We were both off on Saturday. Late Saturday morning we went for a drive, stopped for lunch, then went back home. Then we started thinking about what we would do next. Mary wanted to prepare the house in order to have someone over after church, but then she decided she needed to take me shopping (it seems I need new and more clothes).
As we got into the car, preparing to leave, we discussed this. What should we do on a beautiful Saturday afternoon? Turns out, she really didn’t want to spend the afternoon in the store either. On our morning road trip we had seen kayakers on the river and that sure looked inviting. Mary said, “I don’t know what to do.”
I said, “Well, you can clean the house and go shopping in order to have people over tomorrow, which is a good thing or we can go kayaking and spend time together, which is also a good thing.”
She responded, “We’ve already done the “Let’s each do something different” thing”. “Let’s go kayaking.”
And that’s what we did. And then that evening we went out to Texas Road House for supper.
With apologies to whoever we were going to have over after church, I think we made the gooder choice. And not just because kayaking is a lot more enjoyable than cleaning the house. No, we’ve done that ‘Let’s each do our own thing’ thing, and it didn’t turn out so good. Actually, we had two good days off together – went kayaking both days. That’s always good!
Monday, April 7, 2014
Thursday, April 3, 2014
You see a little bit of everything, don’t you?
Last night I was outside emptying the trash and the only car on the street pulls into the parking lot. I thought, “Of course” and headed inside. As I passed the car I could hear the couple arguing. I waited inside and nothing happened. I checked the coffee and looked outside, the woman was standing outside the car and her purse was on the ground. He backed the car up and tires squealing left her standing there!
She came inside. I felt bad for her and began to talk to her about where she lived and who she could call for a ride home. She was rather expressionless, but she did say, “I can’t believe he did that.” After a trip to the rest room she used the phone to call someone. She said her parents were coming to get her.
Now I have a conundrum. She has to wait for her ride and I have to go outside to finish emptying the trash. But I can’t because she is inside. I can’t go into the cooler either. After a little while I some other customers come. Including a man who walks up to her and tells her something. Then he is at the register. He asked for some cigarettes and said to me, I’d be careful letting that woman in your store. She’s crazy.”
At first, that caught me off guard. “What??” When he repeated himself I realized he was the guy who left her. There was a problem with his card, he went back to her, nuzzled her neck, sweet-talked her for a moment and went outside. This is getting stranger by the minute.
She went outside to talk to him and another car pulled up. This was her Dad and little sister (?). I thought it was safe to go outside and finish the trash. Her Dad is asking her to get in the car but she is completely ignoring him. “Please get in the car. You called me to come get you. How did you wind up here? Will you get in the car?” All this time she is completely ignoring him. Actually, she is not saying anything, just standing there, looking at the man in the car.
Now I begin to wonder if she is OK and to get concerned about a fight breaking out. “Should I call 911? Father, help this situation.”
The younger sister is looking on, just shaking her head. I realized right then that this was not the first time they had seen this.
Finally, the man in the car backs up and drives away. Then the woman begins to argue with her Dad about buying a lighter. (She had bummed a cigarette from another customer.) He was not inclined to do so and she was yelling about her immediate need for this cigarette. Then they all silently get in the car and drive away.
What struck me was how sad this all was. A few hours later a friend came in and we talked about various things. I told him an abbreviated version of this and he said, “You see a little bit of everything, don’t you.”
Yeah. And sometimes there’s nothing funny about it.
She came inside. I felt bad for her and began to talk to her about where she lived and who she could call for a ride home. She was rather expressionless, but she did say, “I can’t believe he did that.” After a trip to the rest room she used the phone to call someone. She said her parents were coming to get her.
Now I have a conundrum. She has to wait for her ride and I have to go outside to finish emptying the trash. But I can’t because she is inside. I can’t go into the cooler either. After a little while I some other customers come. Including a man who walks up to her and tells her something. Then he is at the register. He asked for some cigarettes and said to me, I’d be careful letting that woman in your store. She’s crazy.”
At first, that caught me off guard. “What??” When he repeated himself I realized he was the guy who left her. There was a problem with his card, he went back to her, nuzzled her neck, sweet-talked her for a moment and went outside. This is getting stranger by the minute.
She went outside to talk to him and another car pulled up. This was her Dad and little sister (?). I thought it was safe to go outside and finish the trash. Her Dad is asking her to get in the car but she is completely ignoring him. “Please get in the car. You called me to come get you. How did you wind up here? Will you get in the car?” All this time she is completely ignoring him. Actually, she is not saying anything, just standing there, looking at the man in the car.
Now I begin to wonder if she is OK and to get concerned about a fight breaking out. “Should I call 911? Father, help this situation.”
The younger sister is looking on, just shaking her head. I realized right then that this was not the first time they had seen this.
Finally, the man in the car backs up and drives away. Then the woman begins to argue with her Dad about buying a lighter. (She had bummed a cigarette from another customer.) He was not inclined to do so and she was yelling about her immediate need for this cigarette. Then they all silently get in the car and drive away.
What struck me was how sad this all was. A few hours later a friend came in and we talked about various things. I told him an abbreviated version of this and he said, “You see a little bit of everything, don’t you.”
Yeah. And sometimes there’s nothing funny about it.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Observations from behind the counter: Patterns and Laws
A few observations about people.
This happens often enough to be a genuine pattern. Not necessarily a law of some sort, but most definitely a pattern:
There will be no one in the store, in the parking lot, on the street. Very quiet. This can be brief or last for 20 or 30 minutes. Then a car appears and pulls into the parking lot. Next thing I know, there are people every where. As if some kind of spell has been broken. Or people are such social creatures that when they see a car pull into the parking lot they almost can’t help but join them. Or energy attracts activity.
Same thing happens when I step away from the counter. There will be no one around for miles. As soon as I step into the cooler or outside – BAM! – a car pulls up. Actually, this has happened so often I almost have to laugh about it: I will be doing things inside, then plan to go outside to empty the trash. As soon as I put the gloves on, Voilà! a car appears.
This is a law – Mopping the floor attracts people. This works almost 100% of the time! And related to this, Mop only a portion of the floor and the people who are drawn by a newly mopped floor absolutely have to walk on that portion!
As I said, just a few observations.
This happens often enough to be a genuine pattern. Not necessarily a law of some sort, but most definitely a pattern:
There will be no one in the store, in the parking lot, on the street. Very quiet. This can be brief or last for 20 or 30 minutes. Then a car appears and pulls into the parking lot. Next thing I know, there are people every where. As if some kind of spell has been broken. Or people are such social creatures that when they see a car pull into the parking lot they almost can’t help but join them. Or energy attracts activity.
Same thing happens when I step away from the counter. There will be no one around for miles. As soon as I step into the cooler or outside – BAM! – a car pulls up. Actually, this has happened so often I almost have to laugh about it: I will be doing things inside, then plan to go outside to empty the trash. As soon as I put the gloves on, Voilà! a car appears.
This is a law – Mopping the floor attracts people. This works almost 100% of the time! And related to this, Mop only a portion of the floor and the people who are drawn by a newly mopped floor absolutely have to walk on that portion!
As I said, just a few observations.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Surprising things I’ve learned from the Fathers
Last year I suggested a friend and I read The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching by Irenaeus. It took a little longer than I had planned, but we both read it. When I asked for his impression and thoughts, he said, “Well, it’s good - it’s the gospel.” I was a little disappointed, he didn’t have the same response I had. But, at that time I was unable to express how it had affected me.
Nevertheless, I continued to read the Fathers: Tertullian, Augustine, Athanasius. Slowly, something became clear to me – there is a difference between what the Fathers preached and what is often preached today. And, to tell the truth, there is a difference between what is preached today and what was preached two or three generations ago. The Gospel has been changed.
That is a stupendous statement! To explore this would require a book and I only have a short blog, so obviously I can’t go into great detail. Let me just offer three contrasts.
1) Richer Salvation
In our day, salvation is basically having your sins forgiven and going to heaven when you die (sometimes called ‘having eternal life’). Salvation in the Fathers is much richer. Of course there is forgiveness of sins, but they stress deliverance from death; the life of God in the soul; the knowledge of God; eternal life is unhindered contemplation of God, knowing as you are known; and then there is the resurrection of the body. The resurrection of the body, of the flesh, gets a major emphasis. We believe all this today, we simply don’t spend much time on it.
2) Robust Conversion
In the early church (and even 50 to 100 years ago), conversion was stressed – turning from sin and turning to Christ with all your heart. Today, conversion is hardly mentioned. What is required if you are an unbeliever and wish to become a Christian today? Raise your hand: “With heads bowed and eyes closed, raise your hand if you would like to receive Jesus…I see that hand.” In the early church it was a matter of turning away from the life you were living and turning with all your heart to Jesus, to follow him. And this is really because of the third thing…
3) Different Gospel
As I wrote earlier, the gospel has been changed. As a result, we are hearing a different gospel preached than that which was preached in the days of the Fathers. And this is what I was hoping my friend would see when we read The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching. So what is the difference?
The Fathers preached Jesus the Savior
We preach salvation through Jesus
You may ask, What’s the difference? Just this, when you preach Jesus the Savior, your message will be about Him: He is the Christ, he fulfilled the prophecies, he is the Son of God. Turn to him! Believe in him! Follow him! He will forgive you, give you life, raise you from the dead!
When you preach salvation you are preaching a thing to be received: Who needs it? Why do they need it? What has God done so we can have it? How can you receive it? It’s all about me and salvation. “If you want it, raise your hand…I see that hand. You’re in!”
That’s the impact the Father’s are having on me. They teach me. They challenge me. They enlarge me. They enrich my spiritual life.
Nevertheless, I continued to read the Fathers: Tertullian, Augustine, Athanasius. Slowly, something became clear to me – there is a difference between what the Fathers preached and what is often preached today. And, to tell the truth, there is a difference between what is preached today and what was preached two or three generations ago. The Gospel has been changed.
That is a stupendous statement! To explore this would require a book and I only have a short blog, so obviously I can’t go into great detail. Let me just offer three contrasts.
1) Richer Salvation
In our day, salvation is basically having your sins forgiven and going to heaven when you die (sometimes called ‘having eternal life’). Salvation in the Fathers is much richer. Of course there is forgiveness of sins, but they stress deliverance from death; the life of God in the soul; the knowledge of God; eternal life is unhindered contemplation of God, knowing as you are known; and then there is the resurrection of the body. The resurrection of the body, of the flesh, gets a major emphasis. We believe all this today, we simply don’t spend much time on it.
2) Robust Conversion
In the early church (and even 50 to 100 years ago), conversion was stressed – turning from sin and turning to Christ with all your heart. Today, conversion is hardly mentioned. What is required if you are an unbeliever and wish to become a Christian today? Raise your hand: “With heads bowed and eyes closed, raise your hand if you would like to receive Jesus…I see that hand.” In the early church it was a matter of turning away from the life you were living and turning with all your heart to Jesus, to follow him. And this is really because of the third thing…
3) Different Gospel
As I wrote earlier, the gospel has been changed. As a result, we are hearing a different gospel preached than that which was preached in the days of the Fathers. And this is what I was hoping my friend would see when we read The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching. So what is the difference?
The Fathers preached Jesus the Savior
We preach salvation through Jesus
You may ask, What’s the difference? Just this, when you preach Jesus the Savior, your message will be about Him: He is the Christ, he fulfilled the prophecies, he is the Son of God. Turn to him! Believe in him! Follow him! He will forgive you, give you life, raise you from the dead!
When you preach salvation you are preaching a thing to be received: Who needs it? Why do they need it? What has God done so we can have it? How can you receive it? It’s all about me and salvation. “If you want it, raise your hand…I see that hand. You’re in!”
That’s the impact the Father’s are having on me. They teach me. They challenge me. They enlarge me. They enrich my spiritual life.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Three Pillars of The Faith
Last night at work I was contemplating a subject I have been meaning to write about for some time. This led me to consider the pillars of the faith, of the gospel. I believe the three foundational pillars of the faith are:
CHRIST HAS COME
God, through the prophets and with great detail, promised the coming of Christ. The gospel is this: Christ has come. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. The gospels tell of his fulfilling the prophecies in his birth and ministry. But the gospels have a shocking end - the Christ was crucified!
CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Yes. Jesus, who said he was the Christ, was crucified, dead and buried. But the gospel declares he was raised from the dead! This is what the Apostles proclaimed when they preached the gospel. This is actually more important than the crucifixion. What?? Yes, the resurrection is the demonstration the Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God. The resurrection declares his death was not in vain. The resurrection secures forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. He who was crucified, dead and buried, was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven where he sits at the right hand of God. Jesus is alive and he is Lord!
CHRIST IS COMING AGAIN
He whom the heavens have received will return in power and glory. He will raise the dead and establish the kingdom of God here on this earth. "Behold, I come quickly." This is our hope.
This the message the apostles preached: “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus the Christ.” Remove any pillar and the faith topples. Deny any of this and you are no longer holding the faith once delivered.
This is nothing new and every Christian would confess the same. Yet I am persuaded that this is not what is emphasized in much of contemporary preaching. This is what I hope to address further in another post.
CHRIST HAS COME
God, through the prophets and with great detail, promised the coming of Christ. The gospel is this: Christ has come. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. The gospels tell of his fulfilling the prophecies in his birth and ministry. But the gospels have a shocking end - the Christ was crucified!
CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Yes. Jesus, who said he was the Christ, was crucified, dead and buried. But the gospel declares he was raised from the dead! This is what the Apostles proclaimed when they preached the gospel. This is actually more important than the crucifixion. What?? Yes, the resurrection is the demonstration the Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God. The resurrection declares his death was not in vain. The resurrection secures forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. He who was crucified, dead and buried, was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven where he sits at the right hand of God. Jesus is alive and he is Lord!
CHRIST IS COMING AGAIN
He whom the heavens have received will return in power and glory. He will raise the dead and establish the kingdom of God here on this earth. "Behold, I come quickly." This is our hope.
This the message the apostles preached: “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus the Christ.” Remove any pillar and the faith topples. Deny any of this and you are no longer holding the faith once delivered.
This is nothing new and every Christian would confess the same. Yet I am persuaded that this is not what is emphasized in much of contemporary preaching. This is what I hope to address further in another post.
Monday, February 24, 2014
That was an interesting dream
I had a dream today. Very vivid. When I woke up, I considered going back to sleep but I wanted to remember this dream, so I got up in order to write it down.
My house was on a high hill. The back yard was very large and went down to this beautiful and inviting field. I was aware that in the past I would sit at the top of the hill and look at this field. I was drawn to it but had never been down there.
This day, Tiernan was with me and we finally decided to go down there. So we started off down the hill. There was a fence marking the end of my property. As we neared the fence, that part of the back yard was beautiful and I was so excited about it, seems I had never ventured to this part of my yard before. There was a large rock just below the surface, with just a portion of it exposed. And I was thrilled to have it in my yard.
As we drew near the fence, we saw a gate in the fence. And it was open. When we got to the gate and examined it, I had the distinct impression that people had often come onto my property via the gate. For some reason, we stopped at the gate, still on my property, and watched the field. It was so beautiful. It was an open area that lay out before me. There was a steam and there was some wildlife. I thought the stream was shallow, but then we saw this deer (?) with horns swimming downstream. There was a structure here, and some trees, just outside the fence, almost like a covered dock. As we sat there watching the field, yearning to go through the gate, but afraid of something, a car came driving up on the field, from the right. I told Tiernan to be very still and just to wait and see what happened. The car stopped and a woman got out. She greeted us! So much for sitting still. It seems her car had a sensitive camera that let her know if there were any people around. She was wearing some kind of fur coat and when she got out, she put on another fur coat, of a different color and size. I think it was her intention to feed animals and I had the impression that she came often.
At this point, Tiernan said he didn’t want to go the field, it frightened him and he wanted to go back to the house. He said, “It’s so lonely here.” I decided I didn’t want to go back right then, I was determined to go through the fence and explore this beautiful, welcoming, inviting area beyond the gate.
This is the saddest part of my dream - I woke up!
But, I woke up with the impression that this is significant. I’m at the edge of something beautiful and inviting and the gate is open. I haven’t gone through the gate yet, but it seems I am ready and determined to take that step. Clearly, I am still on this side of the gate and passing through will require a definite decision and determination. Alas! I woke up before passing through!!
My house was on a high hill. The back yard was very large and went down to this beautiful and inviting field. I was aware that in the past I would sit at the top of the hill and look at this field. I was drawn to it but had never been down there.
This day, Tiernan was with me and we finally decided to go down there. So we started off down the hill. There was a fence marking the end of my property. As we neared the fence, that part of the back yard was beautiful and I was so excited about it, seems I had never ventured to this part of my yard before. There was a large rock just below the surface, with just a portion of it exposed. And I was thrilled to have it in my yard.
As we drew near the fence, we saw a gate in the fence. And it was open. When we got to the gate and examined it, I had the distinct impression that people had often come onto my property via the gate. For some reason, we stopped at the gate, still on my property, and watched the field. It was so beautiful. It was an open area that lay out before me. There was a steam and there was some wildlife. I thought the stream was shallow, but then we saw this deer (?) with horns swimming downstream. There was a structure here, and some trees, just outside the fence, almost like a covered dock. As we sat there watching the field, yearning to go through the gate, but afraid of something, a car came driving up on the field, from the right. I told Tiernan to be very still and just to wait and see what happened. The car stopped and a woman got out. She greeted us! So much for sitting still. It seems her car had a sensitive camera that let her know if there were any people around. She was wearing some kind of fur coat and when she got out, she put on another fur coat, of a different color and size. I think it was her intention to feed animals and I had the impression that she came often.
At this point, Tiernan said he didn’t want to go the field, it frightened him and he wanted to go back to the house. He said, “It’s so lonely here.” I decided I didn’t want to go back right then, I was determined to go through the fence and explore this beautiful, welcoming, inviting area beyond the gate.
This is the saddest part of my dream - I woke up!
But, I woke up with the impression that this is significant. I’m at the edge of something beautiful and inviting and the gate is open. I haven’t gone through the gate yet, but it seems I am ready and determined to take that step. Clearly, I am still on this side of the gate and passing through will require a definite decision and determination. Alas! I woke up before passing through!!
Monday, February 3, 2014
The adventure continues
Beginning March 2nd I will have another opportunity to teach the adult Sunday School class. The pastor graciously asked me if I wanted to teach the Spring Quarter, but I know how this really went down. He spoke to the other brother first. (Just in cased you didn’t get it, that means he asked me second!) And that brother said, “I don’t want to teach the Spring Quarter. Ask Jeff. He’ll teach any quarter.” Well, he is right about that!
As I already posted on fb, I will teaching The Kingdom Principle of Faith. We will be taking a look at faith in the gospels: What Jesus taught about and How He responded to it. It is exciting to read through the Gospels and see Jesus ministering and teaching. I would like to be able to teach through the Gospel of Matthew, but I only have 13 weeks. And it took me 13 weeks just to teach the Sermon on the Mount!
The Gospels tell us about Jesus. The record of his works is a testimony to who he is. But, in the Gospels, Jesus is preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God. This means they are also a record of kingdom principles. And faith is clearly an important principle in the kingdom of God. So we will examine various encounters in the Gospels where faith is explicitly mentioned and see what we can learn about it.
There is one thing about faith that has intrigued me for some time. Faith is a noun. Faithful the adjective. Faithfully the adverb. Faithfulness is also a noun. But there is no verb form for faith. For that we use a different word in English, Believe. The Greek word has a noun/verb/adjective form, but this one Greek word requires two English words. Isn’t that interesting?
They are both old words, but believe seems to be the older English word.
Believe - Middle English bileven, from Old English belȳfan, belēfan, gelēfan;
Faith - Middle English, from Anglo-Norman fed, from Latin fidēs
Fidēs has a verb form, fidere, and I’m pretty sure fed did as well, yet neither seems to have survived into modern English. I find this fascinating.
To believe is to accept something as true. Faith (belief) is the content of what is believed. So, when we come across expressions like, When Jesus saw their faith… we will be inquiring, “What was it they believed? How would this apply to me today?” Inquiring minds want to know!
As I have gone through the Gospels preparing for this study I have come to the conclusion that there is a distinct possibility that we will not have time to examine every encounter marked by faith. And John! We will probably only look at two there, maybe three. But it is my prayer that what we do consider will encourage, strengthen, and stimulate us to believe Jesus to do great things in us and for us.
Y’know, Jesus is said to have marveled twice, both concerning faith:
When Jesus heard [it], he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And he marvelled because of their unbelief
We certainly don’t want Jesus marveling at our unbelief, because in that case, he could there do no mighty work. May the Lord grant us grace to have great faith in him!
As I already posted on fb, I will teaching The Kingdom Principle of Faith. We will be taking a look at faith in the gospels: What Jesus taught about and How He responded to it. It is exciting to read through the Gospels and see Jesus ministering and teaching. I would like to be able to teach through the Gospel of Matthew, but I only have 13 weeks. And it took me 13 weeks just to teach the Sermon on the Mount!
The Gospels tell us about Jesus. The record of his works is a testimony to who he is. But, in the Gospels, Jesus is preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God. This means they are also a record of kingdom principles. And faith is clearly an important principle in the kingdom of God. So we will examine various encounters in the Gospels where faith is explicitly mentioned and see what we can learn about it.
There is one thing about faith that has intrigued me for some time. Faith is a noun. Faithful the adjective. Faithfully the adverb. Faithfulness is also a noun. But there is no verb form for faith. For that we use a different word in English, Believe. The Greek word has a noun/verb/adjective form, but this one Greek word requires two English words. Isn’t that interesting?
They are both old words, but believe seems to be the older English word.
Believe - Middle English bileven, from Old English belȳfan, belēfan, gelēfan;
Faith - Middle English, from Anglo-Norman fed, from Latin fidēs
Fidēs has a verb form, fidere, and I’m pretty sure fed did as well, yet neither seems to have survived into modern English. I find this fascinating.
To believe is to accept something as true. Faith (belief) is the content of what is believed. So, when we come across expressions like, When Jesus saw their faith… we will be inquiring, “What was it they believed? How would this apply to me today?” Inquiring minds want to know!
As I have gone through the Gospels preparing for this study I have come to the conclusion that there is a distinct possibility that we will not have time to examine every encounter marked by faith. And John! We will probably only look at two there, maybe three. But it is my prayer that what we do consider will encourage, strengthen, and stimulate us to believe Jesus to do great things in us and for us.
Y’know, Jesus is said to have marveled twice, both concerning faith:
When Jesus heard [it], he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
And he marvelled because of their unbelief
We certainly don’t want Jesus marveling at our unbelief, because in that case, he could there do no mighty work. May the Lord grant us grace to have great faith in him!
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