The Gift

One day when going up to the Temple, Peter and John came upon a lame man who begged them for money.  Like Jesus, who had no place to lay his head, his disciples had no money.  Instead of just saying, "Sorry, we don't have any money to give you," Peter replied,  “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk" (Acts 3:6).

While the man did not receive what he had asked for, he did not go away empty-handed.  In fact, what he recieved was worth more than silver or gold, much more.  Sometimes what people ask for is not what they really need, it is simply what they know to ask for.  If they knew better, they might ask for a hand up instead of a hand out or a word of God instead of coin of the realm.

Sometimes, what people ask for is simply not something you have to give.  You have a decision as to whether to pass on by or offer them something else.  Perhaps you could direct them to a shelter if you don't have the money to put them up for the night.  You might give them your lunch, taking the opportunity to fast and pray for them while allowing them to have nourishment.

Maybe, not having whatever you are asked, you could just stop and take the time to hear their story, express your concern, pray with them, giving them the gift of dignity and compassion.  Perhaps you can share your witness to them and tell what Christ has done for you.  Rather then just ignore the or preach at them, you can actually reach out to them and truly share what you have.

The gift of your time, your listening ear, your kind words, your message of hope - these gifts are much more valuable than money and may be what one is truly hungering for.  I'm not discounting the gift of food or housing or money, these all are true gifts and may be what is called for at the moment, and you may be in the position to grant them.  But when not, why not offer the gift that you have to offer at the moment?  Jus' Ask'n.

A Bird in The Hand

This past Saturday, my wife and I went with another couple from our church to a hummingbird banding, where a federally licensed individual banded the tiny bird's leg and then placed it in the hand of a registered participant.

The first tiny bird flew from the individual's hand so fast that all you saw was a blur accompanied by the characteristic hum as the minute creature sped to the top of a nearby tree.  The second little creature did not move.  He seemed to like the warmth and restful safety of the young girl's hand in which he lay.  After a bit of time, the wildlife agent doing the banding tapped the girl's hand fro under-neath and the little warm-blooded a ion took sudden flight.

There is an old saying, "A bid in the hand is worth two in the bush."  In this case, a bird in the hand is worth a pre-registration and a two-hour drive to a federal reserve.  It was amazing to to learn of the hundreds of different kinds of hummingbirds (over 350).  The range those tiny wings carries the little critter is thousands of miles.  The Ruby-throated hummingbird that we see commonly in Arkansas, has a single leg of its migration over the Gulf of Mexico, which (of course) must be flown non-stop.

The variations in species, habitat, mating practices, coverage range, etc., are absolutely mind-boggling.  And we are only considering the hummingbird.  I cannot begin to imagine the variations of the 9,956 total bird species, let alone the 950,000 species of insects.  Are you getting the feeling that the world is complex and highly engineered?  It's almost as if there is so much intricate design on planet earth, multiplied by the trillions across the universe, that there must be a Designer.

Actually, it is precisely like that: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands" (Ps 19:1).  Everywhere we look, we see design not disorder - this world and our universe respond to laws set in motion  to maintain that order.  There is noting about the cosmos that speaks of the chaos, disorder and pure chance of general evolutionary theory (yes evolution is just a theory). By the way, the very name "cosmos" is defined as "the universe seen as a well-ordered whole."

Imagine that, a tiny bird in the hand reflected the complexity and order of an entire universe as designed and ordered by the Great Designer himself: Almighty God!  Jus' Say'n.

Angels Unaware

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it" (Heb 13:2).  Yesterday, I believe this passage played out in Tandie's life.

Shortly after I had gotten home, while Tandie and I were in the kitchen talking, the doorbell rang.  I. Opened the door to find a woman standing there with a package of beef bones.  She said, "I met your wife earlier today and I wondered if I could talk with her."  I told her to come on in.

Tandie's eyes grew as big as saucers as her face lit up like a sunrise.  She didn't know the woman's name but remembered her from the Kroger meat counter.  Tandie had to tried to buy some beef bones for a broth she was making and the stranger was on her first day back on the job after staying home with her terminally ill husband for five years.

Kroger did not have any beef bones but the woman said that she would keep an eye out for some.  Tandie tore off part of a bank deposit slip with her name and address, giving it to her should she come across any.  She thought nothing more of it.

But the woman thought a lot about it.  Not having any at Kroger, after her shift, she went to Harps, where she worked until staying home to care for her husband.  She found the bones and brought them to Tandie.  Tandie was so taken by the stranger's kindness that she said, "Oh please, stay and have dinner with us!"

The woman replied, "Only if I can help prepare the meal."  Tandie agree and then quietly said to me, "You'll have to go to tonight's Bible study without me after all.  I understood and replied, "I'll tell them that you stayed home to "entertain an angel unaware."

Actually, I think they were both entertaining Angels that heretofore they had not known.  They both brought a blessing from God to each other as they prepared a meal together, ate together and visited until I got home after the Bible study and another meeting at a little after 10pm.

Neither Tandie nor I have any doubts that God had arranged a divine appointment yesterday.  And I'm convinced that both women were recipients of heavenly blessings sent from God, which is the work of an angel.  The woman acted upon the compassion she felt for Tandie.  Tandie acted upon the gratitude she felt toward the woman.  Both acted upon God's promoting to be hospitable.

The evening was a godsend for both women, either of which could have passed on the opportunity God set before them with conventional endorsement of being too busy and refusing to trust strangers.  However, both would have missed out on the blessing God has in store when we "entertain angels unaware."  Jus' Say'n.

The Visit

Brandon and I, as the new boys on the block (he the new preacher and I the new elder), have been trying to visit in the homes of church members, past and present, each week.  We visit one family each week and intend to continue this practice until we have visited every home in our congregation.  Why?  Is this standard practice?  No, but we believe it is best practice.

The motivation for me goes back to time spent with my mentor, Lynn Anderson.  He had written a book about church shepherds entitled, "They Smell Like Sheep."  The premise is that shepherds spend time with the sheep rather than simply meeting in an office, coming up with ideas and dispensing them to the church, which is not the biblical model of leadership.

As the apostle Peter instructs the church, pastors (another word for shepherd) are to work at "not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock" (1 Pet 5:3).  The biblical model is not corporate but communal.  A congregation is not a business but rather a family of believers.  Leadership, therefore, is relationship not rule based.

Our work is to know and be known within the congregation while developing our relationship with the Lord so that we can be worthy of calling the church to "Follow [our] example, as [we] follow the example of Christ" (1 Cor 11:1).  Member cannot follow what they do not see.  We want to be seen up close and we want to come to know the members in a way that allows us to better minister.

As we visit, we get a clearer idea of who each family and individual is as well as what their lives are like.  We believe is will help us to better shepherd and allow members to have a better sense of who e are and what we are about.  We hope to become the leaders God calls us to be and the church needs us be.  We covet your prayers and your patience as we "get our sea legs" so to speak.

What is most important is that we honor God in how we serve as leaders so that we can be channels of his word, his love, his presence.  And, as a church family, it is job one to be that for each other and our community.  Our prayer is that you will help us lead you deeper into that calling

To those in outside our community, we encourage you shepherds to seek after God's heart in serving his people.  And, we encourage the members to lift up their leaders in prayer and in their hearts so as to help them be what God has in mind for them nd for you.  Jus' Say'n.

Silence

In Revelation 8:1, we read, "When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour."  It has been that this is biblical proof that there will be no women in heaven.  I would never say such a sexist, non-politically correct thing, nor would I repeat it.  That sort of thing just isn't funny.  Well, actually that is kind of funny.  But, I'm still not going to repeat it.  You'll just have to re-read it for yourself.

Sorry, had to get that out of my system in order to focus on the true meaning of the passage: The awesome glory of God.  A glory that will leave us speechless.  In the song, "I Can Only Imagine," the question is posed, "will I sing hallelujah or will I be able to speak at all," and the answer is for a time, we will not be able to speak at all.

I can remember the first time I saw the Rocky Mountains, I was speechless.  The first time I saw the ocean, I stood in silence.  There have been those times in my life and in yours when all we can do is stand there with our bald faces hanging out in silence. When we stand before God, there will be nothing we can say, nothing we can add to the glory of the moment, only quiet reverence will do.

Have you ever been up in the mountains our out in the desert where the night sky can be seen in all its glory?  It's amazing, it's breathtakingly wondrous and it is but an indication of the glory of God: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands" (Ps 19:1).

Heaven itself is but a reflection of the unspeakable glory of God: "It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal" (Rev 21:11).  When it comes to His glory, there simply aren't any words.  To stand in His glory will leave us weak with awe and wonder.  And I believe will require the power of their  Holy Spirit to give us speech.

What will it be like?  I cannot say.  I don't have the words.  In fact, as the apostle Paul discovered in a vision, there are no words when he "was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things:  (2 Cor 12:4). We can only imagine.  We will have no words.  We just have to be there.  Jus' Say'n.

Poor

There was a period in my youth when we lived in a four room house: living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms.  There was no electricity or indoor plumbing in this little shack, nor was there any insulation.  It was really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter.  There was a wood stove and one could get really warm by getting up close, which lasted until you moved away from the stove.

We grew or raised most of what we ate, which was supplemented by fish from local creeks along with squirrels and rabbits, who were unfortunate enough to find themselves in our crosshairs.  We also received some help from the government in the form of commodities: cheese, peanut butter, powdered milk and powdered eggs.

We were poor, although apparently not as poor as those "children in China who had nothing to eat" my mother reminded us of when ever we might not want to eat everything put before us.  I remember making the mistake of saying, "Why don't we send this to them?"

The funny thing is that I didn't know we were poor.  Even while digging through the county dump for treasures that others had thrown away, wearing my sewed up, patched over hand-me-down clothes, I didn't get it that we were what some called back then, "poor white trash."  Today, we would have been labeled, "the working poor."

I really thought we were dong as well as most folks.  And, considering many of the people who lived around us, we were comparatively doing OK.  If we had owned a TV, I would have known by the commercials advertising all the things we did not have, just how poor we were, but of course I would have had to have had electricity to even plug one if, had we owned one.

The reason I bring this up is not to lament how tough we had it, as I didn't know we had it tough.  I'm sharing it with you to illustrate how one can be really poor and not know it.  I didn't think in terms of getting out of poverty, as I didn't know I was in it.

As sad as being materially poor and not even be aware enough to try try to come out of it, that pales in comparison to those who are spiritually poor but do not have an awareness.  Many live today, blindly going along as if hey are doing just fine or even see themselves as doing quite well - all the time missing out on God's blessing now and disqualified for his riches in glory:

"You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see" (Rev 3:17-18).

There are people all around us who have no idea.  They think they are doing just fine, that they have it all worked out.  The truth is that we don't have the means by ourselves to work it out for we "all sin and fall short of God's glory" (Rom 3:23).  Our only hope is in Jesus for "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Unless you have accepted Christ and are saved by his grace, you have nothing of value.  Everything you think you have will be left behind as you leave this world to stand before the Throne of God.  You will have nothing except what you have in Christ.  Jus' Say'n.

Tossing Anxiety

A favorite verse of many is 1 Peter 5:10, which reads, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."  The very idea of tossing our anxiety over to God and relaxing in our spirits is very appealing.  But despite our regard for the promise and our desire to be anxiety free, we tend to find ourselves stressed out contrary to our "Too blessed to be stressed" bumper stickers.

Why is that?  Why do so many Christians who want to be free and embrace 1 Peter 5:10 don't toss their anxieties into the waiting arms of God?  What prevents us?  Perhaps it is that we don't understand the process of casting our cares on God.  Process?  Yep.  Let's take a look:

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings" (vv. 6-9).

Did you notice that along with the casting, there was humble, be alert and resist.  The first step in casting our care on God is to humbly accept the fact that we are broken and unable to fix ourselves, needing God's help.

Second, we are to stay alert or keep watch for the devil's attempts to blindside us with the temptation to ignore God's promise and focus on the problems of life.  He seeks to prevent us from focusing on the fact that God is faithful and he has always seen us through, always provided a season on refreshing.

Finally, we are to take a firm stand against the devil, refusing to accept his lies and his accusations.  Choosing to trust in God's power and goodness instead.  Refusing to listen to the devil's lies, leaning in to hear God's promise of victory.

Anxiety has to do with outcomes.  Since our outcome is assured to be victorious, why would we be stressed?  We wouldn't be.  Don't let the devil steal your blessing.  Come humbly before God, watch carefully in prayer and then take a firm stand against the devil's trap.  Then, having tossed you anxiety, live free before God, laying down a heavy heart.  Jus' Say'n.

Doing Faith

Historically, one of the big dividing lines in the church has been whether we are saved by works or by faith.  And the answer is "Wrong!"  Wait, what?  "Wrong?"  Right!  We are wrong to think that we are saved by either faith or works for the Bible clearly says, "For you are saved by GRACE through faith, not by works..." (Eph 2:8-9).

At the same time, it is wrong to think that faith and works are not integral to salvation or that they are unrelated in God's salvific theme for "It is impossible to please God without faith as the one who comes to God must BELIEVE that he exists and is a rewarder of those who earnestly SEEK after hi" (Heb 11:6).

God does all the saving, not us and not the church.  But those who are being saved are believing in God's will and power to save, and are being "transformed" (Rom 12:2).  To the point: When we believe in God, we accept his grace and begin to live as servants in his kingdom.  We are changed by what we believe and that change is evident in what we do.  If there is no doing, there is no beliveing and if there is no believeing, grace does not abound.

Consider the words of James: "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" (2:14-17).

Biblical, life-changing faith, changes one's life and is demonstrated in what one does.  While you are not saved by works, you nonetheless "… work out your salvation...for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose" (Phil 2:12-13).

Specifically, the grace that we accept by faith works itself out in our lives as we go about living.  It changes us and we reflect that change in what we say and do, and how we treat others.  If there is no change in our doing, there is no change in our believing and therefore no grace in our living and no change in our being - we are just being ourselves and that is just not enough.

We must "be transformed into His image" (2 Cor 3:18).  And, that tranformation will be seen in us by a "doing faith," which shares the grace of God in the way we deal with the world around us.  Jus' Say'n.

Guilt-Free

The writer of the Book of Hebrews speaks of the New Covenant God has made with mankind, a covenant written not on stone like the 10 Commandments, but one written upon the hearts and minds of God's people.

This covenant, not written on stone, but on the heart was not just new in content, it was a complete game changer.  Unlike the first covenant that had no power to take away the guilt of one's sin, only rolling them forward, "But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins" (Heb 10:3), the covenant wiped the slate clean: "Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more" (vs. 17).

By the blood of Christ on the Cross, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Father completely removes sins so as to leave nothing to be remembered against us - ever.  So how come we keep bringing them to mind, how come we won't forget them?  Why is it that we live with regret, allowing the guilt of sins forgotten by God to weigh our spirits down?  Why do we keep remembering what God keeps forgetting?

Simple answer: We are listening to the wrong voice.  Instead of listening to the voice of God, who tells us to forget about those sins of the past, laying our guilt down with the memory, we listen to Satan, the Accuser, who keeps reminding us of our sins and insisting that we still bear the guilt of failures and mistakes God's Books no longer record.

Simple cure: Stop fixating on the blunders of the past that Satan keeps digging up and start focusing on the blessings of the future that God has uncovered: "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory" (Col 3:2-4).  No guilt, just glory.  Jus' Say'n.

In His Steps

I don't remember any of the specifics of the conversation other than it was on some kind of media and an individual claiming to be a Christian was defending his giving in to temptation instead of taking the higher road like Jesus would have by saying, "Well, he is the Son of God and I'm not."

His defense failed in two critical points: 1) Actually, despite his protest and our propensity to give in to sin, Christians are God's sons and daughters: "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 Jn 3:1).

And, 2) Despite the fact that Jesus is the "One and only from the Father" (Jn 1:14), he faced life with the same human condition as ourselves: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are---yet he did not sin" (Heb 4:15).

Jesus did not come into the world to show us how to live if only we had the divine ability to do so like himself.  "Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death---even death on a cross" (Phil 2:7-8).

He became like us in the flesh, calling us to become like him in the Spirit, allowing God to "...to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" (Eph 3:20) - even resist temptation.

Mark Twain once quipped, "I can resist anything except temptation."  And we often side with him saying, "I just couldn't help myself" or "I just couldn't resist."  The truth is, despite the challenge and the fact that we will give in at times ("for all have sinned and fall short of God's glory" Rom 3:23), we really can resist, taking the higher road following in the path of Jesus.

No, it won't be easy and yes we will fail at times but our calling as disciples (followers) of Jesus is precisely that, to follow in his steps: "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps" (1 Pet 2:21). Jus' Say'n

Write or Wrong

Perhaps you've heard of the recent trend in schools to forego teaching children to write in cursive.  Conventional wisdom suggests that cursive is going the way of the buggy whip, simply not something people of the Digital Age have a need for anymore.

In today's world, who writes a note when texting is so much easier and more convenient?  With smart phone in hand, why ever put a hand to paper at all?  Do we really need to write on a piece of paper, stuff it in an envelope, put a stamp on it and wait for days for a communication process that could be accomplished in seconds with the mobile computer in your hand?

Do we really need to be able to write in cursive or are we wrong to let is slip away?  That question is similar to asking whether we need to be able to read a chronograph watch in a digital age or be able to figure math in your head when your phone in your hand has a calculator.  Are these simple relics of a by-gone age or is there some value in maintaining them?

I personally like the fact that I know numbers.  I can figure out what to tip a waitress before someone can pull their phone out of their pocket.  If the battery runs out, I can still compute using my brain within.  I wear a chronograph watch because looking at one shows me the time instead of telling me the time.  I can see what time it is, what time it was and what time it will be as I look at the position of the hands on the dial.  A digital watch can only tell you what time it is.

Cursive writing does something that keyboarding cannot do as well - it connects you to a piece of paper that allows for a flow from your brain to the paper's surface.  In counseling, journaling has long been a very useful tool as it allows for the outward flow of an inward trouble.  The movement of the hand across a pad with pen in hand has a therapeutic effect.

Cursive writing has a personal touch that simply cannot be replicated by a digital imprint, it is an extension of yourself that is uniquely you.  When a loved one leaves a hand-written note, you can tell even without a signature because it is uniquely their hand-writing.  Things written centuries ago can be identified as to source by the cursive marks on a page.

Speaking of identifying, how does one identify a signature if no one knows how to write or read in cursive?  Are we to, in effect, leave a digital X?  Would printing your name actually replace signing your name?  If one cannot read cursive, how does one acknowledge a signature?  Do we really lose nothing by resigning cursive writing to a place in history?

Today, I don't have to memorize Scripture, I can just look it up on the Bible app in my iPhone.  But if I relied solely on that, I would to have Scripture ingrained in my head.  Scripture lives in my brain because it is committed to memory.  It is there in that instant when I am faced with temptation or trying to make an important decision.  The Scritture written in my mind and impressed in my heart is always with me.  Digital recall will often be out of reach in the instant needed.

Yesterday evening, I was in an elders' meeting.  I had my iPhone at hand but I also had a small note pad and a pen.  I jotted things down in cursive that were said, which I wanted to reflect on later.  When I decide to read those notes, I may well put them in digital form to store and/or share.  Those notes are uniquely mine and I will recognize them and even remember the setting in which they were written.  Cursive has a power and a presence that digital lacks.

Do we need to write cursive?  Are we wrong to digitize our writing completely?  I am not certain that we need it, but I am convinced that we will be missing something important and that we will be lesser as a society without it.

For me, it was a write (pun intended "rite") of passage when I went from printing to cursive.  It was an important part of my journey to adulthood: "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me" (1 Cor 13:11).  Jus' Say'n.

Prosperity Gospel

You are, no doubt, somewhat familiar with the prosperity gospel that is expounded on by tele-vangelists.  They offer a discipleship that is marked by health and wealth as God intends for us to be happy and whole.  And, of course, if you send in a little "seed money" in faith, to their ministry, the gospel train of blessings will soon be on its way to a stop near you.

They support their teaching with passages that assure us prosperity in Christ such as "my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name" (Jn 16:23) and "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (Jn 10:10).  You see, God wants us to have an abundant life, a life marked by health and wealth, which he will give us if only we ask.  Right?  Wrong!

The wrong isn't the abundant part, it is the interpretation of abundant where many go south.  To think that God's desire for his faithful is that they have all the physical and material things they want flies in the face of how he treated his most faithful.

Tell me which apostle gained wealth and had a life of more ease by following Christ?  How were the faithful prophets treated?  Consider what Jesus said to one who wanted to follow him, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Mt 8:20).  And listen to the words of the apostle, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Cor 11:1).

The error the prosperity gospel crowd makes is assuming that their idea of abundant life is the same as God's.  But the Lord is clear in saying, "my thoughts are not your thoughts" (Isa 55:8), that his thoughts are higher above ours "than the heavens are above the earth" (v. 9).  He rebuffs our idea of riches, saying "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich" (Rev 3:18).

Do you remember the materially wealthy individual came to Jesus asking what he needed to do?  Listen to what Jesus told him: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me" (Mt 19:21).   He went on to warn, "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God" (v. 24).

They key to understanding the "ask and receive" promise is to as for anything "in my name."  When we ask according to his will, his hope, his design for us; he will give us whatever we ask.  As parents, we want to give our children whatever they ask for but will quickly say no to unhealthy requests.

 God doesn't particularly want us to be terribly invested in this world but rather in the next.  It is our giving, not getting that increases our heavenly treasure.  It is sacrifice, not ease and comfort that produces Christian character.  Heavenly treasure and spiritual wealth is what God wants to pour out on us, not useless material and physical possessions that will simply fade away.  Jus' Say'n.

Thankful For That?

Can you imagine being thankful for the worst thing that ever happened to you?  Seriously, could you take what has been a terrible loss and muster up a thankful spirit for having had the experience?  Doesn't even seem to make sense, does it?  We are, hopefully, grateful for the blessings of life, but the curses?  And, yet, that is exactly what we are called to do, to be"always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph 5:20).

Giving thanks for everything, not just some things - giving thanks for the terrible and the terrific?  Really?  Really!  However, it might help if we reframed what we consider to be a "curse" and see it has a gift or opportunity instead.  Jesus' brother, James, writes, "Consider it pure joy...whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance....that you may be mature and complete..." (1:2-4).

What happens in this world to God's children does not have the same meaning as it does to those outside the body of Christ, for the Bible assures us that "God works for the good of those who love him" (Rom 8:28).  Every experience a follower of Jesus has brings him closer to being with Christ.  Every good thing is a blessing to encourage us and every hardship is a challenge to strengthen us.

What happens in this life is not a permanent condition but a transitory part of our journey home.  And, as long as we arrive home, the journey was successful.  Crossing the mountains is as much a part as passing through the valleys.  Some parts of the journey are more difficult than others, but all part of the journey led home if that is where you wound up.

And, when we are following in the steps of Jesus together, even the death of a loved on is not a curse, that loved one is safe in the arms of Jesus.  It is a difficult part of the journey for we that are left behind but it is a tremendous blessing for our loved one to be given an early assist home.  We will miss them now, but be rejoined with them later in Glory that they have already been experiencing.

A loss of a job can result in the gain of new opportunities to serve God more faithfully.  A loss of health may produce a better perspective of life and it's terminal reality.  A loss of money may help to bring us needed humility.  But whatever the loss and whatever the gin, if we are faithful, we are making progress to our home, which is the point.

Don't just get through, get thankful.  Enjoy every sweet thing God allows and embrace every sour thing as well in gratitude, knowing God is good all the time and all the time, God is good. If you. Are in Christ, your life is in his hands.  And, he will deliver you.  Jus' Say'n.

Adoption

Close relatives of mine, years ago, adopted two small children from India where they lived in the extreme poverty of a lower caste and suffered the harsh parenting of a father, who was so twisted in spirit that he finally killed their mother and committed suicide in their presence.

My relatives, knowing all the history of these two young children, loved them just where they were, how they were, "warts and all" as my Dad would say.  But, they didn't leave them where they were, living under the same conditions, following the same traditions or even speaking the same language.

Instead, they brought them to the United States, raised them in a loving home, took them to Bible class, bought them all new clothes, taught them new standards of hygiene, fed them new kinds of food, sent them to school, raised them with new standards and impressed on them new ideals.  While my relatives loved them just as they were, they also loved them out of that state of being.

Contrary to populace thought, to love and accept someone where he/she is does not mean to agree to leave them in that state.  It may men quite the opposite.  It may mean to love them enough to help them get to a new state of being.

God loves you just the way you are, "warts and all.  He loved the whole world in its sinful, rebellious state of being.  But he loved us too much to leave us there, where death and destruction would be our destiny: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3:16).

God loves the same-sex couple but he calls them to the heterosexual lifestyle for which we are designed.  He loves the drug addicted but calls them to dependence on the Spirit instead.  He loves the murderers, thieves and liars, but calls them to productive, law-obeying lives.  God does not, despite the claims of our permissive society, call us to be happy in whatever state we are in, rather he calls us to “Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Pet 16).

Yes, God loves you just as you are, just where you are but he calls you to be where he is and become like him because that's what adoption means.  It means to choose someone outside your family, include them into it and raise them as your own, not let them go their own way.  Jus' Say'n.

Zero Sum

In game and economic theory, a zero-sum is a mathematical representation of a situation in which each participant's gain or loss is balanced by the gain or loss of the other participants.  In other words, regardless of what you do, you haven't made any progress.

Unfortunately, for many, their religion is precisely that: Zero Sum.  Regardless of what they can claim as religious accomplishment, they have not made any progress in their faith journey.  They may go to church every Sunday, read their Bible every day, contribute 10% or even more of their income and even serve as a deacon or elder without gaining any ground as a disciple of Christ.

Really?  One can be submerged in religious activity and gain nothing at all?  Precisely.  "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you'" (Mt 7:22-23).

How is that possible?  It is possible because religious activity is not the point of being a disciple, it is not the goal God has in mind for us.  Jesus didn't die in order to get us to become church goers or Bible readers, he died to redeem us, to allow us to lay aside our old selfish self and become new.  Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation" (Gal 6:15).

Religious activity is a by-product, not the objective.  If we get caught up in "doing church," we will miss being the church as the church isn't meant to be a religious organization but rather a relational organism.  "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing: (1 Cor 13:1-3).

When Jesus was asked what the Greatest Commandment was, he replied, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt 22:37-39).  If we miss that point, our religion is pointless.  It is zero sum.  Jus' Say'n.

Two Scents

When one says that something smells good, that is not altogether true.  The truth is that while it may smell good to that individual, it may smell awful to someone else.  If it were true that things smelled objectively good, there wouldn't be such a huge market for different colognes and perfumes.  Some love the smell of musk.  Others would say, I don't like that, it smells musky.

What goes into the allure or repulsion of a smell is not just the scent itself but what the scent conjures up in the spirit of the one who smells.  For instance, when I moved to Scott City, Kansas in the early 80s, I could not believe the awful smell coming from the local cattle lots.  But, as a local beef producer pointed out to me, that was the smell of money!  To him it was the sweet smell of success; to me it was putrid smell of natural fertilizer pushed about by the endless Kansas winds.

When I fire up my grill and toss a couple of steaks on it, a savory smell of mouth-watering beef fills the neighborhood - to me.  To a member of PETA, it would be the ungodly smell of an innocent life, murdered and burned for the murderous appetite of a heathen.  By the way, to them PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.  To me PETA stands for People for the Eating of Tasty Animals.  Objectivity is not the basis for savory verses smelly.

A biblical example of this truth is found in 2 Corinthians 2:15-16, "For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life."  Christians are to be the pleasing aroma of Christ, which is the putrid smell of death to the enemies of God.

In ancient times after a victorious military campaign, the victors would have a procession leading back into their capital city.  At the front of the procession, the victors would be carrying burning incense that was the smell of victory to them but the smell of defeat to the conquered who were brought along in chains at the end.

This truth helps us to understand the great divide in our country today.  If you are pro life, you are offensive to those who are pro-choice.  If you support the traditional family, you are a stench to the same-sex crowd.  Atheists are nauseated by the scent of the God-fearing.  Christmas is both a delight and an affront, depending upon whom is being asked.

So, what does all this mean for Christians?  It means that every word, though or deed has two scents. To one it will be savory, to the other it will be sickening.  It also means that we cannot be attractive to everyone.  In choosing the path of Christ, we necessarily become putrid to the enemies of the cross.  And, if we try to straddle the middle, we become an affront to God: "So, because you are lukewarm---neither hot nor cold---I am about to spit you out of my mouth" (Rev 3:16).

The bottom line is that we have to make a choice: "But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve....But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" (Josh 24:15).  Jus' Say'n.

Spiritual Fruit

In our Wednesday night study of the Holy Spirit, utilizing the Francis Chan book, The Fogotten God, we discussed what distinguished a spirit-filled person from one who wears not.  Based on a reading of Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law," we concluded that "love" was the "fruit" an the rest were manifestations of the fruit.

What makes the Spirit-filled individual stand out is the love of the Godhead working out in the individual.  The Spirit-filled individual, out of love, will be joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled.  And, to the degree a person is Spirit-led, that is the degree in which these manifestations are present.

As proof of our deduction, consider earlier verses in that same chapter: "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself''....So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (vv. 14-16).  Notice that the Law of God is fulfilled by love, which is equated with walking by the Spirit.

When we love people, we will choose to do good not harm.  Commands to not steal from, lie to or kill are not necessary when we love someone.  And, to love those we don't even like and may even hate us comes from the Spirit of Jesus who directs, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven" (Mt 5:43-45a).

The fruit of the Spirit, that which sets us apart from the world at large, is that we truly love just as Christ loves: "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (Jn 13:35).  Jus' Say'n.

Autonomy

When people make a selfish choice, often destructive or ill advised, they often say something like, "It's my life, I can do what I want!"  In a land built on the notion of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," personal freedom and individual choice is held at a premium.  For many, it trumps (no political pun intended) every other consideration.

Men, and a growing number of women, leave their families in pursuit of personal fulfillment or desire.  They say things like, "It's time to take care of me" or "I need to follow my own life" or "I just need to be me."  Translation: "I just need to selfishly do what I want."  It reminds me of the old Schlitz beer commercial, "You only go around once in life.  Grab all the gusto you can" (apparently that gusto was easier to grab if you had a six-pack).

Even in the Christian community you hear, "God just wants me to be happy."  Really?  Is that indeed the teaching of the Bible?  Not!  What the Bible has to say is quite to the contrary: "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God---even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved" (1 Cor 10:31-33).

What if God so loved himself that he did not send his only Son so that we could believe on him and live (cf. Jn 3:16)?  What if Jesus' prayer in the garden ended in "yet not your will but mine be done" (cf. Mk 14:36)?  What if the Holy Spirit refused to dwell in us, preferring the heavenly abode?

Do you catch my drift here?  The teaching and the example to the Lord is selfless not selfish.  We are not called as Christians to get all the gusto we can, "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh" (Rom 13:14).  We are here to share all the grace that we can.

Getting all you can for yourself is not only unbiblical, it is unsatisfying:  'In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive' ” (Acts 20:35).  We are created in the image of God, who is a giver, not a taker.  For us to fulfill our creative design, we must focus on giving, not getting.

While we are created with the autonomous ability of personal choice, the choice that serves to bring us closer to God and more in keeping with our purpose in life is to think of others first.  We are called to be like Jesus, who "came to serve, not be served" (Mt 20:28).  Jus' Say'n.

Turning Over Temptation

The Bible assures us that "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it" (1 Cor 10:13).

But how does that work?  Are we to expect a nudge on the shoulder and a shaft of light, pointing to the way out?  Will God indeed simply manifest a way around, over or through the temptation before us?  Are we passive participants, simply moved past the point of temptation?  No, we are not bystanders in the battle with temptation, simply waiting for God to pluck us out of harm's way; "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh" (Rom 13:14).

God's act of providing the means to overcome temptation begins before the temptation arrives.  He provides us the Word and the Spirit of Christ with which we are to be immersed so that when the temptation is before us, God's power is with us.  When we saturate our minds with the Word of God, we have an inner standard that serves to point out destructive behavior.  And, when we seek after the Spirit of Christ, clothing ourselves with him, we have the inner power to turn away from that behavior, regardless of its pull on our flesh.

God does not promise to lift us above the fray or take us out of the battle.  Instead, he calls us turn to him in our brokenness and in the overburden of spiritual warfare for the strength and understanding, which allow us to overcome: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Mt 11:28-30).

Notice the injunction to "Turn and Learn" in the passage above as we come to him and learn from hm.  As we turn away from our own desires and understandings to the Lord, we receive the cover of His presence and the power which comes from His Spirit.  Temptation loses its power when we are focused on the power and presence of God.  Jus' Say'n.