We traveled to Iowa last weekend to visit my daughter who is working for a consulting company out there. She has been living in an apartment, come home of holidays, etc. - emotionally it felt like she was still in college.
One of the purposes of this visit was to look at a house she is buying. Emotionally that DIDN'T feel like she was in college. This had and has a feeling of permanence, of "OK, I am staying out here". It didn't hit me too hard during the weekend because we were running around and trying to get a bunch of things done. However, as I settled in last night to my weekly routine, I began to emotionally understand that my daughter has not only moved out, she has grown up.
This did not come as a surprise for me, but it sure sneaked up on me. Part of why this is challenging is that you always wonder if you have done enough as a parent to prepare them to live in the world; to live successfully in the world. Did you show them love enough, did you teach them enough, did you spend enough time with them, did you release them appropriately, did they know that you loved them, did you mess them up too bad, etc.
This is the hard thing about parenting. There is no coasting. Coasting means slowing down and coming to a stop. You never speed up when you are coasting. You never get to your destination if you just coast. You have to drive; intentionally set a direction and put energy toward it.
I hope that I did that enough; I hope that I am doing that enough (I still have three more to go through this phase).
Monday, January 30, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Does God ever give up? Does He ever just throw up His hands and say "I'm done". At first glance, when I ask myself this question, if feels wrong. Isn't God patient? Doesn't He model the perfection of forbearance? It doesn't feel very loving for God to give up on us.
In one sense, God never gives up. He pursues us, attempts to bring us to Him, invites us, and desires us. His love for us drives Him to pursue us.
Having said that, I do believe that there is a time when God gives up - a better way of saying that would be "lets us go our own way".
In my study of Judges, this section popped up in chapter 2:
20 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.” 23 The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.
He had promised to drive out the nations that lived in Canaan. He promised that the Israelites would have victory over their enemies. What changed?
These statements were given right after the summary of how the Israelites moved into the Canaanite culture and, instead of conquering it, adopted it. They settled into the towns that they had conquered - they set up house, arranged their furniture in the rooms, put the rugs down, hung curtains and settled in. They didn't move toward removing the nations from among them. They settled in.
The problem of settling instead of conquering was that they adopted the worship practices of the idols of these nations. Judges 2 records that they abandoned God and worshiped the idols. From a 3500 years later perspective, it is hard for me to believe that this only took one generation to happen. They knew the stories of God; how He brought them from Egypt, how He carried them for 40 years in the dessert, how He subdued the enemies in Canaan, but they chose to abandon God.
That is the operative word - they chose to abandon God. God pursued them by allowing nations to conquer them and by giving them judges, but they still chose to abandon him. Pursuit after pursuit after pursuit failed - they chose to move away from God instead of move toward Him. After many attempts to pursue, God allowed them to continue in their path and removed the barriers that were in front of them. He didn't give up, He just allowed them to move in the direction that they wanted to move in: in spite of the consequences. (Also see Romans1.)
Obvious question - when will this happen to us? When will God stop putting up guard rails and let us go our own way (which will never result in a life giving result.....)? You never know. You never know when your rebellion will result in God saying "OK, I will let you go your own way; I will not stop you". Read the rest of Judges and see what happens when He allows us to move in our own direction. (And yet He still was waiting to take them back!)
In one sense, God never gives up. He pursues us, attempts to bring us to Him, invites us, and desires us. His love for us drives Him to pursue us.
Having said that, I do believe that there is a time when God gives up - a better way of saying that would be "lets us go our own way".
In my study of Judges, this section popped up in chapter 2:
20 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, 21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.” 23 The LORD had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.
He had promised to drive out the nations that lived in Canaan. He promised that the Israelites would have victory over their enemies. What changed?
These statements were given right after the summary of how the Israelites moved into the Canaanite culture and, instead of conquering it, adopted it. They settled into the towns that they had conquered - they set up house, arranged their furniture in the rooms, put the rugs down, hung curtains and settled in. They didn't move toward removing the nations from among them. They settled in.
The problem of settling instead of conquering was that they adopted the worship practices of the idols of these nations. Judges 2 records that they abandoned God and worshiped the idols. From a 3500 years later perspective, it is hard for me to believe that this only took one generation to happen. They knew the stories of God; how He brought them from Egypt, how He carried them for 40 years in the dessert, how He subdued the enemies in Canaan, but they chose to abandon God.
That is the operative word - they chose to abandon God. God pursued them by allowing nations to conquer them and by giving them judges, but they still chose to abandon him. Pursuit after pursuit after pursuit failed - they chose to move away from God instead of move toward Him. After many attempts to pursue, God allowed them to continue in their path and removed the barriers that were in front of them. He didn't give up, He just allowed them to move in the direction that they wanted to move in: in spite of the consequences. (Also see Romans1.)
Obvious question - when will this happen to us? When will God stop putting up guard rails and let us go our own way (which will never result in a life giving result.....)? You never know. You never know when your rebellion will result in God saying "OK, I will let you go your own way; I will not stop you". Read the rest of Judges and see what happens when He allows us to move in our own direction. (And yet He still was waiting to take them back!)
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Light of the World
Happy New Year! The new year is already one week old - hard to believe. Have been reading Judges in preparation for our Wednesday morning men's group. Some pretty interesting history here. The book of the Judges covers a period of history from about 1350 BC to 1000 BC when Saul was anointed the first king.
There are two things that jumped out to me as I began this study. First, how fast the people forsook God. Notice these words in the second chapter of the book of Judges:
7The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel. ....10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them.
Although the stories of how God had defeated the Israelites was known, told, retold and told again; even though the nations around Israel trembled when they heard what God had done 400 YEARS BEFORE with Egypt, the generation after Joshua faded. They forgot that it was God that delivered them. They doubted the goodness, testimony and word of God and started worshiping the carved poles and sculpted idols of the nations around them. Instead of being a light to the nations around them, they became like them. Their light went out.
The obvious question that I must ask myself is about my light to the world. Is my candle under a bushel? Is the light within me hidden because I am too much like the world? Am I about showing the world what a life obedient to God can look like or do I just look like everyone else - in every area of my life? Do my finances show that priority? Does the use of my time? Do the things that I put into my mind?
Enough to think about. Will go an to the second thing later.......
There are two things that jumped out to me as I began this study. First, how fast the people forsook God. Notice these words in the second chapter of the book of Judges:
7The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel. ....10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them.
Although the stories of how God had defeated the Israelites was known, told, retold and told again; even though the nations around Israel trembled when they heard what God had done 400 YEARS BEFORE with Egypt, the generation after Joshua faded. They forgot that it was God that delivered them. They doubted the goodness, testimony and word of God and started worshiping the carved poles and sculpted idols of the nations around them. Instead of being a light to the nations around them, they became like them. Their light went out.
The obvious question that I must ask myself is about my light to the world. Is my candle under a bushel? Is the light within me hidden because I am too much like the world? Am I about showing the world what a life obedient to God can look like or do I just look like everyone else - in every area of my life? Do my finances show that priority? Does the use of my time? Do the things that I put into my mind?
Enough to think about. Will go an to the second thing later.......
Sunday, January 01, 2012
The beginning of a new year - wow! This is always the time of year when you take stock of life and see what changes need to happen. It is funny how God brings things into your life to give you a push in that direction. Had a opportunity to visit a man named Carl yesterday. Carl found out 3 weeks ago that he had a brain tumor - the fastest growing brain tumor this is currently known to man. I visited him in hospice yesterday and took this picture. He is very close to death - the experts give him about a week or so. This is a picture of Carl in his hospice bed.
Carl is a unique man. The most unique thing is that Carl loves Jesus. He has committed his life to pastoring, being a missionary and being a counselor. I have been impressed with his relationship with Christ. The testimony of his life and the words from his lips always speak of Jesus. It seemed as if every other word out of his mouth was about Jesus.
The thing that simply amazed me in my conversation with Carl yesterday was his worship of God. He statement to me was "God is so gracious to me. I could have had this tumor and illness for years; God is being gracious to me by taking me soon." I really was astonished at his statement. Normally I hear complaint and groaning - not from Carl. He gave glory to God and His abundant grace toward him.
I was reminded of the words of Paul in his last letter to his friend and protege Timothy: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness (II Tim. 4:7-8). Well done, good and faithful servant (Matt. 25:21).
How does this tie into new years? I want to be like Carl. I want to me a man of God like he is. I want to finish my life well and grace filled. I know what I need to do in order to accomplish this. I know that this is not going to happen automatically; without work and focus on my part. I know that there are things that I have to start doing and things that I have to stop doing. I know that if I am ever going to be the kind of man I have to work at it. That is my charge for this new year.
Carl is a unique man. The most unique thing is that Carl loves Jesus. He has committed his life to pastoring, being a missionary and being a counselor. I have been impressed with his relationship with Christ. The testimony of his life and the words from his lips always speak of Jesus. It seemed as if every other word out of his mouth was about Jesus.The thing that simply amazed me in my conversation with Carl yesterday was his worship of God. He statement to me was "God is so gracious to me. I could have had this tumor and illness for years; God is being gracious to me by taking me soon." I really was astonished at his statement. Normally I hear complaint and groaning - not from Carl. He gave glory to God and His abundant grace toward him.
I was reminded of the words of Paul in his last letter to his friend and protege Timothy: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me a crown of righteousness (II Tim. 4:7-8). Well done, good and faithful servant (Matt. 25:21).
How does this tie into new years? I want to be like Carl. I want to me a man of God like he is. I want to finish my life well and grace filled. I know what I need to do in order to accomplish this. I know that this is not going to happen automatically; without work and focus on my part. I know that there are things that I have to start doing and things that I have to stop doing. I know that if I am ever going to be the kind of man I have to work at it. That is my charge for this new year.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Very early on Christmas Eve morning; still trying to adjust to the huge time change from my visit to China. Can't sleep so watched a few WWII documentaries (among other things...). One of the documentaries I watched was on the fall of France in 1940. It took the Germans only five weeks to conquer the country; a country that they were not able to conquer during the whole of WWI.
The documentary presented a few explanations as to the speed of this conquest.
1. Misplaced defenses. The French had spent tons of money and tons of time creating the Maginot line (named after the defense minister who initiated the concept). This was a series of tunnels and pill boxes along the 85 mile French-German border. The problem was, the Germans attacked through the Ardenne Forest and through Belgium - neither of which were protected by the Maginot Line. In addition, the French placed their weakest and least experienced army divisions along the Belgium border and Ardenne forest.
2. Complacency. The French figured that the Maginot Line was impregnable. Although they judiciously maintained and practiced, the feeling was that the Germans could not defeat them.
3. Internal fighting. The French government was in disarray. There was a fight between factions within the cultural that created instability within the leadership of the county.
4. There was an attitude of defeatism within the population. WWI, which had only been over for 20 years, loomed large in the French population's mind. They did not want another long drawn out affair. As soon as it became apparent that the Germans were overwhelming the French army, there was talk of capitulation and armistice.
Does any of this cause you concern as you read it; concerns about the church? Are our defenses misplaced? Are we fighting the right enemy? Do we understand that our adversary is the Devil who is seeking to devour us? Do we understand that the people are held captive by him and do his bidding are not our enemy? Do we gently instruct as Paul taught Timothy (II Tim 2:25; read this verse, it is an incredible verse)? Do we know that our enemy is wise and will attack us on many fronts? Are we looking for our weak spots and moving to reinforce them through study, confession, repentance and reliance on God?
Are we complacent? Are we just trolling along in our spiritual walk, thinking that nothing is going to harm us? Do we understand that the enemy is still active and that he is just waiting for us to put our guard down so he can attack?
Are we putting our energies into fighting among ourselves instead of fighting the enemy? When the world looks at the church, do they see in fighting instead of fighting against the enemy?
Have we given up? Do we have a conqueror attitude (Rom 8:37, I John 4:4)? Have we given up that God will work in us and through us? Have we given up on God?
Lots of questions to think through. Let's not let history repeat itself in the church. I am challenged in a few of these areas, as it is very easy for me to let my guard down, very easy to cost along on the past; forgetting that Satan changes his schemes and I must stay diligent. Think through some of these questions yourself and allow them to challenge you.
The documentary presented a few explanations as to the speed of this conquest.
1. Misplaced defenses. The French had spent tons of money and tons of time creating the Maginot line (named after the defense minister who initiated the concept). This was a series of tunnels and pill boxes along the 85 mile French-German border. The problem was, the Germans attacked through the Ardenne Forest and through Belgium - neither of which were protected by the Maginot Line. In addition, the French placed their weakest and least experienced army divisions along the Belgium border and Ardenne forest.
2. Complacency. The French figured that the Maginot Line was impregnable. Although they judiciously maintained and practiced, the feeling was that the Germans could not defeat them.
3. Internal fighting. The French government was in disarray. There was a fight between factions within the cultural that created instability within the leadership of the county.
4. There was an attitude of defeatism within the population. WWI, which had only been over for 20 years, loomed large in the French population's mind. They did not want another long drawn out affair. As soon as it became apparent that the Germans were overwhelming the French army, there was talk of capitulation and armistice.
Does any of this cause you concern as you read it; concerns about the church? Are our defenses misplaced? Are we fighting the right enemy? Do we understand that our adversary is the Devil who is seeking to devour us? Do we understand that the people are held captive by him and do his bidding are not our enemy? Do we gently instruct as Paul taught Timothy (II Tim 2:25; read this verse, it is an incredible verse)? Do we know that our enemy is wise and will attack us on many fronts? Are we looking for our weak spots and moving to reinforce them through study, confession, repentance and reliance on God?
Are we complacent? Are we just trolling along in our spiritual walk, thinking that nothing is going to harm us? Do we understand that the enemy is still active and that he is just waiting for us to put our guard down so he can attack?
Are we putting our energies into fighting among ourselves instead of fighting the enemy? When the world looks at the church, do they see in fighting instead of fighting against the enemy?
Have we given up? Do we have a conqueror attitude (Rom 8:37, I John 4:4)? Have we given up that God will work in us and through us? Have we given up on God?
Lots of questions to think through. Let's not let history repeat itself in the church. I am challenged in a few of these areas, as it is very easy for me to let my guard down, very easy to cost along on the past; forgetting that Satan changes his schemes and I must stay diligent. Think through some of these questions yourself and allow them to challenge you.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Tomorrow morning I am leaving for a trip to China to check out a potential ministry partner for our missions team. We are going to a place 2 hours outside of Kunming (if anybody knows where that it) - an ancient Yi Town. As I am mentally preparing for this trip, the thing that has been running over and over in my mind is the number of people that live in China. 1.3 billion people. This is more than four times the size of the United States.
The thing that is striking me about this large number is that their history is not one of a Christian heritage, but of communism and atheism. A history devoid of God and the story of Jesus. A history of worshiping fire and other gods. A history that by design, designed by the government and Satan, is meant to keep them away from discovering THE God of the universe.
Yet out of this is growing a church. A massive amount of people are turning to Jesus. The church is growing in spite of sometimes harsh and brutal treatment of believers. A passion to know God and build his church is infecting the lives of millions of people - regardless of the cost. (In fact, the number of people accepting Christ is outpacing the number of church leaders that are developing, leaving somewhat of a leadership void.)
I am contrasting this with the state of the church in America - a country that has a rich history of Christianity. Church attendance is declining. Christianity is in decline and is tepid at best. We seem to be more concerned about being grace filled and tolerant than standing on truth and we are loosing our effectiveness to be salt and light to a nation because no one sees any difference between those who are committed to Christ and those that aren't.
Another telling thing that is playing into my thoughts: I was asked last week by some friends from Ukraine "why don't people in the American church read their Bibles and seek after God". A very telling question about how, at least a corner of the world, views our form of Christianity. I gave them this answer - we don't understand the value of having a relationship with God, we value other things more than we value God and therefore we don't pursue God. It seems to me like, as a community of believers, we have been lulled into complacency; content to dabble in religion and really denying the power of it (hummmm.... see II Timothy 3 if you want to see what this says about our culture).
Bottom line - we have a job to do. We have been charged by our Lord and Master to go and make disciples; people who are committed to obedience. Pray for revival in our nation. Pray that the church will begin to expand like the church in China is.
The thing that is striking me about this large number is that their history is not one of a Christian heritage, but of communism and atheism. A history devoid of God and the story of Jesus. A history of worshiping fire and other gods. A history that by design, designed by the government and Satan, is meant to keep them away from discovering THE God of the universe.
Yet out of this is growing a church. A massive amount of people are turning to Jesus. The church is growing in spite of sometimes harsh and brutal treatment of believers. A passion to know God and build his church is infecting the lives of millions of people - regardless of the cost. (In fact, the number of people accepting Christ is outpacing the number of church leaders that are developing, leaving somewhat of a leadership void.)
I am contrasting this with the state of the church in America - a country that has a rich history of Christianity. Church attendance is declining. Christianity is in decline and is tepid at best. We seem to be more concerned about being grace filled and tolerant than standing on truth and we are loosing our effectiveness to be salt and light to a nation because no one sees any difference between those who are committed to Christ and those that aren't.
Another telling thing that is playing into my thoughts: I was asked last week by some friends from Ukraine "why don't people in the American church read their Bibles and seek after God". A very telling question about how, at least a corner of the world, views our form of Christianity. I gave them this answer - we don't understand the value of having a relationship with God, we value other things more than we value God and therefore we don't pursue God. It seems to me like, as a community of believers, we have been lulled into complacency; content to dabble in religion and really denying the power of it (hummmm.... see II Timothy 3 if you want to see what this says about our culture).
Bottom line - we have a job to do. We have been charged by our Lord and Master to go and make disciples; people who are committed to obedience. Pray for revival in our nation. Pray that the church will begin to expand like the church in China is.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Nazi Collaborators
Have a vacation day today and started it off watching a couple of episodes of "Nazi Collaborators" on the Military Channel (which I only have for two more day and then the free trial goes away - rats). One episode was titled "Beast of the Balkans". It was the recounting of an early "ethnic cleansing" of Serbs in the old Yugoslavia during World War II.
A couple of things jumped out at me as I listened to this episode. First, the magnitude. It was estimated that between 330,000 and 1,000,000 Serbs were killed. No one knows for sure because all the records were destroyed before the Allies recaptured the area from the Germans. Secondly, the brutality. It was reported that even the Germans were a bit queasy about how the Croats were "disposing" of the Serbs. They preferred more brutal methods of killing (slitting throats, shooting to death, etc.) than gassing like the Nazi's did. This upset even the Nazi's "tender sensitivities" (HEAVY sarcasm there). Third, the church was complicit in this cleansing (Orthodox Christians were "forced" to convert to Catholicism or else). The last thing was that one of the prime conspirators in this cleansing, fled Europe at the end of the war and lived "peaceably" in Argentina for 50 years - raising a family and working in a factory - no remorse, no sadness, no "I am sorry" (in fact, he laughed at his trial when evidence was presented against him).
Mind you, this was 1941. This was NOT the dark ages. This was not the Huns hacking and slashing their way across Europe. This was in a "civilized" state. Right...............
Two things strike me and scare me about situations like this. First, the severe hatred it would take to treat someone as subhuman, as a piece of garbage to be thrown away like a used napkin. I cannot fathom how much hatred existed between these two groups (refer to the start of WW I also....) that would drive them to think that it was OK to kill that many people - men, women, children, old people. Second, how defiled their consciences must have been to allow them to do such a thing and not sense, feel or exhibit ANY remorse.
Funny how this happens isn't it. The scriptures speaks of the contrast between living at peace and allowing a root of bitterness to grow up (Hebews 12):
14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
The "root of bitterness" that grew up in the Croats defiled their consciences as a nation and allowed them to murder hundreds of thousands of people. Their consciences were seared closed because they did not feel any pain, any remorse, any sorrow in doing what they did.
OK, so why is this important. This will not happen today, will it? Oh yes it will. If we do not take care of those little roots of bitterness, if we do not confess our sin and keep our conscience clean and pure, roots grow and cause us to "dehumanize" people and treat them like objects. If we can look at someone in our life with spite and anger, we are on the road to having our life consumed by the root of bitterness and our consciences seared.
My advice? Take care of these things when they are small. Do NOT let your heart become hardened in the course of your day. Do not allow your conscience to be seared. Root out the roots of bitterness. Keep watch on your soul so this does not happen. Make EVERY effort, as the writer of Hebrews says, to live at peace.
A couple of things jumped out at me as I listened to this episode. First, the magnitude. It was estimated that between 330,000 and 1,000,000 Serbs were killed. No one knows for sure because all the records were destroyed before the Allies recaptured the area from the Germans. Secondly, the brutality. It was reported that even the Germans were a bit queasy about how the Croats were "disposing" of the Serbs. They preferred more brutal methods of killing (slitting throats, shooting to death, etc.) than gassing like the Nazi's did. This upset even the Nazi's "tender sensitivities" (HEAVY sarcasm there). Third, the church was complicit in this cleansing (Orthodox Christians were "forced" to convert to Catholicism or else). The last thing was that one of the prime conspirators in this cleansing, fled Europe at the end of the war and lived "peaceably" in Argentina for 50 years - raising a family and working in a factory - no remorse, no sadness, no "I am sorry" (in fact, he laughed at his trial when evidence was presented against him).
Mind you, this was 1941. This was NOT the dark ages. This was not the Huns hacking and slashing their way across Europe. This was in a "civilized" state. Right...............
Two things strike me and scare me about situations like this. First, the severe hatred it would take to treat someone as subhuman, as a piece of garbage to be thrown away like a used napkin. I cannot fathom how much hatred existed between these two groups (refer to the start of WW I also....) that would drive them to think that it was OK to kill that many people - men, women, children, old people. Second, how defiled their consciences must have been to allow them to do such a thing and not sense, feel or exhibit ANY remorse.
Funny how this happens isn't it. The scriptures speaks of the contrast between living at peace and allowing a root of bitterness to grow up (Hebews 12):
14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
The "root of bitterness" that grew up in the Croats defiled their consciences as a nation and allowed them to murder hundreds of thousands of people. Their consciences were seared closed because they did not feel any pain, any remorse, any sorrow in doing what they did.
OK, so why is this important. This will not happen today, will it? Oh yes it will. If we do not take care of those little roots of bitterness, if we do not confess our sin and keep our conscience clean and pure, roots grow and cause us to "dehumanize" people and treat them like objects. If we can look at someone in our life with spite and anger, we are on the road to having our life consumed by the root of bitterness and our consciences seared.
My advice? Take care of these things when they are small. Do NOT let your heart become hardened in the course of your day. Do not allow your conscience to be seared. Root out the roots of bitterness. Keep watch on your soul so this does not happen. Make EVERY effort, as the writer of Hebrews says, to live at peace.
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