Week 42 2013 Hats

One of my best friends recently conducted an interesting experiment at a mens retreat.  He carried fourteen different baseball caps to the retreat in his luggage.  Then, beginning Friday afternoon, he would wear a different hat periodically throughout the rest of the day and the rest of the weekend until someone noticed that he was wearing a different hat than he had been just a short time before.  It finally happened Saturday afternoon.  He was wearing a 49er hat, a young man commented on it, my friend went to his barracks, changed to a Raiders hat, went to play volleyball, and the same young man said, “Weren’t you wearing a different hat?”  My friend awarded him with a handmade pen.  He enjoyed his little game, as well as the giving of the pen.

Just how observant are we?  My wife will often ask me about someone at church or some other activity with friends and she is amazed at how little I know about what they were wearing or some other physical characteristic.  I have wondered if there is something wrong with my memory.  Then I ask her about something that I’m sure she will remember only to discover that she doesn’t.  Just about the time we begin to think old age is catching up with us, we ask our grandchildren about a recent event and discover that they don’t remember salient details that we think are so obvious anyone would be able to recall them.

Other than the few savants who are able to recall every detail of everything their five senses have taken in, most of us simply remember scattered details.  We seem to prioritize.  This is not a bad thing.  It is just a reality.  It actually speaks to our individuality.  God has made each one of us to be unique.  Which means we are all different and quite diverse.  It also means that we should never judge another based upon our own personal experience, because we will nearly always be wrong.  Let’s celebrate our diversity while learning from others’ observations and sharing our own for their edification.

Week 41 2013 Mom and Dad

At what age do we finally come to the realization that Mom and Dad actually do know something?  I don’t have the answer.  It has been my experience that it is different for everyone.  Some of us come to appreciate our parents at an early age, while others either never figure it out, discover it at mid-life, or receive the message after their parents are in the grave.  That is extremely unfortunate.  Much is lost through not learning this truth at a young age.  For some reason we don’t get it that experience has served to teach our parents lessons that can only come with age, unless we decide to learn from their experience.  Instead, we often insist on learning through our own hard knocks.

As a small child our parents are super human.  They can do anything, and they know everything.  Mom and Dad have the greatest impact on our development.  Our provision is dependent on them and we give little thought to the cost, because they are only doing what comes natural.  We offer them our complete, unadulterated love and devotion, regardless of their flaws and imperfections.  However, for many of us those times are short-lived.  As we grow into our puberty, many of us decide that we know more than anyone else, including our parents.  Our parents are no longer the super humans they once were.  In fact, for some, they are actually seen in a completely opposite light.  They know nothing, and they could learn a great deal from us.  For years they had made us the center of their universe, and now we become the center of our own universe.

The lyrics to an old song offer this bit of wisdom: “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”  Most of us come to a point in our maturity when we realize that our parents, although not perfect, actually do know some things that would be of benefit in our lives.  Through our own process of learning through experience it suddenly dawns on us that our parents have even more experience from which to have gained knowledge.  Once again, we begin to revere them and dread the day of their departure from this world, our world.  Unfortunately, some don’t come to this realization until it is too late.  Dad and/or Mom have already died and they are missed.  For those who are in this position, the grief is greater.  Praise God if you are among those who are able to discover your parents wisdom before they are gone.

Proverbs 1:8-9

Week 40 2013 Brian's Song

My friend and brother in the Lord, Brian E. Kessler, “graduated” from this life into his eternal reward last Saturday.  Brian lived the last twenty years of his short fifty-nine years of life with multiple sclerosis.  From the beginning of his end, Brian demonstrated how to die well.  His faith throughout this ordeal has left a lasting testament to God’s grace and love.  The profound affect he had on others could easily be seen in the many people who attended his memorial.  Una and I had a wonderful time sharing memories with many of them.  Phil Booe, a young man the Lord used me with his conversion about twenty-five years ago, shared that he would visit with Brian and read to him.  The last time he was there he told Brian that he had just went through a shift change at work, to which Brian responded in his wonderful wit, “Well, at least you’re not shiftless.”

Brian planned out his own memorial right up to the last detail, understanding that there would be a lunch following, he had ordered a “graduation cake” with the words: “ Welcome to my graduation. – Brian.”  I have asked his wife, Sheila, permission to share Brian’s words from that memorial.  So, I am letting Brian write this blog entry.

The gift that God gave is almost too good to be true. Knowing you and I and our sinfulness, God gave his son to pay for our sins. He took our sin and believers received Christ’s righteousness. What a trade. Glory to God.

Believers have been made perfect in God's sight. Believers have been made righteous. Believers have been justified. Believers have been forgiven. And believers have received every thing else that God has promised us. Like I was, in yourself you might be dirtier than a dog, but in Christ we believers are both made righteous and thus saved.

Certainly other folks can legitimately find fault, but in God 's sight we are perfect. Regardless of their stripe, we should strive to see those who declare belief in Christ as made right, as forgiven. We should try to see fellow believers as God says he sees them. We who are in Christ are all forgiven and thus are all saved. We have all been made perfect. In Christ we have been made sinless. We should strive to see others that way.

The study of the subject of "righteousness" was absolutely astounding to me. I was amazed. I found that Jesus Christ had left his dimension of being beyond time, and entered my dimension, our dimension of time. He lived for me. He died for me. He lived for you. He died for you. It amazed me when I found that the Bible told that I could be righteous. It taught that I, as sinful as I had been, could be righteous before God. This was a great relief to me. After all, I knew I could not be good enough. I had to have forgiveness for the sins that I had committed and was prone to commit. Thank God he provided that. Understand that you can be righteous too. Maybe you already are. Regardless, let us all rejoice in the promise of Christ. For he has lived and died for you and me.

We who have named Christ, we who are Christians gain life, both here and eternally. We gain hopefully better life here, and eternal life beyond time, where I am. Even if someone does not get a better life here, they can look forward to having eternal life, being with God, and being perfect in every way.

It amazed me when I found that the Bible told that I could be righteous. As sinful as I had been, I could be righteous before God. This was a great relief to me. It made me happy. It was good news. After all, I knew I could not be good enough. I had to have forgiveness for the sins I had committed. Not only that but I learned that forgiveness would continue throughout my life, and continual forgiveness would be desperately needed. Understand that you can be righteous too. Maybe you already are. Regardless, let all rejoice in the promise of Christ. For he has died for us. Unlike me, who owed payment, Christ could afford to pay the price for all believers freedom, and he did. Not only did he pay the price, he traded his perfection from my and our imperfection.’ "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” This is the good news in a nutshell.

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith’." This Bible passage said that I could somehow be innocent before God. It was really good news for me. It is really good news for you.

The letter to the Roman believers by Paul, regarding the righteousness that comes by belief, was great news to me. It said "The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him (Abraham) alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness -for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."

"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." (Romans 3:22-25).

Now suppose I am wrong? Then I’m gone and have not lost a thing. But if one who does not believe is wrong then they lose everything. I do not believe I am, but what if I’m wrong? What do I lose? Would doing more evil have provided more fun? No. For me and others it would have made life a miserable thing, or made life a failure. As it was, I have had a really good life. My children have all been true to Christ. My wife has been true to Christ. All of us have hope. I have had physical pleasures. Beyond that I have had absolute spiritual assurance. So in life I lost nothing. In Christ I have gained everything. Wonderfully I have gained Christ’s righteousness. In Christ I gained the promise of eternal life. I have lost nothing in life, and nothing beyond time. God has given me everything. We who have named Christ, we Christians gain life, both here and eternally. We gain hopefully better life here, and eternal life beyond time, where I am.

I will see you later.

When I (Brian) was in my late 20s, I had opportunity to sing to an old lady. She was 93. We sang regularly. The last time I sang with her she asked that I sing the song, "Till We Meet." She graduated from this life after we sang. She was holding my hand when she graduated. I believe I have met her again. After all, I doubt that time as we know it is relevant to those who are beyond time with God, which is where I am. What I ask of you, still in time, is that you sing this song with my family, and sing the last verse with me in mind. This is our closing song. From your time perspective, I hope to see you "soon." Maybe from my perspective we are together, since I am convinced that God's present includes all of history. But you are still in time. Tell others about his Good News. I love you Sheila. I love you Edwin I love you Matthew. I love you Nathan. I love all here. Thanks for coming. I look forward to seeing you. --Brian

Whether or not you have known Brian, it is my, and his, sincere desire that you would give heed to his wonderfully wise words, and that you would keep his family in your prayers as they learn to deal with the void.

Week 39 2013 The Prime Directive

It seems like forty was the magical age where my health took a turn and I started a daily regimen of medication needed to extend and improve my life.  I was diagnosed with hypertension through hereditary channels, meaning that if I do not take my medication daily I put myself at severe risk of having a stroke.  That was twenty-four years ago.  Since then, there have been various maladies that have added various medications to my daily routine.  Most of them are taken once daily.  However, there is two that are taken twice a day, and one that is taken three times a day.  As frustrating as it is, without these medications I would likely have already either died or been debilitated because of the effects of aging and the natural progression of life that results in death, which, of course, we will do most anything to avoid.

As important as it is to maintain my daily regimen, I can be distracted causing me to miss taking my meds at their scheduled hour.  When this happens, my body reveals my indiscretion through the negative impacts the meds are designed to suppress.  Therefore, I take measures to keep me focused on these life-giving/improving measures.  I keep a pill box on my night stand, and I set out pills that I need to take before bed and soon after I wake up.  I also set alarms on my phone to remind me when it is time to take various medications.  Yet, even with these safeguards, I am sometimes distracted because of being involved in one project or another.  Therefore, my wife acts as another safety net, asking me if I have taken my meds.  She worries that I will feel myself being nagged.  But, that is not the case.  I am grateful that she cares enough to ask.

The world is full of distractions.  We are bombarded with them.  It can be very difficult to maintain our focus on those things that are truly important.  I’m reminded of the Family Circus comic strip segment tracing the little boy’s distracted journey taking him through all sorts of places while attempting to reach his goal that could have been reached in a short period of time through a direct route.  We have all seen this happen in real life.  As parents we are constantly reminding our children to stay focused.  The television is turned off, music is forbidden, and friends are not allowed while our grandchildren are doing their homework.  Distractions are held to a minimum to help assure their success.  Those who would purposely place distractions in their way are not true friends.  In fact, they are enemies, intended or not.

In my Christian walk my primary focus is on the Lord Jesus.  His primary directive for my life is to seek and save the lost.  There are various strategies offered to keep me focused.  Daily Bible study, regular church attendance, active participation in related activities, and making myself accountable all help to keep me focused on Jesus.  My love for Him helps to maintain my focus on seeking and saving the lost, for that is my prime directive.  I need these safeguards, because Satan is always looking for ways to distract me.  There are challenges to my faith every day.  If I am not actively engaged in the aforementioned activities, my faith could easily be weakened.  Over time, if not checked, my faith could crumble and be lost.  Realizing the consequences of no faith, I take measures to keep myself from being distracted.  It is imperative to remember my first love, that being Jesus, nurturing that love and keeping it strong.  If someone challenges my faith, it is equally important that I have a ready answer to that challenge.  When I don’t have that answer, there are others within the family of God who are able to help me find that answer.  We are not left on our own.

What about the second part of our Christian walk?  If we are maintaining the first aspect, focusing on Jesus, we know how to fulfill the second.  Seeking and saving the lost will become second nature, no pun intended.  What could possibly distract us?  Everything!  However, there are some distractions that disguised as good things.  Scripture tells us that Satan masquerades as an angel of light.  Thus, issues that are important can be used to distract us from the prime directive.  I lean toward believing in a literal six-day creation, and find much of the current thought on evolution to be offensive and an attack on my faith.  But, I wonder if Satan isn’t using this issue to distract me from fulfilling the prime directive?  When I have the opportunity to discuss the gospel with an unbeliever, I would rather not discuss evolution versus creation, gay marriage, abortion, or any other worthwhile topic that has the potential to distract us from the prime directive.  These are all topics of which I hold passionate opinions, and they make good conversation with other Christians.  We may be able to come up with helpful strategies to overcome.  There is nothing wrong with being proactive in matters that are clearly unbiblical if done so in view of the prime directive.  Satan is a master of distraction.  The best way to keep him from gaining the upper hand is to stay focused on the prime directive, not being led astray while promoting the gospel to the lost.

Week 38 2013 Judge, Jury, and God

I’m a Christian.  Furthermore, I am happy to be a Christian.  This identity places me in an isolated community of other somewhat like-minded people.  Like any family we have our spats and disagreements.  But, when the rubber meets the road, extreme persecution takes place, areas of agreement are attacked, we come together in support of our common ideals, our communal identity.  We are generally our own worst critics.  We tend to tear each other down, exposing perceived faults, in essence, becoming judge and jury in our condemnation.  Unwittingly, we take the position reserved for God, separating the wheat from the tares.  To make matters worse, we do all of this in the presence of unbelievers, bringing shame upon ourselves, presenting an ugly portrait of the very God we extol, and leaving the door open for well-deserved criticism from those who love to discredit any belief in a Creator.

When an atheist stands in the place of God, becoming judge and jury in condemnation of the church, they do so with the proper credentials.  Not having a perceived faith in an eternal being, they have no fear of being condemned by the One who is able to ultimately bring that condemnation.  When judgment day comes and they are forced to bow the knee their only shock will be that He really does exist.  On the other hand, when those who have known that God is real stands before His throne and hears the words, “Depart from me, I never knew you,” the shock will come having to acknowledge that they have wrongly taken the place of God in judgment of others and excluding them from a place in the kingdom that citizenship is only founded in and by the Lord.  These will discover that their pious position of judge, jury, and God has resulted in their own exclusion from the kingdom of which they had presumed to have exclusive control, refusing or offering membership to those of their choosing based upon their interpretations of God’s word.

Therefore, I am a Christian.  The only reason I find myself in God’s kingdom is because He chose to add me.  Membership in His church has never, nor will ever, have anything to do with what anyone else deems to be proper credentials.  I am fully aware that as I walk the streets of this kingdom I am walking side by side with some who will ultimately be removed.  And, that that removal will be done by the only One qualified to do so.

Week 37 2013 So, Are You Really Conservative?

My wife and I had a good discussion this morning on government policy and our national economics.  She is trying to understand all the hullabaloo over the debt ceiling.  I’m not sure that I have the answer.  From my simple mind it simply means that the more we borrow, the more we have to pay back, along with more interest.  So, it seems like a bad idea.  Having said that, it is also a bad thing when we can’t pay our debts.  Long term, it would seem that if our nation will make cuts in the budget we will have the means to pay our debt down.  Short term, the cuts can’t come fast enough.  This is where it goes beyond my simple mind.  The numbers are too staggering.  Which leads to a broader discussion on what it means to be a conservative.

The rhetoric coming from most conservatives would have one believing that we support less government.  I hold this position.  However, what do we do when the rubber meets the road?  For instance, when fuel prices starting increasing, how many of us echoed the mantra saying that our government needs to intervene?  Issues like this seem to be so overwhelming we feel helpless, so we turn to something bigger than ourselves.  Hence, the government becomes our big brother who will go to bat for us and force the bullying oil companies to quit beating up on us.  Thus the real question is, how do we accomplish this without big brother?

In a free-market economy the consumer has the power to regulate prices and quality.  In order to exercise that power, consumers must come together.  Unfortunately, we aren’t very good at doing this.  In the early eighties car manufacturers were alarmed when consumers quit buying new cars.  By not buying Americans were saying that prices were too high.  As it started to become critical for the suppliers, they came up with a strategy to encourage the public to start buying cars again.  They offered rebates, and people started buying new cars again.  I was shouting, “Don’t do it!  Rebates aren’t enough.  They need to lower prices!”  However, even though we didn’t go far enough in our boycott, it did demonstrate that we can have an impact when we will work together.  As to fuel prices, we obviously cannot boycott the oil companies collectively.  But, we could choose to target one at a time for limited periods of time.  You can be assured that a month long boycott of Shell would hurt enough to give all oil companies pause.  These corporations have the financial resources to hire lobbyists that can effect legislation barring the use of our own natural resources, thus impacting our government in ways that we are not able.  The end result is less government, lower fuel prices, and less dependency on nations that delight in hurting the American consumer.

The government bailout of General Motors was fueled by another American consumer boycott.  This one came about in response to inferior products.  Foreign manufacturers were putting out higher quality vehicles with better fuel economy at competitive prices.  Instead of responding to this crisis by giving the buying public what we were demanding, GM looked to the government for a handout and got it.  Ford, on the other hand, didn’t take government money.  Instead, they began producing cars that can compete with the foreign producers.  The new Fords have gone head to head with Toyota with vehicles that match or exceed in quality, fuel economy, and price.  The end result has been a win win for consumer and producer.

These examples challenge us to either live out our conservative views or quit calling ourselves conservative.  Or, the reality that true conservatism is merely an ideal.  My purpose is to merely encourage each of us to examine ourselves before we start using labels to provide our personal identity.

Week 36 2013 Mr. Potato Head Jesus

“Mr. Potato Head is an American toy consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a variety of plastic parts that can attach to the main body. These parts usually include ears, eyes, shoes, a hat, a nose, and a mouth. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner in 1949, and first manufactured and distributed by Hasbro in 1952. Mr. Potato Head was the first toy advertised on television and has remained in production since its debut. The toy was originally produced as separate plastic parts with pushpins that could be stuck into a real potato or other vegetable. However, due to complaints regarding rotting vegetables and new government safety regulations, Hasbro began including a plastic potato body within the toy set.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Potato_Head)  This is an interesting bit of trivia about a child’s toy.  The allure of Mr. Potato Head is the ability to make him into what you want him to be.  How can we forget that wonderful line in Disney’s “Toy Story” where Mrs. Potato Head tells her husband to pack his angry eyes?  Mr. Potato Head can be made to look angry, sad, happy, amazed, or disguised to look like someone he isn’t, all with a simple change of a plastic piece.  It’s difficult to know who the real Mr. Potato Head is, and what his intentions are.  The truth lies hidden in the one who controls the pieces.

Unfortunately, many people “play” with Jesus in much the same manner as children play with Mr. Potato Head.  These take parts of Jesus to establish His identity while either changing some of the other parts or simply ignoring them.  Thus, the image people have of our God has changed over time.  God has never changed.  But, the way people see Him has changed, largely because of people treating Him like Mr. Potato Head.  The changes made often reflect the current culture with its ideals and mores.  For instance, when the culture was predominately led by monarchies, God was viewed as a king who controlled his kingdom with force.  His subjects were meant to be afraid of Him because of His wrath.  The concept of a personal relationship with this heavy-handed dictator was unheard of.  Those who fostered this perception would point to passages of scripture that demonstrated God’s terrible power and horrible judgment on people who wouldn’t submit to His leadership, much in the same way most monarchs dealt with people in their kingdom.  While the Bible does show us a part of God that metes out justice in a decisive manner, to limit his character this narrowly does injustice to Him.  It’s Mr. Potato Head with just his angry eyes.  The kind, benevolent, gentle eyes have been discarded.  Jesus is only seen with the whip in His hands driving the money changers from the temple.

Our culture today is much more enlightened.  In America we have rejected the concept of the monarchy with its dictator looking for obeisance from his subjects.  Punishment has been changed to rehabilitation.  Jesus is now viewed as our brother.  We are able to have a strong personal relationship with Him.  He is the friend of sinners, forgiving those who have committed grievous acts.  God is pictured as a tolerant, benevolent, father.  He has lost His angry eyes.  Many are questioning the reality of Hell and the final judgment.  These read where Jesus forgives the prostitute, but fail to see where He admonishes her to sin no more.  Our Mr. Potato Head Jesus looks upon the sinner with tolerance, not rebuking them for the sin in their lives, because that might alienate them.  Rather than convict them of their sinful way of life, Mr. Potato Head Jesus loves and accepts them without requiring repentance.

The truth is that Jesus is not Mr. Potato Head.  He does not come with interchangeable parts.  He is the same as He always has been.  He is a monarch who will mete out judgment, condemning some to Hell, while rewarding others with eternal life in Heaven.  He does seek out a personal relationship with each one of us, not wanting any to perish.  He does forgive, restore, and cleanse.  However, He also requires repentance.  The good news is that He also gives us the tools and strength to repent and overcome.  He realizes that those who refuse to repent will be lost.  Therefore, with amazing love and grace, He encourages the sinful to turn from their sinful lifestyle to a life in Him where overcoming sin is not only possible, but probable.  He never accepts someone who refuses to repent!  Tolerance ends where sin begins.  Mr. Potato Head is a fun toy.  Jesus is so much more.  Regardless of what our culture calls right or wrong, Jesus is the final authority.  If you want to really see how much He goes against current thought and cultural mores, engage in a close reading of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew five through seven.