Quiet Changes

    “It’s been a quiet week here in Lake Wobegon….”  I always want to start my post that way.  “It’s been a quiet week here in Greenville, Mississippi….”  Life in the Mississippi delta does crawl along at about the same pace as the corn, soybeans, and cotton crops.  The Spring crest of the Mississippi river has come and gone without even a serious challenge to the levee… so the annual excitement of watching the river rise is over.  Folks in the flood zones are sending away the critters that always visit when the water is high, and now are settling in for summer.  Long lazy summer days are the real season for which you buy a house on the lake or river. 

    Things are pretty quiet.  The crime rate even seems to have slowed down a little.  Of course the mosquitos have gathered in Greenville.  From now ’til late Fall it is kind of like an insect version of Spring Break in a Florida beach community.  Hopefully the city will start spraying soon and that excitement too will be die out somewhat.

However, about the time you settle in… life throws a few chili peppers into the recipe.  By now some of you know an aquaintance of my son’s won American Idol.  That was exciting.  Well, our brush with stardom continues.  My wife went to Wal-Mart the other night and brought home a new Christian romance novel…”The Reluctant Cowgirl.”  Now that name might not mean much to you, not yet at least, but the name right under it means a lot to us:  Christine Lynxwiler.  Chris is one of my wife’s suitemates from college, a bridesmaid in our wedding, and her and her husband Kevin are really special friends to us.  When the ice storm hit my wife’s hometown it was the Lynxwilers who braved the hazardous roads to check on her aged parents.  We have signed copies of her earlier books, but this is the first one we’ve purchased at Wal-Mart.  Congratulations to Chris.  [So Kris Allen wins American Idol, and Christine (Chris) Lynxwiler sees her book make the "big time"... if you know us and your name is some derivative of "Chris" this might be a good time to take a chance on something big.]

   In the media it seems Evan Thomas from Newsweek stuck his foot in his mouth.  Getting all hyped up on the Obama bandwagon froth he stated on national television that Obama was above the nation, over the world… sorta “like God” (rough paraphrase… go to youtube for the quote).  Bad analogy;  I don’t know where this will lead, but it cannot be anywhere good.  We’ll see.

  But finally, we marked a great anniversary Saturday.  This was the article in the San Francisco Chronicle for a past generation…  (If you are a woman of violent temperment please take a moment before reading further to remove all breakable and lethal items from within your arms reach.)

  Alice Ramsey, the president of the Women’s Motoring Club of New York, set off on an automobile trip from New York to San Francisco today along with three ofther women.  “From the start to the end Mrs. Ramsey will do the driving and furthermore, will have to make alone all the tire repairs, tire changes, and such for, while she will not be alone in the car she will be unaccompanied by a man.  It is this that makes the trip all the more interesting for it will be the first time that a woman has ever attempted the long journey betweenthe two cities under these conditions.  Unassisted she will have to pick the route, guide the car across the Rocky mountains, and in fact, will travel over roads and routes that would tax an expert male driver.”

  She set out to cover the 3800 miles in her 1909 Maxwell, reaching breakneck speeds of up to 42 miles per hour… all without the help of a man.  They did have to repair and replace tires.  The coil went out in Syracuse.  In the Midwest the transmission ran out of water so they had to improvise with some from run off in the ditch.  “”Get a horse,” yelled a passerby.  Without roadmaps, navigation was difficult . (Insert here that sexist joke on the tip of your tongue concerning reading maps or asking directions.)  The Maxwell Company often sent “pilot cars” to help out, and on ocassion rough roads, muddy roads, and deadends caused them to backtrack many miles.  Knowing her directions specified turning his “yellow barn,” one horse lover hurried and painted his barn green before she arrived.  And yes, on one ocassion they did run out of gas.  However, fifty-nine days after leaving New Jersey she arrived in San Francisco… to the amazement of all… without a man.

  Maybe we are making more progress than we think as we muddle our way towards Genesis 2.  It’s amazing how our cultural perceptions sway us and make the absurd seem reasonable.   Generations after generations struggling with the battle of the sexes while God’s guidance stood in the text all the while.  Makes one wonder what social traditions to which we cling and social innovations we herald as the dawning of a new world today will, a hundred years from now, be the humor in someone’s blog article.   While men debate a new society and new norms, while men search for new roads and a sure map for living together in this world, behind it all God has given us a word.  The Lord of the universe has given us gudiance, the creator has shared his wisdom… will we listen or muddle onward and mess it up.

“Trust in the Lord and lean not upon your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your ways straight.”  Proverbs 3

A Friend In Need…

  Do you have a good friend?  I am finding more and more that 1) we have more friends than we think, 2) We have far more than we deserve, 3) more and more of our friends share our DNA ; one our marriage license, and 4) the worst thing in the world is to get in a situation in which you have no one you can call a friend.  Finally, if you ever find yourself in #4, run quickly to find those old friends, because #1 is probably still true.

  You want to find out who your friends are?  Let something go wrong.  I ran across this picture recently…

 The guy on the left is Ya Kefujiang Maimitili, a Chinese man who was racing on a high wire at the Hangang High Wire World Championships in Seoul.  It seems half way through the 1 km race Ya dropped his balance pole.  He was fated to plummet into Han River far below.  But, seeing the trouble, Alfred Nock Jr. of Switzerland jumped on the wire.  He quickly covered the quarter mile to Ya and carried him to safety.

   When you lose your balance… look for someone to come down the wire to you.

  Do you know stories of other friends laying it all on the line to save their friends?  What about enemies?  What about leaving Heaven to walk the earth and die?  You find out who your friends are. 

Oh Really!

    I was all ready to write todays post when I ran across a news item too rich to pass up on.  It seems that President Obama has to make a diligent effort to remain on time… and his wife doesn’t help!  According to Reuters it seems first lady Michelle Obama messes with his watch.  Not five minutes ahead or couple minutes back, but major changes.  She is always trying to trick him into missing his flight on Air Force One (would the plane really leave without him?), or going to bed in the early afternoon, or even eating extra meals in a day.  That is great!  I don’t whether this makes me worry, or just feel more endeared to the guy.  I know it makes me glad I am not President.

  I did have some doubts about the story, until I saw this picture.  Note the concerned look in his eyes, the “aha, gotcha” grin on her face, and the fact, according to the heading, that they are at a Cinco de Mayo celebration…. on May 4th!!

 Oh well, onto the post I had intended.  It seems Silvio Berlusconi had been declared the world’s most popular leader.  Yes, Italy’s prime minister Berlusconi has been given the honor.  Sorta.  You see, the declaration was by Berlusconi himself.  The same prime minister who declared himself the “Jesus Christ” of Italian politics, and compared himself to Napoleon (“only a little taller”).  The same prime minister who just last month surely endeared the residents of L’Aguila.  After an earthquake devastated their city, he replied, “The have everything they need… medical care, hot food… of course their lodgings are a bit temporary; but they should see it like a weekend of camping.”  Of course, I am sure the black population of Italy loves him, after he praised Obama, calling him “young, handsome, and even has a good tan.”  When people called him racist, he smoothed it over; he called them “imbeciles.”  [We do know at least once person who would challenge the honor, Veronica Lairo, Berlusconi's wife.  She let it be know today, she is filing for a divorce.]

  Incidently, after Berlusconi gave himself this dubious honor, he ended the speech to a stirring crowd… protestors shouting, “Go away!”

  It seems Berlusconi missed those admonitions from Paul to people who “commend themselves,” “judge themselves,” and “think they are something when they are nothing.”  It seems he should look a little closer at that comparision between him and Jesus.

“He who sings his own tune, usually gets the pitch a little high.”

Who are you? Why should we listen?

  It’s been a hectic week so far.  It hasn’t been made any better by a new item thrown in the mix.  Sunday I am preaching on faith and reason, religion and science, etc….  To make sure I was authentic I decided to enter into the noisy rainforest of Amazon’s discussion boards.  It didn’t take long to find a site discussing faith and science.  The thread was “Who made God?,” but the thousands of posts following ventured well into the dense debates of religion, physics, biblical integrity, and a general discussion of how we know what we know.  Of course there was a lot of name calling and slander, kinda of like chimps throwing stuff from the canopy, but there was also a lot of good thoughtful exchange of ideas.

  Here’s the question and dilemna I keep running into, however.  How do I know the person claiming they know knows anything?  Sure, after a dozen posts back and forth I’ve got an idea.  Likewise, if they are discussing the New Testament manuscripts, since that’s my home field, I know pretty quick.  But, what about the guy discussing Quantum Physics?  He could be Stephen Hawking’s gradaute assistance or his intellectual prowess may have topped out at the local New Age bookstore… I just don’t know.  It is a dilemna.  Everytime I see a new person entering the discussion I have running in the back of my head Brad Paisley’s great hit declaring, “I get so much cooler online.”

  Wrestling through all this has made me reflect on revelation.  Why did God give the miraculous signs?  Hebrews 2:2 says they were given to verify the credentials of the speaker.  And what about the incarnation of Jesus? Why did He come to reveal God (Heb. 1:1-3)?  Could He not have just wrote another letter and explained it?  Maybe He could have, but we would still have nagging questions about who was on the other end of this communication.  We would know what He posted, but we couldn’t really know Him.  Taking on flesh and becoming one of us, among us, lets us know who He really is.  Just a thought.

 

 

**The picture doesn’t add much, except to remind us that we all have this innate ability to think, at least for a critical moment, that really bad ideas make sense.

Facebook Dilemnas

  It’s the question everyone is asking; the new definer of your  social status…”Do you have a “Facebook” account?”  It seems everyone is getting into the social network sites.  A couple of years ago, while a youth minister, I asked my teens about getting an account.  They said it would be all right, but they rolled their eyes in that classic manner that let me know I was invading sacred adolescent territory.  I was way too old.  Now my grandmother has a site.

  The sites really do keep people connected in way unavailable before.  I now have daily updates from friends in distant places we have lived, friends from High School, and all kinds of people with whom I had and would have lost contact with before.  There are also interesting insights from some of the lists being passed around.  I liked the “25 random things about me” list… though it was out of date before I could get 25 together.  The big thing now is “My Top Five.”  So far I have confessed to my top 5 cartoons, sports teams, and my first five cars.  It was tough admitting, even to myself, I had driven an AMC Matador and a Chevy Citation… not exactly “Mr. Cool.”  I am hoping in the future I have answers for “My 5 Favorite Things to Do in Cabos San Lucas,” “My 5 Favorite Coastal Seafood Places,” “5 Favorite Private Beach Resorts” and “5 Favorite Plays in Oklahoma’s National Championship Defeat of Florida”

  My dilemnas, however, are much more common Facebook applications.  No, even though it says so, I do not believe I am really among the 1000’s evidentally related to President Obama, and I am not intimidated by any of you all who are challenging my IQ.  It’s this “Nicest Person on Facebook” contest.  The one where everybody votes and you can check on how you are doing compared to others.  There are so many ethical questions.  Is it right to accept those votes?  Is this something for which you should campaign; try to win?  Is it right for me to accept those votes when I know me… and I know I am not the nicest person on Facebook.  It would be great… but I know better.  Yet, all that said, there is a part of my ego that likes to see those notifications pop up.  There is a part of me that feels better about myself because someone used one of their votes on me and I am making my way toward the leader board.  I haven’t noticed whether people could vote for themselves… that would be the kicker.

  The other dilemna concerns an advertisement I saw in the left column.  I don’t worry about those Facebook advertisements; I doubt I’ll ever follow one.  However, one I saw was tempting: “Find out who has entered your name into a search engine!”  That’s intriguing… but do I really want to know?  Should I want to know?  Evidently “Danny Holman” was a main character in a novel some years ago, (okay, I confess, I googled my own name), so that would elevate the number of searches… heh, it might surprise me.  Maybe its what my self esteem needs… or doesn’t need.  On the other hand, could it be more “self absorbtion” than anyone needs.  This back and forth in my soul… interesting.  Or is it disturbing?

  In the end, I am sure the site promising to be my own google search private detective agency is going to want money, and that will be the end of that.  I do wonder, however, what such service would do to my psyche, and why?.  For, regardless of who is searching for me online, my real worth has a much stronger foundation.  The God who created the universe knows me by name, and will one day call me by name.  He gave His life to open the way to me knowing Him.  He says, “Mothers can forget their children, but I will never forget you; See, I have carved you on the palms of my hands.”  Every day I can look in the mirror and note, “God says you are worth dying for… and God knows everything.”

  Just today I opened up WordPress and started perusing my way through the religion category just to see what folks had written about.  Seldom do I stop to open one, but today I had to.  There was a blogsite there that jumped out at me.  Though I read every post immediately, I had never seen it on WordPress’s list before.  The site is “Neil’s Diamonds.”  It has great reflections, but even if it were internet scribble I would open it immediately.  The same is true of his sister’s blog… because they are my children.  In my world that is all the value they need.  To know God looks down and sees us in the midst of the universe and calls us His own… that’s all the value any of us needs.

God and The Khmer Rouge

  Life has been hectic.  Since my last post so many wonderful things have happened.  I have been to see my grandmother and celebrate her 90th birthday.  My son celebrated his 22nd birthday.  My son-in-law shipped out for Fallujah, Afghanistan, and I took a week to help my daughter and grandson move back to Greenville for the year.  I have sped many miles down I-40 and I-20, and spent the night in the Little Rock Airport.  As bookends to my “vacation,” the South Main congregation has enjoyed two of its biggest assemblies in the last six years, but also grieved the passing of two members with deep roots in the church family.  Its been a busy time, and I am ready to get back into the routine.

  Nationally, the world continues to move onward, and people continue to amaze (a nice word for it).  The government is trying to “rhetoric” its way out of the recession, an alleged Nazi prison guard’s trial is on hold because his travel to Germany may be inhumane, and some Somali pirates are doing some linguistic back flips of their own.   After the pirates took over a ship by force, held people at gunpoint, shot at one escaping, and have generally given fresh meaning to the term ”thugs,”  they are upset the US military responded with force.   They are vowing revenge… an interesting choice of words.  [Two notes... (1) they have been true to their word, they attacked a trip carrying humanitarian aid to Kenya, and (2) the pirates allege these freighters are actually being targeted because they are fishing in Somalian waters...it has nothing to do with extorting millions of dollars in ransom and stealing valuable cargo.]

   The most interesting story of the last weeks, at least to me, comes out of Phnom Penh.  That is where Kaing Guek Eav, commonly know as “Duch,” is on trial.  In the 1970’s the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot ruled Cambodia with an iron fist… and a bayonet.  They forced everyone out of the cities and back to the fields.  Kids would agonize under forced labor for days.  People would be erased for being educated, wealthy, wearing glasses, and, of course, holding any social power that could conceivably rival the government.  The valley’s of Cambodia were turned into “The Killing Fields;” an estimated 1/5 of Cambodia was executed, conscripted into military service, starved to death, or died from forced labor.  During this time, “Duch” ran the notorious Tuoi Sleng Prison and was the Khmer Rouge’s chief torturer.  The methods used to extract “confessions” were vicious beyond horror.

  But, Kaing Guek Eav has asked the families of his victims to forgive him.  He has admitted his crimes and asked for their forgiveness.  What do you do with that?

  As I process all this my mind goes back to a Chinese resteraunt in Conway, Ar., just across from the University of Central Arkansas.  In 1995 I was eating lunch there.  The waitress was oriental with a distinct Asian accent, and I joked with her about obviously not being from Arkansas where you learn to hold those vowels until you get every last drop.  She laughed and said she was from Cambodia.  I asked her what brought her to Arkansas, expecting to hear something about the college or the computer industry.  What followed was an amazing story.

  It seems that her family, in the very late 70’s lived in a little village of western Cambodia.  It was during this time the Vietnamese declared war on the Khmer Rouge and soon took over the nation.  Desperate, the Khmer Rouge took to their native soil… the mountainous jungles.  There they began to go from village to village taking the boys of all ages; raising an army by forcing them to be soldiers for the Khmer Rouge.  Hearing that they were coming to her little village, this girl’s family feared for her12 year old brother.  Scared to death, they packed what they could carry, and headed out into the jungle.  She told of the hardships that come with a month of hiding out, on the run in the jungle; scraping out food anywhere they could find it. “We were so hungry,” she said.  By day they lived in fear of the Khmer Rhouge…at night it was the tigers, leopards, snakes, python, and crocodile.  “When we had passed far enough into Thailand that the Khmer Rouge could no longer reach us,” she said, “we sat down and cried.”  The story then followed how she went to school in Thailand, and then became a UCA bear.

   As I read about the trial, I wish I could asked her how she feels about it all.  You see the person with no personal ties can hear Duch’s request for forgiveness, and wash the slate clean with the easiest of motions… without emotion.  But what about those personally involved?  Even a couple of steps of separation removed, I feel forgiveness a little harder to dispense.  What about those who fled into the jungles?  Those who died under the sun of forced labor?  How much courage does it take to forgive if your mother or father was tortured because they had an education?  How hard is it for them; those for whom the sins of Kaing Guek Eav are not abstract at all, but reside deep in their soul?

  Maybe, just maybe, this is a difference between God and I, when it comes to sin.  Perhaps it’s why I don’t hate it enough.  It would certainly clarify something of the horrors of Calvary.  You see, for me, most of the world’s evil is abstract.  Most of it victims…and perpetrators, are just faces on the TV, or casual aquaintances.  Only a small portion actaully touches me.  And its only what hits me and those close to me that hurts…when it’s personal.  When I debate evil, and work on my theology of sin it is usually in the abastract.  But when I am sinned against, that’s different; I feel the excruciating pain. I experience it personally.  Could it be that God knows no “abstract” evil?  Could it be that all sin, for Him, is deeply personal?  There is no general category of “sin, evil, sinister, etc…”  Their is only what happened to  Tim, to Sarah, to Janet.  Alll of it is taken into himself so that it has happened to him.  He bears our stripes… and also our sin.  No wonder He hates sin so; no wonder he can’t just look the other way and ignore evil.  It is all too close to heart.  The cross then makes more sense… and His grace and forgiveness are even more amazing.

The Christian World of Fashion

  It’s a good day here in Greenville.  Neil is in Tulsa at the Tulsa Soul Winning Workshop.  He was hoping to catch John Dobbs and Trey Morgan’s presentation on blogging.  I guess I will have to settle for getting the CD.  I really like the workshop.  It’s encouraging, uplifting, and our family generally just does better after we’ve been there.  (I love Patrick Mead’s description of it as the “Church of Christ Tractor Pull.” )   The Memorial Road congregation is to be commended for its hosting of the workshop.  Garnett for its instrumental role in creating it and hosting it through the years. It has changed lives and changed the world.

  Meanwhile I am back in Greenville.  What has kept me here is a huge celebration as well.  It is Homecoming weekend at  South Main.  Danny Dodd is coming to speak for us, and lots of folks are coming from all over to renew aquaintances.  It’s looking to be quite an event.

  Getting ready for homecoming has involved looking at a lot of pictures.  Its amazing how some people change while others are locked in place as far as their appearance goes.  One thing that is never locked in, however, … the fashions.  I would like to think we were so cool back in the ’70’s… but look at those suites!!!  The evidence is undeniable.  I don’t remember it looking that bad. Checks and wide collars, all of which, of course, are polyester. 

      You remember the ’70’s don’t you.  They were right after Hippi talk (groovy, dig it, etc.) and right before Valley talk  (gnarly, dude, whatever).  When you “dressed up” it was the fashion equivalent of tupperware.  [Younger audiences may need a historical reference from their parents.]    Clothes were conventional, versatile, a little peculiar, and of course, made of plastic.  [I had none of those loud colors and crazy designs in my leisure suit... for me it was a coal black suite, with a loud pink shirt.  Yes, I was cool!]   I had always thought those days were gone for good, but over the last year the hair has gotten longer, the bell bottoms wider, and that’s not to mention “Momma Mia.”

  I ran across some JC Penney ads from the 70’s.  Some people get upset over tattoos, but these ads help me.  You can always put a shirt over a tattoo and nobody gets hurt, but hip hugging polyester leisure suits will scar you.  You’ll never get rid of that image.

 

There is a verse in the Bible that says to “Adorn yourself with Christ.”  I worry that many take that verse too literal.  When they get up in the morning for worship, they adorn themselves with Jesus.  When they get up for school they wear different clothes… work, that’s a third group, hanging our with friends a fourth.  According to this group, Jesus also has fashion runs.  In one generation he is adamantly Republican, the next Democrat; he is pro war, then pro peace.  Whatever direction the cultural winds blow, Jesus matches the fashion.

  While there is room for culture in Christianity, and God has no interest in “turning back the clock,”  I long for the Christ who is beyond our whims of interest.  The God whose values shape us in every situation and every generation…sort of a blue jean denim God.  Generation after generation, in most every circumstance people either are wearing the true Jesus, or at least wish they were.

The Blog Is Back

  I know the title sounds like the sequel to a low budget, “B” horror film, but its just me letting you know I’ve called a hiatus to the hiatus, and hope you’ll put me back on your list.

  I put the site on hold while I worked on a CD study idea.  The study isn’t ready for email and pitching to publishers yet, but its close.  (More about that once its done.)  While on break our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson came to visit.  That was a blast.  Its so much fun.  When you’re the parent and they misbehave, you have to correct them.  Grandparents?  Our job is to cover our mouth so they don’t see us giggling.

   They headed back to Fort Bragg today… not at all upset that they are missing Michelle Obama’s surprise visit. (It would have probably meant special “landscaping duty” for Ryan’s highly trained, elite 82nd Airborne helicopter crew.)

   While I have been away from the blogosphere, people have been busy being… well… people.

THE NEW “JEREMIAH 10:23 AWARDS”

• In the “communications breakdown” department, I saw where they just discovered the secret message sent  to the president… President Lincoln.  It was inscribed inside his watch.   I am sure he always looked in there; cannot believe he missed it.  The Germans however are not to be outdone.  They gave one last chance for a prominent Berlin Mathematician to pay his TV licensing fee.  I am not sure what that is, but I doubt he pays it… seeing as he has been dead 450 years.  [If they want, I am sure we can spare a few beuracrats to help them straighten out their billing system.]

• In Charlotte County, Florida, David Hampton achieved his minutes of fame.  After stealing money from a register his escape failed when his car ran out of gas.  The business he knocked over?  An Exxon gas station.  Once again, however, we were outdone by the Europeans.  David was defeated in “OOPS” competition by a fellow in Marsielle, France.  The entire night was spent cutting his way through the outer wall of the bank and into the vault.  After chiseling and cutting his way through concrete and steel he at last could crawl inside.  Crawling in just before daylight, he lit a match to discover… a toilet.  He missed the vault and broke into the bank bathroom.  I am sure when the police, responding to the silent alarm, found him he was sitting in floor, face in his hands, shaking his head, and muttering to himself.

• I am not sure the category, but it seems the Postal Service in Buffalo, NY has a rogue deliverer.  Watch out out for him!  It seems he insists on walking on sidewalks rather than cutting across the lawn.  OOOH!  They have vowed to put an end to it.

  But the winners of the Jeremiah 10:23 award for this post are the guys who drive one of these (see picture). 

They are “Homemade Submarines!” 

How do you find pilots for these things?

  “See, here’s what we’re going to do… you’ve been wanting to go to America… L.A., San Diego.  All you have to do is get in this little homemade submarine we made. 

Don’t worry we’ve attached these little “breathing tubes” that will float up to the surface so you can get a little air.  And you won’t be alone… you’ll have a couple of buddies, and, oh, if you don’t mind, we’re going to send along about 10 tons of cocaine.  I know, I know… That makes us lowlife drug dealers who scavenge our millions off the ruined dead bodies of addicts; but we got your back…trust us! 

   Here’s what we’ll do.  We’ll put you out by Tumaco (Columbia, S.A.) and all you have to do is sail this vessel 3000 miles through the Pacific Ocean, up the coast to California.  It will be kinda cramped, but its only two weeks. 

Will the whole crew share a bathroom?  Of course not! There is no bathroom.  We had to put the drugs somewhere.

No… you don’t get to stop in Acupulco!  I don’t care how bad you have to go. 

Yes we call them “Coffins,” but its just for endearment.  Of course, if the US coast guard catches you, well… if the coffin fits….

I wonder, How far on the journey do they get before they realize its a really bad idea?  And exactly how do you know if one of these things starts to sink?

    Feel free to make your own nominees for the Jeremiah 10:23 awards.  I would like to think they are rare, but I know better.  People are constantly amazed at how we can mess up the world.  I fear its not all that amazing.  It appears we were never equipped, and never meant to run it.   Despite our best attempts at goodness, violence hangs in the shadows.  One generation’s amazing insights are the next’s foolishness.  That’s not to even mention our guilt and shame.  If we were just “misbehaving” we could be trained better.  If we were just ignorant of what to do, we could be taught.  The truth is we are helpless… we have to be rescued.  We are dead… we have to be resurrected.  There is only one who can do that.

A Borrowed Post

  Still on a hiatus from blogging, but I ran across a gem from Jim McGuiggan.  You can catch this and lots of other great posts from his site on the blogroll.  Hope your week is good

 

JESUS: FIRST AND LAST

     The early Christians began with the fact of Jesus. To be with him was more than to hear truth revealed; to be in his presence was to be in the presence of revelation—he was revelation!

More than one climber of a high mountain has told us of being blinded by the heavy mist; the shape of things all lost or obscured, but when the sun got to work it burned away the mist and there was the big breathtaking world in all its grandeur and beauty. A lot of us have been blessed to know friends who had that effect on our hearts and minds. A character in a movie insists that her companion pay her a compliment (it was long overdue). He thought for a moment and then said in all sincerity: “You make me want to be a better man.”

Jesus is forever doing that! The news about him spread rapidly across the world, leaping from heart to heart, capturing men and women and when it did, all the supposedly invincible barriers between them turned out to be like mist before the sun.

Temptations of all sorts, habits and patterns of life that were thought to be too powerful or too deeply ingrained were broken to pieces and a new moral dynamic was discovered in experience. Yes, yes, not everyone experienced it as a dramatic and immediate experience but many did and in their tens of thousands they were living proof of what Jesus could do by his Holy Spirit in people’s lives. Paul reminds the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) of what they had been before they met up with Jesus and then he said, “And that is what some of you were but…” Jesus and his Spirit came into their lives and tore down filthy curtains, threw the windows of the heart wide open and let the wind of the Spirit sweep through, forgiving, cleansing and imparting strength and hope.

[But each sinner is unique with his or her own make-up, heritage, shaping and present environment. In some of us sinful patterns are more deeply ingrained and the current we swim against is more powerful than that faced by others. We find our victory over specific sins, sins that throw us down without hardly even trying, so it seems—we find that victory to be long in coming despite our longing for it and despite how powerful we believe Jesus to be and it often worries us. There are some of us whose worry—poor souls—becomes despair. We see what Jesus has done for others who committed themselves to his redeeming power so we begin to think maybe we aren’t truly Christ’s at all or, at least, that we care very little about holiness. We’re too disappointed in ourselves, too ashamed, too afraid of what others will think if they know the depth and nature of our sinfulness and because we’re swallowed up in thoughts like that, we aren’t able to recognize how profoundly we hate sin and hunger for righteousness. We aren’t able to see that this hatred and hunger is the proof that we have truly committed to Jesus Christ. We ran to him for forgiveness but we ran to him for holy freedom also and because we haven’t yet found the kind of freedom others seem to have found we begin to doubt the forgiveness. Despair sets in and tragically a handful of us can’t bear the burden of such a conflicted life and in our agony we end it and even in that we’re sometimes beaten rather than lamented! (“He should have…She should have…”) True, no doubt but...]

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega. John’s phrase in Revelation but Paul’s truth also in Colossians 1:15-17. God’s first thought was a humanity in the image of Jesus and everything else flowed from that because the eternal purpose of God is summed up in and under Jesus (see Ephesians 1:9-10 and Romans 8:29-30).

We’re not to think of God as a divine Mr. Micawber who began to wring his hands when the rebellious human family wrecked his fine plans and hoped that something would “turn up”. Imagine his surprise and delight when Jesus unexpectedly appeared. No, none of that! God eternally purposed JESUS and all that that name means and in him he finishes the glorious cosmic enterprise and when we see the end of it all we’ll spin like Snoopy in joy-filled delirium. And we’ll rejoice most of all in the fact that we love and rejoice in righteousness more than we ever imagined we could. This is the promise of God signed in Jesus’ blood and confirmed in Jesus glorious life (see Romans 5:9-11 and 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). What he started he will finish! First and last!

Update

Hope your day is going well.  A new project is taking my time for a couple of weeks, so I am going to take a blog hiatus.  Before I do, give a shout out to Neil over at “Neil’s Diamonds.”  After 8 years… the braces are off!  Congratulations!