More to the point was the joy, peace, and confidence I saw in their lives. These are for me still things I can’t live without. So here I was – away at college after four years of off-and-on conflict with my dad. It was about my dating life and the company I kept. On the one hand, I was involved in church and music ministry, for which he was glad. But I was stuck in some habits. The tension between my dad and me – and also between my conscience and my actions – was wearing me down. Part of the reason I left Tacoma and went to the Midwest for college was to tear myself away from my environment and habits and try to get a new start.
I remember a few times tip-toeing into the house long after the time I had promised to return home. Once it was way after midnight; the light was on in the living room. As I rounded the corner and tried to sneak up the stairs to my room, there was my dad. (That's him pictured in the sketch above.) He sat quietly in a living room chair, reading and waiting. He spoke in a low, controlled voice.
“Where have you been?”
I told him I had taken my girlfriend home and we had talked for awhile. He reminded me of the time I had agreed to return and asked why it was so much later. After stumbling through an excuse, I asked why he didn’t trust me. He was ready for that, and he responded right away, “Because you’re not trustworthy.” That stung, but I knew it was true.
There wasn’t much more conversation. It was late and he had made his point. There I was, soon to be a grown man, and he and my mother had spent 17 years raising me.
I remember another occasion, when I was again tip-toeing in after midnight. This time no light was on and I made my way upstairs, presumably undetected. As I slid into bed my heart raced and pounded for quite awhile before I was finally able to relax and fall asleep.
The reason that joy, confidence and peace mean a lot to me is that they were so elusive in those days! I suppose if I had to name qualities opposite to those things, I might say that I was “depressed, hesitant, and conflicted.” The weird thing is that in the midst of all that I saw myself as a Christian, and now still believe that I truly was. But maybe that’s why this was all such a raging battle! My experience and actions were pushing hard against where my heart wanted to truly go – where I knew I belonged.
So off I went to college. Sixteen hundred miles from Tacoma. I poked my way through classes and found myself struggling to make decent grades. (I went to Highline – in the SeaTac area – the year after that.) But in the midst of that year away, far from home, I did some soul-searching and got closer to God. It took some humbling. There were times of loneliness and it took work making new friends. I got involved with teams of students who went out and put on programs and led worship services at churches nearby. Sometimes we hitch-hiked several hundred miles to get to the church or youth group we were assigned to for the weekend.
So, now 40 years later, what does it look like for me to be sure life will bring confidence, joy and peace? How do I know for sure that I won’t have a herky-jerky ride that delivers only a weird mix of surprises I can’t depend on? The answer I’ve found of course is that the source of joy and peace is Jesus Christ. But for all of us the big question is how to maintain a life-line to him. To use that water illustration - one can have a lake of cool, fresh mountain water. But how do you get a good pipe to it and draw up the water for what you need every day!?
For starters, those who say that Jesus Christ is not Lord of all and giver of life – they are simply wrong. If you have been rationalizing away what people have testified to you about him, that’s a problem. If one wants the peace, confidence and joy that comes from the forgiveness of sin, Jesus Christ is the only one who delivers. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Communism, Globalism, humanism – all these make empty promises.
But back to the water illustration. In John 7 we see Jesus attending the third major annual feast of the Jewish year, the Feast of Booths (Succoth). He stands up and says with a loud voice, “If any one trusts me, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. (He was talking about the Holy Spirit, which those who trusted in Him were going to receive).”
God’s Holy Spirit actually lives in the person who trusts Jesus Christ. It’s sort of like you and me living in a house and making it our home. The Spirit of God lives in our body and makes it His home. And when He does, He brings with Him all the good gifts of Jesus Christ and daily reminds us that they belong to us. This is genuine good news. If you keep reading, there can be unbelievable benefit to you.
Maybe I should remind you, the gifts of God are not “spiritual” in the sense that they are for monks and nuns. They are not “other-worldly” in that you don’t get them until you die. Nor are they so hard to understand that only someone trained as a scholar can grasp them.
God gives daily food. He gives friends. He gives wisdom, jobs, understanding and insight. He gives laughter, and happiness in families. The Bible says that “all good gifts” are from God. (James 1:17). Without minimizing things such as eating, drinking and physical pleasures, perhaps relationships are the biggest.
When I would sneak into the house late at night and hoped to be undetected, my fear was not that my parents would never forgive me. Nor was it that God would send me to hell for being disobedient. I knew that He was forgiving. I knew that’s why Christ died, to pay for my sin. What I was stuck on was that my behaviors were chopping me off at the knees. I wasn’t owning up to things, and this was undermining my relationships – with Christ and other people. I now know that the opportunity to break away and go off to college was also a gift from God! This time away helped me back away from my situation and look at it. This became a time during which I got to meet a whole different group of people who affirmed, loved, and served the same Lord my parents served. (My parents weren’t perfect, of course, but they were trying their utmost to serve God and help their four boys do the same.)
God cleaned me up. He got me more deeply into His Word. He gave me a fresh look at people who walked the walk. Those people weren’t perfect either, but somehow this all helped. Jesus said, “You are made clean by the word I have spoken to you.” Jesus is the living Word. His blood atones for our sin. But to really know, experience and revel in that “clean-ness” every day is to be able to name the sins that need cleansing. Like Luther says, we don’t have to belabor this and forever make a longer and longer list of our ugly sins. Forget that. It’s impossible. But when God brings to my mind something I’ve done wrong, or an attitude I persist in that stinks, He’s putting a finger on it. He’s calling me to name it with my lips – between Him and me. (If my sin is also between me and another person, I need to name it to that person too, for we are all called to be family under Christ.)
The good news here is that this humbling and naming brings freedom. Freedom brings power over the evil. Naming and confessing defeats Satan. The power we gain brings joy and celebration. I really see this when I look around at so many people who live in the sewers of life. That’s where I was headed. I’m glad God helped me.
Where is all this going? Maybe you have some big decisions that are looming. I can’t walk you through all the applications of the gospel to your life. But I can tell you this: Through Christ, God who made you in His image is your Heavenly Father. He knows your needs and has the power and will to help you. He’s calling you now to trust Him.
Faith is the condition. Faith, and only faith. To have faith doesn’t mean you can explain it all. Faith is simply trusting that Jesus Christ died for your sin. Often it is a re-affirming faith: you re-visit that place where you once trusted Christ, say “I have wandered off the track,” and ask the Father again to restore to you the joy of salvation. Faith, in order to be faith, must look away from self. Break the mirror. Look only to Jesus Christ. This is a daily discipline. No one has this all figured out. Everybody has to learn to walk daily as little children do, step by step.
You might hear voices that tell you the “fear of God” is old-fashioned and must be discarded. But instead, discard those voices. They are liars, deceivers. (This is not said for dramatic effect. See John 8:44.)
Enjoying life is ultimately only possible by failing in love with Jesus Christ. Fall in love with Him. He’s in love with you. This is true not because you or I are always loveable. It’s because of His very nature. “Beloved, let us love one another…for God is love.” God loves people. That’s what He does. But of course, it all comes on His terms. Pull the clear water out of the reservoir. Drink it by faith. Let His scriptures – especially maybe the Psalms and the New Testament – daily build your faith. “Faith comes by hearing…the Word of Christ.” You won’t find faith deep within your own heart. By nature you and I are unbelievers. We are doubters and skeptics. Crush the mirror; pick up the Word.
Going off to college was a turning point in my life. I think we have many turning points, but for me this was one of those major ones. I knew God, read my Bible and had even witnessed to friends a few times before this. When I got back to Northfield, Minnesota, I met people my age who were also Christians. They had a joy and confidence that I didn’t have. I also felt humbled, because, although I had heard the Word all my life, some of these new friends studied the Bible and knew parts of it better than I did; and I knew that they hadn’t been Christians as long. That got my attention.
More to the point was the joy, peace, and confidence I saw in their lives. These are for me still things I can’t live without. So here I was – away at college after four years of off-and-on conflict with my dad. It was about my dating life and the company I kept. On the one hand, I was involved in church and music ministry, for which he was glad. But I was stuck in some habits. The tension between my dad and me – and also between my conscience and my actions – was wearing me down. Part of the reason I left Tacoma and went to the Midwest for college was to tear myself away from my environment and habits and try to get a new start.
I remember a few times tip-toeing into the house long after the time I had promised to return home. Once it was way after midnight; the light was on in the living room. As I rounded the corner and tried to sneak up the stairs to my room, there was my dad. (That's him pictured in the sketch above.) He sat quietly in a living room chair, reading and waiting. He spoke in a low, controlled voice.
“Where have you been?”
I told him I had taken my girlfriend home and we had talked for awhile. He reminded me of the time I had agreed to return and asked why it was so much later. After stumbling through an excuse, I asked why he didn’t trust me. He was ready for that, and he responded right away, “Because you’re not trustworthy.” That stung, but I knew it was true.
There wasn’t much more conversation. It was late and he had made his point. There I was, soon to be a grown man, and he and my mother had spent 17 years raising me.
I remember another occasion, when I was again tip-toeing in after midnight. This time no light was on and I made my way upstairs, presumably undetected. As I slid into bed my heart raced and pounded for quite awhile before I was finally able to relax and fall asleep.
The reason that joy, confidence and peace mean a lot to me is that they were so elusive in those days! I suppose if I had to name qualities opposite to those things, I might say that I was “depressed, hesitant, and conflicted.” The weird thing is that in the midst of all that I saw myself as a Christian, and now still believe that I truly was. But maybe that’s why this was all such a raging battle! My experience and actions were pushing hard against where my heart wanted to truly go – where I knew I belonged.
So off I went to college. Sixteen hundred miles from Tacoma. I poked my way through classes and found myself struggling to make decent grades. (I went to Highline – in the SeaTac area – the year after that.) But in the midst of that year away, far from home, I did some soul-searching and got closer to God. It took some humbling. There were times of loneliness and it took work making new friends. I got involved with teams of students who went out and put on programs and led worship services at churches nearby. Sometimes we hitch-hiked several hundred miles to get to the church or youth group we were assigned to for the weekend.
So, now 40 years later, what does it look like for me to be sure life will bring confidence, joy and peace? How do I know for sure that I won’t have a herky-jerky ride that delivers only a weird mix of surprises I can’t depend on? The answer I’ve found of course is that the source of joy and peace is Jesus Christ. But for all of us the big question is how to maintain a life-line to him. To use that water illustration - one can have a lake of cool, fresh mountain water. But how do you get a good pipe to it and draw up the water for what you need every day!?
For starters, those who say that Jesus Christ is not Lord of all and giver of life – they are simply wrong. If you have been rationalizing away what people have testified to you about him, that’s a problem. If one wants the peace, confidence and joy that comes from the forgiveness of sin, Jesus Christ is the only one who delivers. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Communism, Globalism, humanism – all these make empty promises.
But back to the water illustration. In John 7 we see Jesus attending the third major annual feast of the Jewish year, the Feast of Booths (Succoth). He stands up and says with a loud voice, “If any one trusts me, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. (He was talking about the Holy Spirit, which those who trusted in Him were going to receive).”
God’s Holy Spirit actually lives in the person who trusts Jesus Christ. It’s sort of like you and me living in a house and making it our home. The Spirit of God lives in our body and makes it His home. And when He does, He brings with Him all the good gifts of Jesus Christ and daily reminds us that they belong to us. This is genuine good news. If you keep reading, there can be unbelievable benefit to you.
Maybe I should remind you, the gifts of God are not “spiritual” in the sense that they are for monks and nuns. They are not “other-worldly” in that you don’t get them until you die. Nor are they so hard to understand that only someone trained as a scholar can grasp them.
God gives daily food. He gives friends. He gives wisdom, jobs, understanding and insight. He gives laughter, and happiness in families. The Bible says that “all good gifts” are from God. (James 1:17). Without minimizing things such as eating, drinking and physical pleasures, perhaps relationships are the biggest.
When I would sneak into the house late at night and hoped to be undetected, my fear was not that my parents would never forgive me. Nor was it that God would send me to hell for being disobedient. I knew that He was forgiving. I knew that’s why Christ died, to pay for my sin. What I was stuck on was that my behaviors were chopping me off at the knees. I wasn’t owning up to things, and this was undermining my relationships – with Christ and other people. I now know that the opportunity to break away and go off to college was also a gift from God! This time away helped me back away from my situation and look at it. This became a time during which I got to meet a whole different group of people who affirmed, loved, and served the same Lord my parents served. (My parents weren’t perfect, of course, but they were trying their utmost to serve God and help their four boys do the same.)
God cleaned me up. He got me more deeply into His Word. He gave me a fresh look at people who walked the walk. Those people weren’t perfect either, but somehow this all helped. Jesus said, “You are made clean by the word I have spoken to you.” Jesus is the living Word. His blood atones for our sin. But to really know, experience and revel in that “clean-ness” every day is to be able to name the sins that need cleansing. Like Luther says, we don’t have to belabor this and forever make a longer and longer list of our ugly sins. Forget that. It’s impossible. But when God brings to my mind something I’ve done wrong, or an attitude I persist in that stinks, He’s putting a finger on it. He’s calling me to name it with my lips – between Him and me. (If my sin is also between me and another person, I need to name it to that person too, for we are all called to be family under Christ.)
The good news here is that this humbling and naming brings freedom. Freedom brings power over the evil. Naming and confessing defeats Satan. The power we gain brings joy and celebration. I really see this when I look around at so many people who live in the sewers of life. That’s where I was headed. I’m glad God helped me.
Where is all this going? Maybe you have some big decisions that are looming. I can’t walk you through all the applications of the gospel to your life. But I can tell you this: Through Christ, God who made you in His image is your Heavenly Father. He knows your needs and has the power and will to help you. He’s calling you now to trust Him.
Faith is the condition. Faith, and only faith. To have faith doesn’t mean you can explain it all. Faith is simply trusting that Jesus Christ died for your sin. Often it is a re-affirming faith: you re-visit that place where you once trusted Christ, say “I have wandered off the track,” and ask the Father again to restore to you the joy of salvation. Faith, in order to be faith, must look away from self. Break the mirror. Look only to Jesus Christ. This is a daily discipline. No one has this all figured out. Everybody has to learn to walk daily as little children do, step by step.
You might hear voices that tell you the “fear of God” is old-fashioned and must be discarded. But instead, discard those voices. They are liars, deceivers. (This is not said for dramatic effect. See John 8:44.)
Enjoying life is ultimately only possible by failing in love with Jesus Christ. Fall in love with Him. He’s in love with you. This is true not because you or I are always loveable. It’s because of His very nature. “Beloved, let us love one another…for God is love.” God loves people. That’s what He does. But of course, it all comes on His terms. Pull the clear water out of the reservoir. Drink it by faith. Let His scriptures – especially maybe the Psalms and the New Testament – daily build your faith. “Faith comes by hearing…the Word of Christ.” You won’t find faith deep within your own heart. By nature you and I are unbelievers. We are doubters and skeptics. Crush the mirror; pick up the Word.
Converting Cohabitation to Courtship
The purpose of this document is to set out a plan for the creative and constructive use of a period of time the cohabiting couple can use to build a strong foundation for marriage. This is particularly for couples who profess to be Christians and those who wish to move in that direction.
The following are some guiding principles:
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). Therefore, there are two things which a creative period of separation is not: It is not punishment, because Jesus paid the price for all our sin. And it is not a way to earn more favor with God. We approach God with all our needs confidently because of the status Jesus has given us as a gift through the cross: we are God’s children.
Marriage is a picture of Christ’s love for the church; therefore we approach Christian marriage with the sense of a high calling. (Ephesians 5:21-31)
The roles of husband and wife shown in the Bible are not conditioned by culture, and therefore the gospel promise of life in Christ moves you in two manners: closer to God and blessing, and further from the world and compromise.
The decision to live in two different residences until the day of marriage must be mutual, and cannot be one that is enforced or policed by man. It is a sacred matter of grace between the man and the woman and their God. It is a faith decision made in response to God.
This period is expected to be creative and constructive. Therefore, resources will be given to the couple, chiefly God’s Word and special guided opportunities for learning and fellowship. God always shows His grace to be more than sufficient for our need.
The roles of the man and woman are laid out in scripture to correspond with Christ’s love for the church, His bride. Therefore, although these roles are not ironclad and inflexible by any means, the man will learn the art of initiating and the woman the art of responding. Some traditions call this time of preparing for marriage “courtship”. (Our culture has almost totally lost the sense of this: the church must not follow culture but lead it.) The assumption is that God in his wisdom calls the man to learn to initiate, because men in sin are prone to neglect things and renege on their responsibilities. The assumption is also that God, in grace, calls the woman to learn response because she, in some sense, needs to learn to wait upon the man as the church waits upon the Lord for His word.
Finally, a sacred period of separation is an act of love toward the community. It gains the couple a place of respect which their cohabitation had in effect undercut. And it gains for themselves a clear conscience and defense against Satan’s accusations, which he constantly hurls at Christ’s bride.
The following are some guiding principles:
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). Therefore, there are two things which a creative period of separation is not: It is not punishment, because Jesus paid the price for all our sin. And it is not a way to earn more favor with God. We approach God with all our needs confidently because of the status Jesus has given us as a gift through the cross: we are God’s children.
Marriage is a picture of Christ’s love for the church; therefore we approach Christian marriage with the sense of a high calling. (Ephesians 5:21-31)
The roles of husband and wife shown in the Bible are not conditioned by culture, and therefore the gospel promise of life in Christ moves you in two manners: closer to God and blessing, and further from the world and compromise.
The decision to live in two different residences until the day of marriage must be mutual, and cannot be one that is enforced or policed by man. It is a sacred matter of grace between the man and the woman and their God. It is a faith decision made in response to God.
This period is expected to be creative and constructive. Therefore, resources will be given to the couple, chiefly God’s Word and special guided opportunities for learning and fellowship. God always shows His grace to be more than sufficient for our need.
The roles of the man and woman are laid out in scripture to correspond with Christ’s love for the church, His bride. Therefore, although these roles are not ironclad and inflexible by any means, the man will learn the art of initiating and the woman the art of responding. Some traditions call this time of preparing for marriage “courtship”. (Our culture has almost totally lost the sense of this: the church must not follow culture but lead it.) The assumption is that God in his wisdom calls the man to learn to initiate, because men in sin are prone to neglect things and renege on their responsibilities. The assumption is also that God, in grace, calls the woman to learn response because she, in some sense, needs to learn to wait upon the man as the church waits upon the Lord for His word.
Finally, a sacred period of separation is an act of love toward the community. It gains the couple a place of respect which their cohabitation had in effect undercut. And it gains for themselves a clear conscience and defense against Satan’s accusations, which he constantly hurls at Christ’s bride.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Dementia, Fear and Faith
“Have you lost your mind?!” This question is often addressed in a shrill voice by a parent to a child in a tone of dismay or ridicule. The little one addressed stands ashamed because he got out of line. But some people really do lose their mind, many of them older people, and no shaming should be happening. It’s due to a disease that hits people with more predictability the older they get!
I remember driving my dad to his house after he had attended a pastors’ meeting with me. This was in 1990. He was a retired pastor, and I was an active one. We negotiated the freeway turns going from Everett, Washington to Redmond, where he lived. I was accustomed to him making aggressive navigational remarks when I was at the wheel, and usually tolerated these with minor irritation. But this day there were way too many of them and I mentioned it a mile before we pulled up to his driveway. I was shocked at his response, because it revealed a vulnerability I had been clueless about until then. “I just don’t remember things so well these days,” he said, trying to solve this riddle as he spoke. Immediately the thought came to me, “Dad was talking me through the turns on the freeway to help himself stay in the game. He was actually disoriented back there!” For a guy who flew in the South Pacific and pulled many all-nighters driving across country, this was a real change.
Those in the helping professions may refer to the condition generically: “It’s dementia.” That’s a convenient label, and we know so much less than we’d like at this point. Our minds get a lot slower as we age. Popular magazines even prescribe exercises for us to stay sharp with the hope of staving off the eventuality of this horror! My wife asked me to read one of these articles. But professionals continue to sound a warning about something called Alzheimer’s Disease. It stands in its own camp with a raging defiance. It killed my dad. But it took a decade.
Since I’m a pastor, I’d like to say something about the spiritual aspects of this disease. A person’s spiritual well-being can affect other areas of life. This has to do with relationships. Maybe our story can help you a little.
I remember a family gathering soon after our drive on the freeway. We gathered in the Redmond home; the young generation, grandchildren of my parents, were there. We were laughing, listening to loud music, and people were reacting to something on the TV in the family room. Adjoined to this was the kitchen where dad paced, scowling and staying out of the fun. Some of the people began to notice this, because his normal “stand apart from the crowd” posture was accentuated. When the music and laughter rose to a high pitch, he was observed making a complaint. “What gives?” we thought. Some in the group reacted to his unsociable mood. “Why is Dad throwing cold water on this occasion?” we thought. “We’re all having a good time, except for him.”
Loud noises and sudden movements are perceived differently by Alzheimer’s patients than the normal person. I think that was partly what was going on there. Maybe a car swerving in traffic would fit in that category. Thus, his agitation on the freeway earlier. But, without getting into medical analysis, which I can’t do, let’s look at relationships. When a person begins to suspect that there is a new reality (onset of Alzheimer’s), it ought to be checked out. If there is a bad relationship to begin with, such as unforgiveness between people, the moment a person doesn’t measure up becomes a moment to seize on. “He’s so uptight!” “Why doesn’t she enjoy life more?!” This situation is like what happens when a family has substance abuse in one or more members. The entire family system is often dysfunctional and the “disease” can exacerbate this. What are some key faith and relationship issues?
Unbelief and fear are related. Faith is a matter of trusting – that Jesus Christ really came from heaven, entered our history, died to atone for humankind’s sin and reconcile us to God. The God factor is everything, because He’s the one who made us for relationships. Through a right relationship with Him, we have meaning, peace, and security. He created us in His image. But if we continue alienated from Him, we live in guilt, fear and insecurity. There’s no way to keep from “transferring” those feelings onto the people we are closest to. Especially when pressures like Alzheimer’s, substance abuse, or money problems arise.
And even when reconciliation is effected, as long as one lives in the temporal sphere, there will still be unresolved things such as pain, loneliness and mystery. These, of course, can be met by the grace of God for the believer. But for the unbeliever, there must be alternative routes to resolve them. Blaming and shaming are things we all tend to fall back on, as opposed to trusting God and seeking His will for solutions. Those are two extremely different approaches. And, any honest “believer” would admit that he often fails and falls back into blaming and shaming. That’s why we write into our worship liturgies things called “confession of sin”. We don’t always live up to our calling and need renewal through daily forgiveness.
Back to some concrete terms. If your mother has dementia and is approaching death – certainly the death of relationships as you have known them – who will take care of her emotionally? When she’s fearful how can you reassure her? When the caregiver who’s paid below minimum wage and doesn’t speak English well has duty in the middle of the night, how well will things go? Do you feel guilty for letting things get to this point? Do you have someone to talk to about your pressures? I’m often reminding myself in pastoral work that the caregiver needs care! This person can easily get overlooked.
As Dad’s condition worsened he went into a nursing home. The second and final caregiving situation had a specialized Alzheimer’s unit. Toward the end of this nine month period, we had to commit him to a “gero-psych” evaluation. This was discouraging. He had always been healthy and strong, and because he was on the razor’s edge of being aware of things, he resisted them the intake people. He didn’t understand why they were putting him in a wheelchair, nor did he know why all the strange people were handling him while we were backing away. He got excited and resisted. From their point of view, he was making things difficult. Drugs were their answer. I felt like I was observing “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in real life.
After this things settled down and we found a nursing home ten miles from my mother. Her decision to commit him to the unit had been precipitated by months of tussling with him and cleaning up in the wake of incontinence problems. I would have absolutely hated to go and visit him and just stare at the wall without much conversation. In the second nursing care situation I became “that nice guy”. He didn’t know my name or who exactly I was.
And then music came in handy. He had taught me chords on the piano, paid for my music lessons, and had driven me to them countless times, as had my mother. Now I dug out the guitar, and had the nursing home tuck his trumpet in a hall closet where I could quickly grab it during visits. Boy was I glad for the Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey hits that he had taught me! We both played them by memory. The old favorite hymns came back too. I kept a list of song titles in my wallet and in the guitar case.
Somehow, I suppose, God made our brains with an easy access for music. It seems that information tied to music, rhythm, and movement lasts longer than some other strictly cognitive things. This is not scientifically precise on my part, but I have observed it firsthand too many times to pass it off. What a blessing. We had many song sessions together and he didn’t even know my name. I also saw him reacting with simple glee when someone brought in a cat to the lobby. When you get older do you again enjoy the simple things like little animals and little children because you’re no longer busy keeping that pressurized schedule – and you’re unable to do the “treadmill”?
Back to relationships and our spiritual life: A close family friend named Cliff once said he wanted to write a book called Flowers are For the Living. He never got to it, but his concern was that we too often wait till our loved ones die to talk about what great people they were. Tell and show them while they’re still alive! I’m glad I was able to give Dad a shave and wash his face once. I’m glad I could push him in a wheelchair a few times. It was on a sunny sidewalk in Redmond, a block from the Microsoft campus. I sang, prayed, and recited scriptures aloud on that spring day. It was a way to “connect.” Had I not forgiven him – had he not forgiven me – whatever needed forgiving, we would have had a roadblock in our relationship. But because God actually entered our history, and we both take that seriously, there was a sizzling reality to this whole eternal life promise. So an ugly thing like Alzheimer’s enters the picture. You push through it, and the damned thing won’t have the last word. The Lord of the empty grave will! When you can’t keep yourself together, He can – and will. And He’s promised to call us out of our graves just like He did to Lazarus. That’s where the rubber meets the road.
I remember driving my dad to his house after he had attended a pastors’ meeting with me. This was in 1990. He was a retired pastor, and I was an active one. We negotiated the freeway turns going from Everett, Washington to Redmond, where he lived. I was accustomed to him making aggressive navigational remarks when I was at the wheel, and usually tolerated these with minor irritation. But this day there were way too many of them and I mentioned it a mile before we pulled up to his driveway. I was shocked at his response, because it revealed a vulnerability I had been clueless about until then. “I just don’t remember things so well these days,” he said, trying to solve this riddle as he spoke. Immediately the thought came to me, “Dad was talking me through the turns on the freeway to help himself stay in the game. He was actually disoriented back there!” For a guy who flew in the South Pacific and pulled many all-nighters driving across country, this was a real change.
Those in the helping professions may refer to the condition generically: “It’s dementia.” That’s a convenient label, and we know so much less than we’d like at this point. Our minds get a lot slower as we age. Popular magazines even prescribe exercises for us to stay sharp with the hope of staving off the eventuality of this horror! My wife asked me to read one of these articles. But professionals continue to sound a warning about something called Alzheimer’s Disease. It stands in its own camp with a raging defiance. It killed my dad. But it took a decade.
Since I’m a pastor, I’d like to say something about the spiritual aspects of this disease. A person’s spiritual well-being can affect other areas of life. This has to do with relationships. Maybe our story can help you a little.
I remember a family gathering soon after our drive on the freeway. We gathered in the Redmond home; the young generation, grandchildren of my parents, were there. We were laughing, listening to loud music, and people were reacting to something on the TV in the family room. Adjoined to this was the kitchen where dad paced, scowling and staying out of the fun. Some of the people began to notice this, because his normal “stand apart from the crowd” posture was accentuated. When the music and laughter rose to a high pitch, he was observed making a complaint. “What gives?” we thought. Some in the group reacted to his unsociable mood. “Why is Dad throwing cold water on this occasion?” we thought. “We’re all having a good time, except for him.”
Loud noises and sudden movements are perceived differently by Alzheimer’s patients than the normal person. I think that was partly what was going on there. Maybe a car swerving in traffic would fit in that category. Thus, his agitation on the freeway earlier. But, without getting into medical analysis, which I can’t do, let’s look at relationships. When a person begins to suspect that there is a new reality (onset of Alzheimer’s), it ought to be checked out. If there is a bad relationship to begin with, such as unforgiveness between people, the moment a person doesn’t measure up becomes a moment to seize on. “He’s so uptight!” “Why doesn’t she enjoy life more?!” This situation is like what happens when a family has substance abuse in one or more members. The entire family system is often dysfunctional and the “disease” can exacerbate this. What are some key faith and relationship issues?
Unbelief and fear are related. Faith is a matter of trusting – that Jesus Christ really came from heaven, entered our history, died to atone for humankind’s sin and reconcile us to God. The God factor is everything, because He’s the one who made us for relationships. Through a right relationship with Him, we have meaning, peace, and security. He created us in His image. But if we continue alienated from Him, we live in guilt, fear and insecurity. There’s no way to keep from “transferring” those feelings onto the people we are closest to. Especially when pressures like Alzheimer’s, substance abuse, or money problems arise.
And even when reconciliation is effected, as long as one lives in the temporal sphere, there will still be unresolved things such as pain, loneliness and mystery. These, of course, can be met by the grace of God for the believer. But for the unbeliever, there must be alternative routes to resolve them. Blaming and shaming are things we all tend to fall back on, as opposed to trusting God and seeking His will for solutions. Those are two extremely different approaches. And, any honest “believer” would admit that he often fails and falls back into blaming and shaming. That’s why we write into our worship liturgies things called “confession of sin”. We don’t always live up to our calling and need renewal through daily forgiveness.
Back to some concrete terms. If your mother has dementia and is approaching death – certainly the death of relationships as you have known them – who will take care of her emotionally? When she’s fearful how can you reassure her? When the caregiver who’s paid below minimum wage and doesn’t speak English well has duty in the middle of the night, how well will things go? Do you feel guilty for letting things get to this point? Do you have someone to talk to about your pressures? I’m often reminding myself in pastoral work that the caregiver needs care! This person can easily get overlooked.
As Dad’s condition worsened he went into a nursing home. The second and final caregiving situation had a specialized Alzheimer’s unit. Toward the end of this nine month period, we had to commit him to a “gero-psych” evaluation. This was discouraging. He had always been healthy and strong, and because he was on the razor’s edge of being aware of things, he resisted them the intake people. He didn’t understand why they were putting him in a wheelchair, nor did he know why all the strange people were handling him while we were backing away. He got excited and resisted. From their point of view, he was making things difficult. Drugs were their answer. I felt like I was observing “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in real life.
After this things settled down and we found a nursing home ten miles from my mother. Her decision to commit him to the unit had been precipitated by months of tussling with him and cleaning up in the wake of incontinence problems. I would have absolutely hated to go and visit him and just stare at the wall without much conversation. In the second nursing care situation I became “that nice guy”. He didn’t know my name or who exactly I was.
And then music came in handy. He had taught me chords on the piano, paid for my music lessons, and had driven me to them countless times, as had my mother. Now I dug out the guitar, and had the nursing home tuck his trumpet in a hall closet where I could quickly grab it during visits. Boy was I glad for the Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey hits that he had taught me! We both played them by memory. The old favorite hymns came back too. I kept a list of song titles in my wallet and in the guitar case.
Somehow, I suppose, God made our brains with an easy access for music. It seems that information tied to music, rhythm, and movement lasts longer than some other strictly cognitive things. This is not scientifically precise on my part, but I have observed it firsthand too many times to pass it off. What a blessing. We had many song sessions together and he didn’t even know my name. I also saw him reacting with simple glee when someone brought in a cat to the lobby. When you get older do you again enjoy the simple things like little animals and little children because you’re no longer busy keeping that pressurized schedule – and you’re unable to do the “treadmill”?
Back to relationships and our spiritual life: A close family friend named Cliff once said he wanted to write a book called Flowers are For the Living. He never got to it, but his concern was that we too often wait till our loved ones die to talk about what great people they were. Tell and show them while they’re still alive! I’m glad I was able to give Dad a shave and wash his face once. I’m glad I could push him in a wheelchair a few times. It was on a sunny sidewalk in Redmond, a block from the Microsoft campus. I sang, prayed, and recited scriptures aloud on that spring day. It was a way to “connect.” Had I not forgiven him – had he not forgiven me – whatever needed forgiving, we would have had a roadblock in our relationship. But because God actually entered our history, and we both take that seriously, there was a sizzling reality to this whole eternal life promise. So an ugly thing like Alzheimer’s enters the picture. You push through it, and the damned thing won’t have the last word. The Lord of the empty grave will! When you can’t keep yourself together, He can – and will. And He’s promised to call us out of our graves just like He did to Lazarus. That’s where the rubber meets the road.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Heaven Is A Big Deal
I hear that many people aren’t terribly interested in going to heaven. They think it’s either sitting on fluffy clouds and being bored, or it’s just a theory that really has no substance.
I hear that there are even Christians that don’t look forward to it because they basically think the same thing! (Check out this link: http://www.epm.org/store/product/heaven/ )
This is a real problem.
Heaven is all about having a living, vibrant relationship with God through Jesus Christ. So the whole matter all stands or falls with the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. If you’re a Christian, look carefully at what I’m going to say, because if you’re skeptical about heaven, these thoughts might help. If you’re not religious, or you have a different belief, check out some things you may have never seen. Consider carefully the following:
Jesus of Nazareth was a true historical person.
Jesus often said things that made people either angry or confused. My point is that if you haven’t studied the New Testament writings, you’re likely basing your notions of him on ignorance. You might be buying into the foolish notion that he merely taught people to love one another.
Jesus taught that there is a hell where people will be forever cut off from the possibility of heaven or paradise.
Jesus taught that he was the one and only Messiah, who could rescue people from being separated from God, and literally give them a free pass into heaven. (This very idea, of course, offends many people, but you can’t escape it in the documents that witness to his words and deeds.)
Even though he never said the words, “I am God”, many things Jesus said were tantamount to his making this claim.
The miracles he did, the courage he showed in the face of evil, and the compassion he demonstrated toward the downtrodden, consistently demonstrated his absolute uniqueness in the human family. (He was sine qua non – without peer.)
The idea here is to begin to lay a foundation of truth about Jesus Christ and the meaning of life. God created you and me “in his image”. The first couple, Adam and Eve, had a wonderful relationship with God in what we might call the “first heaven – the first paradise”, the garden of Eden. But a severe break in this blissful friendship took place! And with that breakup came disease, doubt, fear, guilt, estrangement and much more. In a word, man was cut off from this first heaven. Guess what happened.
God Knew the Need and Made a Plan
One of the very first things that happened was that God addressed the truth of this evil. And almost in the same breath He began to plant in Adam’s and Eve’s minds that their “heaven” could be restored. That’s the meaning of the words in Genesis 3:15. (Immediately God gets down to business with a positive, healing plan.) It was, admittedly, a shadowy promise, And even though they didn’t comprehend it then, His word was given. And it began to actually take fleshly substance when an animal was sacrificed for the man and his wife to have clothing! A life had to be taken in order to restore life. Sin and separation were attached with a cost. This “foreshadowed” the sacrifice of a Life in the future that would have infinitely more value than an animal. This future sacrifice would re-open Paradise and Heaven, but that wouldn’t be understood for quite some time.
There is much that could be said about how God called Abraham and gave him the covenant promise. We could speak of Moses, the tabernacle sacrifices and the Ten Commandments. But meanwhile, you’re wondering about Heaven.
Sin Separates
In this “fallen world” man’s sin separates him from God and Heaven. The door to paradise got locked tight. And we got “locked up” too: humanity became wrapped in the iron chains of sin, death, and the devil! We were imprisoned by sin, slaves to our lusts. (Some of the liturgies help us confess this in its manifold aspect: “We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed.”)
Jesus is the Key for Reconciliation
Jesus was somewhat like the sacrificial animal that had to be given up. He was the great “Lamb” of God, the life God put forward as the answer to our spiritual death. Jesus was the key to unlocking heaven.
God sent His Son, Jesus the Messiah, into the world at the right time, the Bible says. Why did He wait so long? We have some answers to that, but the main thing is – its good for us He did send Him, because Jesus’ death blasted open the gates to Heaven! And now when people look to the solution God put out there instead of their own self-made utopias and nirvanas, what a powerful and amazing thing they discover!
Heaven opened up when Jesus died. The curtain of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was torn in two, symbolizing what really happened: man could have friendship with God again! And when Jesus burst out of the tomb on the first “Easter”, people saw him and gave their eyewitness accounts (see the NT documents). But guess what else! Not only was the transcendent Heaven open to “mortals.” He brought heaven down to us. It became as close as the nose on your face. How could that possibly be – you say? Read on.
You might recall that Jesus not only healed people, cast out demons and pronounced the forgiveness of sins, but he taught a lot about “the kingdom of God”, and “the kingdom of Heaven.” These phrases are constantly cropping up in the gospel accounts!
Blessed are those who recognize their spiritual poverty, because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for standing up for the right thing. The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.
Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Be sure that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in Heaven their angels always are gazing at the face of my Father who is in Heaven.
And then he blasted some with this: “Woe to you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who want to enter to go in!
Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit from Heaven as the “guarantee” that those who trust God and follow Christ will actually inherit all the great things he promises. Those who look to God’s solution to the great calamity (sin and the fall from grace) get the Holy Spirit to actually live in their bodies. Now, the Holy Spirit is only one. There are a lot of spirits but only one Holy Spirit. And if the Holy Spirit lives in you and you trust the God of Heaven, you get God, and you get Heaven. (After you die, Christ will raise you from the dead and welcome you into eternal bliss with Him at the exact time the Father has determined.) And this is especially great for those who suffer a lot on earth for the name of Christ. It does not go unnoticed by Him who sees all things.
The Final Sorting Out
So – heaven is coming – as truly as Jesus is coming in judgment, and every eye will see him and all the tribes will wail and moan because they’ll wish they had listened.
And when He comes in power and glory – “on the clouds of heaven” – with billions of people seeing Him at the same moment, He will judge all the nations. Every single solitary person will parade in front of him and He will separate them out, like a shepherd sorting out sheep from goats.
To some He’ll say, “Enter this fabulous paradise I’ve prepared for you. Enter my joy. You haven’t seen the half of it. I’ve been looking forward to having you as my special guest for all of eternity.” My friend, that’s going to be Paradise to an exponential degree. And the best of it will be that we will always be with this One who gave everything up so that we could live.
And then, yes unfortunately, there will be the other side of the matter. He will say to many, “Depart from me. I never knew you. We weren’t friends before; we aren’t friends now. There’s another place for you, a place of eternal torment.”
Stumbling or Building
Now if that sounds offensive, it is. The problem is, things can be both offensive and true at the same time. That’s what Jesus Christ is. Some people stumble over him. Others build upon him and get Paradise and Heaven. Because not only is He offensive and true. He is also good.
If you’re riding the fence of indecision, jump off it and get into His camp. Ultimately there is no fence, only a dividing line.
I hear that there are even Christians that don’t look forward to it because they basically think the same thing! (Check out this link: http://www.epm.org/store/product/heaven/ )
This is a real problem.
Heaven is all about having a living, vibrant relationship with God through Jesus Christ. So the whole matter all stands or falls with the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. If you’re a Christian, look carefully at what I’m going to say, because if you’re skeptical about heaven, these thoughts might help. If you’re not religious, or you have a different belief, check out some things you may have never seen. Consider carefully the following:
Jesus of Nazareth was a true historical person.
Jesus often said things that made people either angry or confused. My point is that if you haven’t studied the New Testament writings, you’re likely basing your notions of him on ignorance. You might be buying into the foolish notion that he merely taught people to love one another.
Jesus taught that there is a hell where people will be forever cut off from the possibility of heaven or paradise.
Jesus taught that he was the one and only Messiah, who could rescue people from being separated from God, and literally give them a free pass into heaven. (This very idea, of course, offends many people, but you can’t escape it in the documents that witness to his words and deeds.)
Even though he never said the words, “I am God”, many things Jesus said were tantamount to his making this claim.
The miracles he did, the courage he showed in the face of evil, and the compassion he demonstrated toward the downtrodden, consistently demonstrated his absolute uniqueness in the human family. (He was sine qua non – without peer.)
The idea here is to begin to lay a foundation of truth about Jesus Christ and the meaning of life. God created you and me “in his image”. The first couple, Adam and Eve, had a wonderful relationship with God in what we might call the “first heaven – the first paradise”, the garden of Eden. But a severe break in this blissful friendship took place! And with that breakup came disease, doubt, fear, guilt, estrangement and much more. In a word, man was cut off from this first heaven. Guess what happened.
God Knew the Need and Made a Plan
One of the very first things that happened was that God addressed the truth of this evil. And almost in the same breath He began to plant in Adam’s and Eve’s minds that their “heaven” could be restored. That’s the meaning of the words in Genesis 3:15. (Immediately God gets down to business with a positive, healing plan.) It was, admittedly, a shadowy promise, And even though they didn’t comprehend it then, His word was given. And it began to actually take fleshly substance when an animal was sacrificed for the man and his wife to have clothing! A life had to be taken in order to restore life. Sin and separation were attached with a cost. This “foreshadowed” the sacrifice of a Life in the future that would have infinitely more value than an animal. This future sacrifice would re-open Paradise and Heaven, but that wouldn’t be understood for quite some time.
There is much that could be said about how God called Abraham and gave him the covenant promise. We could speak of Moses, the tabernacle sacrifices and the Ten Commandments. But meanwhile, you’re wondering about Heaven.
Sin Separates
In this “fallen world” man’s sin separates him from God and Heaven. The door to paradise got locked tight. And we got “locked up” too: humanity became wrapped in the iron chains of sin, death, and the devil! We were imprisoned by sin, slaves to our lusts. (Some of the liturgies help us confess this in its manifold aspect: “We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed.”)
Jesus is the Key for Reconciliation
Jesus was somewhat like the sacrificial animal that had to be given up. He was the great “Lamb” of God, the life God put forward as the answer to our spiritual death. Jesus was the key to unlocking heaven.
God sent His Son, Jesus the Messiah, into the world at the right time, the Bible says. Why did He wait so long? We have some answers to that, but the main thing is – its good for us He did send Him, because Jesus’ death blasted open the gates to Heaven! And now when people look to the solution God put out there instead of their own self-made utopias and nirvanas, what a powerful and amazing thing they discover!
Heaven opened up when Jesus died. The curtain of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was torn in two, symbolizing what really happened: man could have friendship with God again! And when Jesus burst out of the tomb on the first “Easter”, people saw him and gave their eyewitness accounts (see the NT documents). But guess what else! Not only was the transcendent Heaven open to “mortals.” He brought heaven down to us. It became as close as the nose on your face. How could that possibly be – you say? Read on.
You might recall that Jesus not only healed people, cast out demons and pronounced the forgiveness of sins, but he taught a lot about “the kingdom of God”, and “the kingdom of Heaven.” These phrases are constantly cropping up in the gospel accounts!
Blessed are those who recognize their spiritual poverty, because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for standing up for the right thing. The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.
Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Be sure that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in Heaven their angels always are gazing at the face of my Father who is in Heaven.
And then he blasted some with this: “Woe to you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who want to enter to go in!
Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit from Heaven as the “guarantee” that those who trust God and follow Christ will actually inherit all the great things he promises. Those who look to God’s solution to the great calamity (sin and the fall from grace) get the Holy Spirit to actually live in their bodies. Now, the Holy Spirit is only one. There are a lot of spirits but only one Holy Spirit. And if the Holy Spirit lives in you and you trust the God of Heaven, you get God, and you get Heaven. (After you die, Christ will raise you from the dead and welcome you into eternal bliss with Him at the exact time the Father has determined.) And this is especially great for those who suffer a lot on earth for the name of Christ. It does not go unnoticed by Him who sees all things.
The Final Sorting Out
So – heaven is coming – as truly as Jesus is coming in judgment, and every eye will see him and all the tribes will wail and moan because they’ll wish they had listened.
And when He comes in power and glory – “on the clouds of heaven” – with billions of people seeing Him at the same moment, He will judge all the nations. Every single solitary person will parade in front of him and He will separate them out, like a shepherd sorting out sheep from goats.
To some He’ll say, “Enter this fabulous paradise I’ve prepared for you. Enter my joy. You haven’t seen the half of it. I’ve been looking forward to having you as my special guest for all of eternity.” My friend, that’s going to be Paradise to an exponential degree. And the best of it will be that we will always be with this One who gave everything up so that we could live.
And then, yes unfortunately, there will be the other side of the matter. He will say to many, “Depart from me. I never knew you. We weren’t friends before; we aren’t friends now. There’s another place for you, a place of eternal torment.”
Stumbling or Building
Now if that sounds offensive, it is. The problem is, things can be both offensive and true at the same time. That’s what Jesus Christ is. Some people stumble over him. Others build upon him and get Paradise and Heaven. Because not only is He offensive and true. He is also good.
If you’re riding the fence of indecision, jump off it and get into His camp. Ultimately there is no fence, only a dividing line.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
For Friends Who Helped Send Me to Ukraine
I had a wonderful trip to Ukraine. Thanks very much for your support and prayers. Dave Huck and Scott Erdahl were travel and ministry partners, and that made it great too.
My back, which is sometimes tight on long trips, felt great. And the weather was wonderful. Ukraine is a great place; God seems to be working in a special way there. I think I’m learning bit by bit to watch for the areas God is already at work, and to join Him (as opposed to trying to “make things happen on my own”). Anyway, the Bible School and Seminary in Zaporozhye continues to move ahead. We commissioned a team of young people to travel to Kazakhstan, where several of these same people had previously been arrested!
I taught a class of 5 men and 3 women on the book of Galatians. They seemed appreciative. I taught three sessions a day for 9 days, and we had time for questions and comments. My interpreter was fluent, and I never had to worry whether the true sense was getting through. Once it was sort of funny, because I felt that one of the young women was misunderstanding a crucial point. I quizzed her on it right there. She sat near the front. As I zoomed in, a friend next to her whispered an answer to get her off the hook. It was just like back in junior high. I wanted to chuckle at the thought of it, but I pressed through and made sure she answered for herself and got the clarification necessary.
On the fourth day I tried to navigate the public transportation after classes and find my way back to the apartment without help. I thought – I think I can do this. But I got off one stop too soon. Whoops. All the apartment buildings tend to look the same. The weather was beautiful, so here was this American strolling down one long block after another, doing his best to look as if he was just enjoying a walk. Finally something familiar came into view – the long park across from our apartment. But it seemed like I was on a different end of it than what I was used to seeing. So I quickened my pace and walked toward the other end. Halfway down I recognized a statue and saw how to put the puzzle into place. I crossed the park and reversed my direction for a few yards. Presto, I was home.
O well. The big adventure was the joy of meeting brothers and sisters on the other side of the world who know and love Jesus Christ. What a privilege to share the Bread of Life with them. Scott was faithful traversing the city, connecting with men on mentoring relationships he had begun the year before. He would often drag in late at night, tired. But the next day he was ready for more. Dave was construction man. The school’s twin building, right next to where I taught, received accelerated wiring with his help – a beautiful 5 story solid concrete structure. (see picture above.)
The city straddles the Dnieper River, and a large hydroelectric dam churns out power for the region, which even (unfortunately) Hitler made use of when he took over when the Nazis occupied. A large statue of Lenin stands in a park near the river. A museum nearby displayed for us the wars and conflicts the region has endured. Church services draw more older women than men. The communists kept the men working in the factories. Living conditions are improving physically in Ukraine, but there is great need to spread the gospel to a new generation.
As we drove to the airport to leave, the wind kicked up a lot of air pollution. My heart went out to those who must live there. They are pretty monolithic ethnically, and they have a pride in their region and language. Yet they imitate the West, as do so many cultures, and unless they hear the gospel, which of course, didn’t originate with us, they will imitate us with all the mixture of values we have here! Let’s encourage one another to stay close to God, be doers of the Word and not hearers only…and keep supporting missions as the Holy Spirit directs.
By the way, did you see the Wall Street Journal Friday, July 2? A column with a title something like “Houses of Worship” regularly appears. The writer said, “Some churches are really into doing missions these days by offering a helping hand and not being too preachy…but the church needs to remember to do both. To bring God’s Word and offer that helping hand” [my paraphrase of his comment]. Sometimes we get good reminders even through a “secular” rag.
My back, which is sometimes tight on long trips, felt great. And the weather was wonderful. Ukraine is a great place; God seems to be working in a special way there. I think I’m learning bit by bit to watch for the areas God is already at work, and to join Him (as opposed to trying to “make things happen on my own”). Anyway, the Bible School and Seminary in Zaporozhye continues to move ahead. We commissioned a team of young people to travel to Kazakhstan, where several of these same people had previously been arrested!
I taught a class of 5 men and 3 women on the book of Galatians. They seemed appreciative. I taught three sessions a day for 9 days, and we had time for questions and comments. My interpreter was fluent, and I never had to worry whether the true sense was getting through. Once it was sort of funny, because I felt that one of the young women was misunderstanding a crucial point. I quizzed her on it right there. She sat near the front. As I zoomed in, a friend next to her whispered an answer to get her off the hook. It was just like back in junior high. I wanted to chuckle at the thought of it, but I pressed through and made sure she answered for herself and got the clarification necessary.
On the fourth day I tried to navigate the public transportation after classes and find my way back to the apartment without help. I thought – I think I can do this. But I got off one stop too soon. Whoops. All the apartment buildings tend to look the same. The weather was beautiful, so here was this American strolling down one long block after another, doing his best to look as if he was just enjoying a walk. Finally something familiar came into view – the long park across from our apartment. But it seemed like I was on a different end of it than what I was used to seeing. So I quickened my pace and walked toward the other end. Halfway down I recognized a statue and saw how to put the puzzle into place. I crossed the park and reversed my direction for a few yards. Presto, I was home.
O well. The big adventure was the joy of meeting brothers and sisters on the other side of the world who know and love Jesus Christ. What a privilege to share the Bread of Life with them. Scott was faithful traversing the city, connecting with men on mentoring relationships he had begun the year before. He would often drag in late at night, tired. But the next day he was ready for more. Dave was construction man. The school’s twin building, right next to where I taught, received accelerated wiring with his help – a beautiful 5 story solid concrete structure. (see picture above.)
The city straddles the Dnieper River, and a large hydroelectric dam churns out power for the region, which even (unfortunately) Hitler made use of when he took over when the Nazis occupied. A large statue of Lenin stands in a park near the river. A museum nearby displayed for us the wars and conflicts the region has endured. Church services draw more older women than men. The communists kept the men working in the factories. Living conditions are improving physically in Ukraine, but there is great need to spread the gospel to a new generation.
As we drove to the airport to leave, the wind kicked up a lot of air pollution. My heart went out to those who must live there. They are pretty monolithic ethnically, and they have a pride in their region and language. Yet they imitate the West, as do so many cultures, and unless they hear the gospel, which of course, didn’t originate with us, they will imitate us with all the mixture of values we have here! Let’s encourage one another to stay close to God, be doers of the Word and not hearers only…and keep supporting missions as the Holy Spirit directs.
By the way, did you see the Wall Street Journal Friday, July 2? A column with a title something like “Houses of Worship” regularly appears. The writer said, “Some churches are really into doing missions these days by offering a helping hand and not being too preachy…but the church needs to remember to do both. To bring God’s Word and offer that helping hand” [my paraphrase of his comment]. Sometimes we get good reminders even through a “secular” rag.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Have You Heard the Good News?
1. You are very special because you are created in the image of God. You are made by God, for his glory. (Genesis 1:1; Eph. 1:3-5). You and I can’t find our meaning when we look first to our own mind and reasoning. We find the real purpose and peace and security when we realize that we are “created by the Creator”. He made us so that we can know Him, belong to Him, enjoy Him and His creation, and serve our neighbor according to God’s will.
2. God loves you. “God is love,” the Bible teaches. That’s His very nature. The 4th point of this outline explains that further. But for the moment, to make a simple illustration, if you were to squeeze an orange, orange juice would come out. You would not get apple juice or tomato juice. You’d get orange juice, because that’s the nature of the fruit. Thus, when you “squeeze” God, or when you investigate God further, you will always see love, because that’s one of the key things about Him. There are other things, such as creative power. But, since there is a universal longing for love and acceptance and life, it’s important to know that the God who created you also loves you.
3. The “world” is currently at odds with God. There is much “disharmony” in the universe. The Bible simply agrees with what we see: In the midst of the wonder of creation, there is also much tragedy. In the beginning of the Bible (the 3rd chapter of Genesis), we see that the first people – Adam and Eve – fell out of favor with God. They did this by transgressing boundaries He had clearly laid out. And even before they disobeyed, the unseen angelic powers had their own rebellion. Their chief led Adam and Eve into rebellion. Since that day, weeds grow in gardens, people die, and mankind lives in a strange mix of good and evil. Every person born inherits this situation. This “sin” is a condition of our human nature, an attitude of the heart, and an open rebellion. Many even declare the God of the Bible to be a sinner – “its all His fault because He let it happen”. Thus they write off the whole matter and move on to their own self-made philosophies. But f you are willing to investigate the person the Bible puts forward as the “solution” to all this, you will be surprised, and even pleasantly drawn into to a new viewpoint beyond your imagining. Take a look.
4. Jesus Christ is the one the Bible puts forward as the solution to all this. Learn as much about Him as you possibly can. The “New Testament” writings, originally in Greek, are the historically solid testimony. These aren’t fabricated religious writings. The come directly out of the soil of history. Their credibility is solid. Take it or leave it. But it would be foolish to drop the matter here. The “Law and Prophets and Writings” of the Hebrew Bible foretold of Jesus’ coming. He appeared on the stage of history when the time was right, and lived an amazing life. He was born of a Jewish mother, and most people presumed Joseph was his father. But it was a miraculous conception, because the Holy Spirit of God caused Mary to conceive as a virgin. Jesus did miracles, healed people, raised the dead, and cast out evil spirits. When he taught, people were astonished at his authority. He was a threat to the powers, religious and secular, Jewish and Roman. They put him on a cross and executed him. It later became apparent that even though “they” did it, the sins of all people of all time made it necessary that this one should die for all. Jesus was the “sacrificial lamb.” He died for you. He died for me. And He did it so that we wouldn’t have to taste death in any long-term sense. He even died to restore harmony to the entire creation. Those who trust Him and accept what He offers by way of forgiveness are transferred from this world of decay into a new citizenship. With this new status, all who trust Jesus the Christ and submit to Him are guaranteed to overcome the guilt, fear, shame, and ultimately, the grave. The Bible also makes it clear that those who rebel against Christ must give an accounting to Him at the final judgment. He will be a fearful judge for some on that day, and not a savior.
5. So then, I have given you the Good News. If you’ve ever heard the word “gospel”, this is what it means. The “gospel message” is the “Good News” that Jesus Christ comes with the gift of life to a despairing and rebelling world. He offers it to you as you hear or read this. Life. Peace. An eternal family, with Him and His goodness at the center. Read the New Testament and check it out for yourself. Then also read the Old Testament, where the stage is set for His coming. If you have trouble reading long things, ask someone to help you. Many people will help. Receive Christ into your heart and into the center of your life. Forsake your self-centered, prideful living. It’s useless. It will end in death – eternal death, away from God and away from any possibility of joy, peace and life. Now is time – then will be eternity. Forsake your foolish pride. Sure, you’ve done many good things, but so has everybody. You’re no different. All you good works are good. But they don’t guarantee you eternal life, because on judgment day, your evil works and “hidden” attitudes and deeds will become visible. (ouch) Why live in fear of that? Why pretend that it won’t happen? It will
As far as other belief systems are concerned, of course there are many. But you always must compare the person and work of Jesus Christ with them. Which of them takes reality into account as does Christ and the Bible? As to the meaning of evil, there are difficult questions. But the one who did those mighty works and said those astounding things is the same one who went to the cross for you and for me. He is not far; he is near.
So there I’ve given it to you. Jesus, the Christ is amazing. Receive Him – now. He’s looking at you, because you can’t hide from God. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. Be reconciled to God. Call on the name of Jesus. Then go tell someone. And begin to get help from a Christian friend or a pastor or Bible teacher to help you grow. You’ve just begun the Great Adventure. It won’t be easy, but it will be very, very good.
2. God loves you. “God is love,” the Bible teaches. That’s His very nature. The 4th point of this outline explains that further. But for the moment, to make a simple illustration, if you were to squeeze an orange, orange juice would come out. You would not get apple juice or tomato juice. You’d get orange juice, because that’s the nature of the fruit. Thus, when you “squeeze” God, or when you investigate God further, you will always see love, because that’s one of the key things about Him. There are other things, such as creative power. But, since there is a universal longing for love and acceptance and life, it’s important to know that the God who created you also loves you.
3. The “world” is currently at odds with God. There is much “disharmony” in the universe. The Bible simply agrees with what we see: In the midst of the wonder of creation, there is also much tragedy. In the beginning of the Bible (the 3rd chapter of Genesis), we see that the first people – Adam and Eve – fell out of favor with God. They did this by transgressing boundaries He had clearly laid out. And even before they disobeyed, the unseen angelic powers had their own rebellion. Their chief led Adam and Eve into rebellion. Since that day, weeds grow in gardens, people die, and mankind lives in a strange mix of good and evil. Every person born inherits this situation. This “sin” is a condition of our human nature, an attitude of the heart, and an open rebellion. Many even declare the God of the Bible to be a sinner – “its all His fault because He let it happen”. Thus they write off the whole matter and move on to their own self-made philosophies. But f you are willing to investigate the person the Bible puts forward as the “solution” to all this, you will be surprised, and even pleasantly drawn into to a new viewpoint beyond your imagining. Take a look.
4. Jesus Christ is the one the Bible puts forward as the solution to all this. Learn as much about Him as you possibly can. The “New Testament” writings, originally in Greek, are the historically solid testimony. These aren’t fabricated religious writings. The come directly out of the soil of history. Their credibility is solid. Take it or leave it. But it would be foolish to drop the matter here. The “Law and Prophets and Writings” of the Hebrew Bible foretold of Jesus’ coming. He appeared on the stage of history when the time was right, and lived an amazing life. He was born of a Jewish mother, and most people presumed Joseph was his father. But it was a miraculous conception, because the Holy Spirit of God caused Mary to conceive as a virgin. Jesus did miracles, healed people, raised the dead, and cast out evil spirits. When he taught, people were astonished at his authority. He was a threat to the powers, religious and secular, Jewish and Roman. They put him on a cross and executed him. It later became apparent that even though “they” did it, the sins of all people of all time made it necessary that this one should die for all. Jesus was the “sacrificial lamb.” He died for you. He died for me. And He did it so that we wouldn’t have to taste death in any long-term sense. He even died to restore harmony to the entire creation. Those who trust Him and accept what He offers by way of forgiveness are transferred from this world of decay into a new citizenship. With this new status, all who trust Jesus the Christ and submit to Him are guaranteed to overcome the guilt, fear, shame, and ultimately, the grave. The Bible also makes it clear that those who rebel against Christ must give an accounting to Him at the final judgment. He will be a fearful judge for some on that day, and not a savior.
5. So then, I have given you the Good News. If you’ve ever heard the word “gospel”, this is what it means. The “gospel message” is the “Good News” that Jesus Christ comes with the gift of life to a despairing and rebelling world. He offers it to you as you hear or read this. Life. Peace. An eternal family, with Him and His goodness at the center. Read the New Testament and check it out for yourself. Then also read the Old Testament, where the stage is set for His coming. If you have trouble reading long things, ask someone to help you. Many people will help. Receive Christ into your heart and into the center of your life. Forsake your self-centered, prideful living. It’s useless. It will end in death – eternal death, away from God and away from any possibility of joy, peace and life. Now is time – then will be eternity. Forsake your foolish pride. Sure, you’ve done many good things, but so has everybody. You’re no different. All you good works are good. But they don’t guarantee you eternal life, because on judgment day, your evil works and “hidden” attitudes and deeds will become visible. (ouch) Why live in fear of that? Why pretend that it won’t happen? It will
As far as other belief systems are concerned, of course there are many. But you always must compare the person and work of Jesus Christ with them. Which of them takes reality into account as does Christ and the Bible? As to the meaning of evil, there are difficult questions. But the one who did those mighty works and said those astounding things is the same one who went to the cross for you and for me. He is not far; he is near.
So there I’ve given it to you. Jesus, the Christ is amazing. Receive Him – now. He’s looking at you, because you can’t hide from God. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. Be reconciled to God. Call on the name of Jesus. Then go tell someone. And begin to get help from a Christian friend or a pastor or Bible teacher to help you grow. You’ve just begun the Great Adventure. It won’t be easy, but it will be very, very good.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Good News is Out in Ukraine, Too!
I got to travel to Ukraine for the second time in two years. Last time it was in the west, this time in the east. The western part is more favorable to returning to Ukranian as the official language. There they also do not favor Moscow generally. In the east (I was at Zaporozhye, where Hitler took over the city for a while, and torched it when he left), its just the opposite. Here the people prefer Russian language, and are more open to rapprochement with the big boys up north.
But all that is too much for me. I was "just" there for kingdom business. And of course, that was a joy. I was sent by my home congregation, Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church in Seattle, and had two great travelling partners, Scott and Dave. I taught two weeks on the NT book of Galatians, with 3 lectures per day. There were eight students, three women and five men, and they love to study the Word. Galatians is the "mini-Bible" on Christian freedom, and it assists with clarifying law and grace.(The law identifies and magnifies sin; the grace of Christ saves us from it. Study Galatians again if it's been awhile for you!)
But all that is too much for me. I was "just" there for kingdom business. And of course, that was a joy. I was sent by my home congregation, Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church in Seattle, and had two great travelling partners, Scott and Dave. I taught two weeks on the NT book of Galatians, with 3 lectures per day. There were eight students, three women and five men, and they love to study the Word. Galatians is the "mini-Bible" on Christian freedom, and it assists with clarifying law and grace.(The law identifies and magnifies sin; the grace of Christ saves us from it. Study Galatians again if it's been awhile for you!)
The weather was beautiful over there in late April and early May. A couple of outings were memorable. We saw the huge hydroelectric dam on the Dnieper River one day. Another day we visited a Russian Orthodox church and saw a group of worshipers as they were finishing up a baptismal service. They say that the use of icons in the eastern orthodox church helps teach spiritual principles and Biblical stories. The facial features are all the same; they're not meant to be uniuque. Other aspects of each icon bring out the biblical message, whether baptism, the death of Christ, his resurrection, or whatever. Maybe we can learn from this ancient art form which, at its best, is meant to use art to point to God, as opposed to using art to point to the art itself or to the artist!
We also visited a Cossack Museum on an island in the huge Dnieper River. It was well done, though tough-slogging trying to read labels on large murals, statues and weaponry - all written in Russian! There has been a lot of war and conflict over that territory over the years. This country, the former "breadbasket of the Soviet Union," is farther east than most of eastern Europe, actually closer to what we call "central Asia".
As with other parts of the world, the human mind there has had shackles put on it by governments, illiteracy in previous centuries, and finally the same force you and I are subject to in a fallen world: sin and Satan. But because of the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf, freedom can be proclaimed in his name to all who will hear. We prayed for a youth team that was returning to Kazakstan, after having been there on Christian outreach, and after experiencing the imprisonment of several team members. (I believe they were released within a week or so.) But they wanted to return and do a day camp for children, teaching them the gospel through song, puppets, and other means. For them, shackles are a possibility, but they know, with scripture, "the Word of God is not chained!" (2 Tim. 2:9) The Word of God is not in prison and never will be. That's why you and I must speak it and make it clear, as we ought. (Eph. 6:20)
Speaking of making the Word clear, and speaking boldly, watch for a blog in the future on the "doctrine of the 2 kingdoms", or "the limits of secular and spiritual authority". Many believers these days teeter on the ragged edge of confusing these things. As long as they do, their witness is muddled and compromised.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Did Pat Robertson Overstep Again? Haiti's Heartache
A friend wrote an email today mentioning Pat Robertson and his comments on Haiti, which seems to be hitting the media - YouTube and such. I wrote him back with words like this:
We discussed Pat Robertson briefly at a Pastor’s meeting at a neighboring church this morning. It seems to me that the issue there is not that he pointed out sin, but that – as far as the video clips show – he didn’t make an intentional and special effort at making the gospel clear in the same breath. That’s the huge issue for me, and I believe it is with the Holy Spirit.
The law of God is absolutely necessary. It shows us that we fall short, we rebel etc. But when you’re down for the count, you’re desperate for good news, for rescue. There are likely many deeply hurting people in Haiti right now. The Christian (whether Robertson, or you or me) is beholden to be truthful about law, but also very eager to bring a word of hope, that Jesus Christ loves people and wants to bring them grace.
(In Haiti some of the obvious sins include Voodo. In America, we've got a pile of them, too. Paul said the sins of some are obvious, and the sins of others may not be as visible, but will "follow after them." [I Tim. 5:24] I think America's sins are starting to catch up with us. God doesn't miss anything.)
As we speak there are probably thousands of Christians responding with gifts of money, medicine, clothing, food, - and even going there themselves to assist. Let’s pray that God will be honored. This is what Paul meant when he referred to behavior which adorns the gospel. (Living Bible paraphrases it like this: “…[to] make people want to believe in our Savior and God.” (Titus 2:10)
We discussed Pat Robertson briefly at a Pastor’s meeting at a neighboring church this morning. It seems to me that the issue there is not that he pointed out sin, but that – as far as the video clips show – he didn’t make an intentional and special effort at making the gospel clear in the same breath. That’s the huge issue for me, and I believe it is with the Holy Spirit.
The law of God is absolutely necessary. It shows us that we fall short, we rebel etc. But when you’re down for the count, you’re desperate for good news, for rescue. There are likely many deeply hurting people in Haiti right now. The Christian (whether Robertson, or you or me) is beholden to be truthful about law, but also very eager to bring a word of hope, that Jesus Christ loves people and wants to bring them grace.
(In Haiti some of the obvious sins include Voodo. In America, we've got a pile of them, too. Paul said the sins of some are obvious, and the sins of others may not be as visible, but will "follow after them." [I Tim. 5:24] I think America's sins are starting to catch up with us. God doesn't miss anything.)
As we speak there are probably thousands of Christians responding with gifts of money, medicine, clothing, food, - and even going there themselves to assist. Let’s pray that God will be honored. This is what Paul meant when he referred to behavior which adorns the gospel. (Living Bible paraphrases it like this: “…[to] make people want to believe in our Savior and God.” (Titus 2:10)
Monday, January 4, 2010
Need Help Getting Serious About Bible Study?
I heard the Bible read by my Dad around the dinner table when I grew up. I even started reading in on my own and praying when I was young. Those experiences are so important to me now that I would never want to minimize them.
There are a few things that I have learned since then, though, that you might want to look at. If you're having a hard time going further with Bible study and your relationship with the Lord, check this out. These two go together.
Since your time is valuable, and my ideas are more clear when I'm brief, I will try to be clear and brief. The thoughts here are first about the "mechanics" of Bible study and reading and then about the spirit of the thing.
Here are the mechanics (for lack of a better word.) You need a regular place and a regular time. My time is the morning after I wake up enough and get a bit of hot coffee nearby. Life is changeable, so these things will change, but morning and coffee work for me. Find out what works for you. The place that works for me is our study, down one room from the bedroom. I can shut the door when necessary and tune out the radio that someone else sometimes has on in the bathroom. I always need a pen. You do too. Don't go to your regular Bible reading and prayer without a pen, because you want to underline or circle things that stand out to you. You may want to write a question mark or exclamation point in the margin. The first means "research this further". (Maps, Bible dictionaries, time lines, history books - all these are helpful for research. The very last choice is a commentary. That's ok when you're just starting, but you've got to eventually supplement that. You need to learn to really study and get the big picture.)
The lesson here is what someone said, "The gems of scripture are not going to be mined by the casual Bible reader." If you're going to be serious about Bible study and reading, get serious about a regular place and time. Those are necessary mechanics for me. I imagine they might be that for you.
A couple of things that are simple outgrowths of this are historical, and have huge implications for my next section. It wasn't until I went to seminary that I began to understand the flow of the Old Testament. I had heard of things such as the Babylonian captivity, but I never knew when or how it happened. I never knew what books were related to it. So such things as the prophets just clumped together in my mind like a ball of yarn with glue spilled all over it. They had no definition. Then I learned about the northern kingdom separating from the southern kingdom, and when that was. I learned that the north went into captivity before the south, and I learned about the different military powers who carried off God's people, and the men who were preaching when these things happened. It began to live in my mind like the very true and dramatic story that it was.
When you get beyond being spoon-fed and really do some digging, you begin to see that God's book is real history. And the divine drama that is the Incarnation is all about God's preparation for and actual coming to join the human race to effect our redemption. This is the point when the Holy Spirit jumps on you. You have to respond in worship or go out and find a way to tell someone. This sick world of ours needs something beyond the swill it usually drinks in. The Bible has the real goods. Are you going to really dig in and see if what I'm saying is true?
There are a few things that I have learned since then, though, that you might want to look at. If you're having a hard time going further with Bible study and your relationship with the Lord, check this out. These two go together.
Since your time is valuable, and my ideas are more clear when I'm brief, I will try to be clear and brief. The thoughts here are first about the "mechanics" of Bible study and reading and then about the spirit of the thing.
Here are the mechanics (for lack of a better word.) You need a regular place and a regular time. My time is the morning after I wake up enough and get a bit of hot coffee nearby. Life is changeable, so these things will change, but morning and coffee work for me. Find out what works for you. The place that works for me is our study, down one room from the bedroom. I can shut the door when necessary and tune out the radio that someone else sometimes has on in the bathroom. I always need a pen. You do too. Don't go to your regular Bible reading and prayer without a pen, because you want to underline or circle things that stand out to you. You may want to write a question mark or exclamation point in the margin. The first means "research this further". (Maps, Bible dictionaries, time lines, history books - all these are helpful for research. The very last choice is a commentary. That's ok when you're just starting, but you've got to eventually supplement that. You need to learn to really study and get the big picture.)
The lesson here is what someone said, "The gems of scripture are not going to be mined by the casual Bible reader." If you're going to be serious about Bible study and reading, get serious about a regular place and time. Those are necessary mechanics for me. I imagine they might be that for you.
A couple of things that are simple outgrowths of this are historical, and have huge implications for my next section. It wasn't until I went to seminary that I began to understand the flow of the Old Testament. I had heard of things such as the Babylonian captivity, but I never knew when or how it happened. I never knew what books were related to it. So such things as the prophets just clumped together in my mind like a ball of yarn with glue spilled all over it. They had no definition. Then I learned about the northern kingdom separating from the southern kingdom, and when that was. I learned that the north went into captivity before the south, and I learned about the different military powers who carried off God's people, and the men who were preaching when these things happened. It began to live in my mind like the very true and dramatic story that it was.
When you get beyond being spoon-fed and really do some digging, you begin to see that God's book is real history. And the divine drama that is the Incarnation is all about God's preparation for and actual coming to join the human race to effect our redemption. This is the point when the Holy Spirit jumps on you. You have to respond in worship or go out and find a way to tell someone. This sick world of ours needs something beyond the swill it usually drinks in. The Bible has the real goods. Are you going to really dig in and see if what I'm saying is true?
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