Road- Runners Or Road Builders

Several years ago, while traveling in New Mexico, I was privileged to see one of those funny little Road-runners I had heard so much about. With all respect to God’s creative touch, I think He might have “missed a beat” when He made this tiny bird. Either that, or else He had a great sense of humor. The T.V. comedies show this bird, running down the road at great speed, saying “beep beep”, “beep beep”!

Sometimes, I begin to feel like the road runner myself. I am moving fast, making much noise, but really not amounting to much, or accomplishing anything of importance.

By contrast, a study of John the Baptist reminds us that he considered himself to be a road-builder. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” he said, “make his paths straight!” His was the serious task of putting himself out, in order to put someone else in. “I must decrease,” he told his disciples, but “he (meaning Jesus) must increase!” (John 3:30)

Today, I suppose, we would call John the “Advance Man.” Years ago, the traveling circuses had them. Today’s politicians have them. They make the preliminary arrangements. It is like Ed McMann saying: “He-e-e-e-re’s Johnny!”

And today, we must be the ones to say, “here is the One you have been waiting for!” And we must stop “beep-beeping” with the Road-runners of a secular society, and begin the road-building that is costly and important. There are children to be taught; there are patterns of honesty and virtue to be shared; there are lessons to be learned about love and forgiveness; there are the hungry to be fed and the sick to be visited; there are those in jail who need our love and the shut-ins who are lonely.

Sometimes we laughingly talk about the committees that are not committed, the Boards that are bored, the Trustees who cannot be trusted and the stewards who are in a stew. Somehow I don’t like the image of myself as racing around, performing meaningless duties of nonsense. I have been given a more important task, and that is to help build a highway for the King of Kings. To this end, I must be faithful!

Have You Had An Affair?

Today, we live in a world where increasingly, morality is on the skids. Soap operas, fiction, and fact spell out again and again the “affairs” that are going on. “Affairs” with a secretary, “affairs” with another man’s wife, “affairs” in the Senate chambers, “affairs” in suburban communities, and the list goes on and on.

But, in fairness, we also need to add those “affairs” of righteousness. So many, in fact, that they might almost offset today’s scandal sheets. In the letter to the Hebrew Christians, the author draws a panoramic screen showing that great line of Godly people, from Abel, through Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham and down to the martyrs of the Christian faith. People who had an “affair” with God...one so real, and so compelling, that it became more desirous for them than life itself.

Sometimes today, we only meet the very minimum requirements of faith. But for the early Church fathers, this was not the case. For them, God was no fiction of the mind, no figment of the imagination. They believed that through Jesus Christ, God had dealt with them, and was continuing to deal with them. They had come to grips with God, and they believed that the incredible could happen...and it did!

For the early Church fathers, “faith was as real as potatoes.” (From the prayer of Dr. Peter Marshall). It was “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1). It was real. With this kind of faith, they “moved mountains, they conquered Kingdoms, stopped the mouths of lions, won strength out of weakness.” (Heb. 11:33,34)

Faith is an “affair” of the heart, of the hands, of the feet, and of the head. It is a matter of coming to know that God exists and is real. Join the scandal sheet of the Church. Have an “affair” with the Lord of the Universe. You’ll be glad you did.

The Fire Fall

What is the Church? Where is the Church? Is it a building? Is it a denomination? Is it structure? Is it people?

As a child, one of the favorite illustrations was a little one in which the hand was used, together with these words:

“Here is the Church...Here is the steeple.
Open the doors...and see all the people.”

Very obviously, God had people in mind. And yet, today, so much of our Christian life centers on program, and structure, and buildings, and the legalisms that go with the work and activity of the Church.

In Colossians, the apostle Paul said, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones...” And we listen with a kind of amazement. We’ve never thought of ourselves as being “chosen” ones. And Paul goes on to describe what these “chosen ones” who are the Church must be: “holy, compassionate, kind, lowly, meek, patient, and forbearing of one another.” (Col. 3:12)

It is a high calling, to be the Church. Most of us feel woefully inadequate to be Christ’s representative, but he sends His Spirit to empower us, and through that Spirit, marvelous things can take place.

Years ago, there was a beautiful spectacle that took place during the summer evenings at Yosemite National Park in California. High up on Glacier Point, preparations were being made until darkness came upon the valley. Down below, the spectators were lined up, watching, and waiting. And then a voice from below would cry out, “Let the fire fall.” And from far above, as though in echo, would come the reply: “The fire falls!” And then, burning embers would come cascading over the edge, looking like a glowing red water-fall from heaven.

It was a marvelous sight to watch. And I am reminded that through the years, dedicated and committed Christians have been praying for the Church. And they have prayed, “Let the fire fall!” And behold, God’s Holy Spirit, like tongues of flame, has become evident, moving the Church, empowering the Church, to come alive and bear witness to the Christ who is the head of the Church. Today, we pray for the fire-fall. Let it come upon each one of us. “Now, Lord. Come now!”

It Takes Two

Many years ago, my parents taught me that there are usually two sides to everything. In a sense we are talking about tolerance, about understanding. It is a valuable lesson to learn.

I am “turned off” by people who are “always right”...people who see absolutes in everything. For life is not that simple. It is pure conceit to believe that we are always right and the other fellow is always wrong.

Judgment comes easily to most of us. We point the finger and we castigate and condemn and we are quite sure the other guy is going straight to hell.

But just as it takes two to tango, and two to fight, so there are always two sides to every situation before we get the complete story. The Bible reminds us again and again that we must not judge, lest we be judged. We must confess with Christian humility that sometimes the other fellow has truth too. It is Christian tolerance. “I will give the other fellow every benefit of a doubt. I will believe that his intentions are honorable and just, just as long as I can possibly do so.”

At times I worry about being weak, or “wishy-washy.” Would I be better to be “hard-nose”? Let me be “authoritarian” in my decisions and in my daily life. Yes, at times, I think how nice it would be to always be absolutely sure!

But I’m glad that my faith does not require that, and that I can be tolerant of other Christians who believe differently than I. How does salvation come to me? The Scriptures affirm that “I must accept the Lord Jesus Christ, and then I will be saved.” It doesn’t add 50 addendums. It doesn’t qualify that with a series of “buts” and “whereas’s.” It is absolute about one thing only...the God of Jesus Christ is the only absolute I need. Jesus Christ has given me a complete picture of God. That’s all that is required. My Church may have a listing of doctrines, but the Church has only one Christ. And my compliance with all the doctrines in the world will have no meaning, if I fail to make Jesus Christ the center and significance of all things. Yes, it takes “two.” Jesus and me. All the laws on the books cannot win my salvation, but Jesus can.

Going "Dutch"

In Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia, he gives us several contradictory thoughts. In chapter 6, verse 2, he tells us that we should “bear one another’s burdens.” We do not live long as Christians before we hear about that responsibility. I am responsible for those around me. “Bearing burdens” is a trade-mark of being Christian.

And yet, just a short while later, in verse 5, the apostle says: “Each man will have to bear his own load.” It would be a wonderful world, if someone else would always take care of us. How nice to have someone pay our bills, be responsible for our sins, take over our major burdens.

But there is reality in realizing that much of life is “going Dutch.” We pay our own way. Life with its responsibilities is up to us. The world does not treat us like kings and queens, and we are sobered up quickly with the understanding that living and dying, paying taxes, and hanging on to a job is something that almost no one else is going to do for us. We must do it for ourselves.

Life is a solo. I have to “sing for my own supper.” I walk through the valley of the shadow, in terrible loneliness at times. I pay an awfully high price for just being human. And for folks who live and die only unto themselves, life can be terribly fearful, and awfully desolate. Most of the time, we all have to “go Dutch.” We pay our own way.

But thanks be unto God, we are also part of a great redeeming fellowship. Even when we sin, the Scriptures affirm that “if someone is caught in a trespass, we who are spiritual (Paul says) are to restore that person in a spirit of gentleness.” (Gal. 6:1) “We are to bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal. 1:3)

There is a costly requirement in accepting the development and design and responsibility for your own individual life...and great happiness in doing so as well. But sometimes when I am most unable to handle things on my own, there is a Savior who says tome, “It’s O.K. my friend. I”ve already paid the bill.”

Don't Worry About The Smell

Do you remember that little poem that goes:

We have the nicest garbage man
He empties all the garbage cans
He's just as nice as he can be
He often stops and talks to me
My mother doesn't like his smell.
But then, she doesn't know him very well!

Isn't it sad that so often we make our judgments about people from foolish and artificial reasons like this? How quickly we place people in categories: they are blonds, or they are Jews, or they are black, or they are midgets, or they are Catholics, or they are Chinese.

Suddenly our world begins to fill up with walls...walls of differences, and we find ourselves treating people differently because they are behind this or that wall.

And yet every last one of them feels the cold, or gets a fever, or is allergic to pollen. There isn't a person behind those walls who doesn't get hungry, or get sick, or get lonely and depressed at times. Every single soul, regardless of color or creed, or cultural orientation, feels pain when stuck by a pin, or is injured in an accident.

Robert Frost caught the significance of this as he wandered through the fields surrounded with stone walls, and wrote:

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen ground‑swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast."

And as he wonders why walls seem so important in his world, he hears the old cliche, "Good fences make good neighbors." and he goes on to say:

"Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down."

There are so many times when I am not sure I really want to "love my neighbors" (let alone my enemies). Sometimes they "smell" so bad! But Jesus didn't seem to give me any choice. Here and there, we find beautiful examples of people who have broken the terrible pattern of vengeance, by not only forgiving someone for wrong‑doing, but going the second mile of reconciliation.

John Morley once commented on just such an example when he wrote: "There was no worldly wisdom in it, we all know. But then what are people Christians for?"

Look To This Day

There is an old story about a gambler who rubbed an Alladin’s lamp, and when the Genie appeared, he was given one wish, and one wish only.

He thought about it for a moment, and then said he wished for tomorrow’s newspaper. The wish was granted, and quickly he turned to the racing section to get the track results. Now, he could hurry to the track and place his bet on sure winners. But as he scanned the rest of the newspaper, his eye fell upon the obituary column, and there he discovered his own name.

How ironical! It is good to dream and plan wisely for tomorrow, but we cannot live on that street today. And worrying about the future will only sap our strength for this moment. Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.” (Matt. 6:34)

We do not know what the future holds, but as Christians, we know WHO holds the future, and we are content. The past and the present are constantly changing, but there is ONE who never changes.

The hymn-writer has said it well:

“Change and decay in all around I see
O Thou who changest not...abide with me.”

Today is a gift which must be carefully unwrapped. There may be many surprises crammed into the corners and crevices, but they are all part of the gift, and I must learn to give thanks.

The poet has said:

Look to this Day!
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today well lived makes
Every yesterday a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
(Based on the Sanskrit, c. 1200 B.C.)

Get Out The Camphor Bottle!

Donald A. Laird, the psychologist, said that whenever his grandmother was over‑wrought she would get the camphor bottle and put a little camphor on her fore‑head, behind each ear, and on her throat. Then she would sit in her rocking chair, close her eyes, and relax.

Dr. Laird said that the camphor bit was simply a gimmick. Grandma used it as an aid to relax her tensions. Most of us don't have a rocking chair or camphor bottle handy, but we use sedatives, aspirins, etc. as one of the contemporary remedies to life's anxieties.

All of this, it would seem is quite unnecessary, if we could just learn some of life's basic rules.

So perfect have become the computerized lift‑off procedures of our modern‑day space vehicles, that we sometimes wonder why our own lives cannot run so smoothly. And yet, people are not like rockets and should accept the fact that there are very few times in a person's life when all conditions are "go".

No, we must live by an acceptance of our humanness, our limitations, our imperfections. We are tiny specks in an amazingly big universe. We are imperfect, and more than that, we are inclined to self‑centeredness, making us sinful and rebellious to the basic rules of life. We cannot make that trip to our space rendezvous, because we are too much "a‑go‑go" and not enough "go‑ ye". Our lives are lived by our feet and our anxieties, rather than by our commitments and our fidelity to our Maker.

The ancient prophet once said, "In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." (Isa. 30:15) God is saying to us through the prophet Isaiah, that we should learn to trust in Him more than in our own schemes and defenses.

It is good advice, for so much of our anxiety and tension comes not from actual situations as from nameless dread of situations beyond our control. The unsettled condition of our world is contagious. But we cheat ourselves when we worry, for it does us no good, and certainly no one else. To be concerned...yes! To do what we can...yes! All of this we must do. But beyond that point, let us learn to use either Grandma's camphor and rocking chair...or, better yet...shift the burdens that are too big for us to God. Then we will find to our amazement that God is able to take that which we have committed unto Him against that day, and care for both us and His world.

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Starting A New Humanity

Someone has given us an interesting illustration: What if a musician in an orchestra would strike a sour note? It was not the fault of the conductor. He was competent. The music was not at fault, for it was correct. But a discord was introduced and there was no way to correct the situation.

That false note was now traveling at the speed of sound into space at over a thousand feet per second. As long as time would endure, that sour note would carry on.

Is there no way to correct it, and restore harmony? Would there be some way to stop it on its way...but still it would be a false one. Only one answer can be given. Someone from eternity could take that false note, and make it the first note of a new melody. And that, the author says, is precisely what Jesus Christ has done. The false note was struck at the fall of Adam and Eve. This sour note has gone down all through human history, and has infected the world.

But in the annunciation, God asked a woman to give Him a human nature, so that He could start a new humanity. And Jesus was born. As the first Adam brought death, so the second Adam (Jesus Christ) is the beginning of that new melody of life. And the great new music of Christ’s Kingdom has begun.

Sometimes, we inject the false note. Sometimes we send the music of discord into our homes and families. Sometimes we are the very instrument of the evil one to disrupt and spoil life’s symphonies.

But the Savior of the universe, takes the dissonances of our lives, the bad “vibes” of our sinfulness upon his own shoulder, and blends his marvelous vibrations into the great symphony of life.

I shudder to think of the many sour notes I have sent out into my world. But I thank God that there is One who can reach out and stop that terrible vibration, and transform it into an anthem of love. Very simply, that is what salvation is all about.

Am I Queer?

Sometimes Christians appear to be a strange breed. They live by a set of standards unorthodox in the eyes of the world. Who ever heard of “turning the other cheek”, or of “going the second mile”? Isn’t it stupid to be “meek and mild”? And yet, that’s what Jesus was, and we are to be like him.

The world looks askance upon the idea that we ought to “love our enemies”! It’s hard for many of them to even love their neighbors!

There’s a fascinating little story many of us read to our children, about the Ugly Duckling. You could almost cry at the plight of the little duckling that came out of the egg last, and looked so different from the others. Even the mother rejected this little oddling with his funny “honking.” He was cackled at, and pecked at, and shunned, and driven out of town, and he wandered lonely and sad.

In the movie version of Hans Christian Anderson, who does not remember the little hate song,:

“Quack, quack, get out of town.
Quack, quack, get out of here!
Quack, quack, get out of here!
And he went with a quack, and
a waddle and a quack,
And a very unhappy tear!”

But since all children’s fairy tales have to have a happy ending, what a surprise to all when it was found that he was not a duckling at all, but a swan...and a very fine swan indeed!

We would not want to make a travesty of anything as sacred as the life of our Lord, but listen to the words of the Biblical writer: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” He was so different, such a queer specimen as set against the backdrop of his times, not at all like the others.

Again the writer continues: “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3)

What a reception the Son of God received. As a child, he was driven out of Palestine by a decree of King Herod. His own country-men said, “He is mad, he has a demon.” And they taunted him, so that finally he had to leave. He was castigated by the Scribes and Pharisees for disobeying the trivial laws of ceremonial cleansing. He was accused of being a “wine-bibber and a friend of sinners.” They accused him of being a blasphemer, and a worker of Beelzebub. Finally, they dragged him before a fixed jury and accused him of being a traitor. They spit upon him, they whipped him, they plaited a crown of thorns for his head, and jeered him as they made him drag a heavy cross up the hill to where finally, they crucified him.

But here was no “ugly duckling.” Resurrection morning proved that. And the disciples were privileged to behold Him, in all His glory. Christ does not come into our world in popular form. Nor is the Christian way of life considered very practical in today’s world. It is an “ugly duckling” philosophy. But “I swan,” it’s the one I plan to follow. How about you?

Feel The Tug

There are so many times that I wish I could be sure! If only I could be sure that right would prevail; that goodness really was worth the effort; that tomorrow would be better than today.

Sometimes I envy the certainty of the scientists and the mathematicians, and those independent church groups who "have all the answers". Wouldn't it be nice to be absolutely sure about everything?

Sometimes God seems so far away. Why couldn't He give me some absolute assurances that He is still in control? I'd like some miracles, please God.

I like Paul's words to young Timothy when he says: "I know whom I have believed, and I am sure that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day." (II Timothy l:l2)

And yet there are few absolutes in our world. Faith is a risky business. There are a host of things for which we can reach no scientific conclusion. Are these therefore irrational? No, I think not. Probably the most important truths in the world cannot be reached by the scientific method. I can look up "courage" in the dictionary, but the definition is nothing compared to knowing or experiencing an act of real bravery. Love is something I can read about in books of poetry, or see in T.V. dramas, but it cannot compare with actually being in love. I can try to explain a kiss in scientific terms by saying, "a kiss is the anatomical juxtaposition of the obicularis muscles in the state of contraction.", but who would ever accept that in lieu of the real thing?

A young boy was out flying his kite one day, and the wind had carried it so high, that it was now almost out of sight. When a friend asked him how he knew the kite was still there, he said, "By the tug on the string."

In our world, there are persons who have been changed, beautifully, radically, marvelously...not because of a set of acts, but because of a "tug on their heart‑strings".

God sent Jesus into our world to help us to know for sure that He loves us, and to feel the "tug". Thanks God, for helping me feel "sure".

Evil--Is It Good Or Bad?

The apostle Paul, after going through ship‑wreck, persecution, and years of hardship in starting the Christian Church in many areas of Asia Minor, wrote these words: "I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel..." (Phil. 1:l2)

Paul was writing from prison. Was he happy to be there? No, he didn't say that. What he said was simply that because of his afflictions, some good things had come out of them, and then he named them: the praetorian guard knew that his imprisonment was for Christ; the brethren had been made a bit more confident in the Lord, because of his imprisonment, and they were more bold to speak the word of the Lord.

Can we ever say that evil is good? No, but it is possible to say that "out of evil, good can come". Because God made our world, He made it good, but in order to give us the freedom to choose, He had to make a world in which we could learn from our sins and mistakes.

For every good, therefore, there seems to be a flip‑side that is bad, and the choice is ours. It would seem, therefore, that whenever we are faced with trouble and adversity, that we are only a prayer away from a God who truly cares, and is ready to give us power for our day.

I don't understand life, with all its heartaches. I don't know why sometimes the good people seem to suffer more than the evil ones do. I don't understand why God can't just stop all the evil, the hard work, the problems, the bad corn and soy bean prices. I don't know why God couldn't just make life easy for me. It seems to me that, if He would, then I could be a top‑notch Christian. If only I could make a million, and if the going wasn't so rough, then I'd have no trouble having faith.

But life isn't that way. God gave me the power of choice, so that I could profit from my mistakes. Without work, I would become a jelly‑fish. Struggle brings pain, but without struggle, there would be no growth. It is my achievement that brings joy, but there is always a price.

I'm glad that God made a world that is seething with struggle, and one that constantly confronts me with decisions. Without that, we might as well be stones on the hill‑side. I don't like evil, but out of evil, good can come, and I am determined to find it.

Don't Worry About The Smell

Do you remember that little poem that goes:

We have the nicest garbage man
He empties all the garbage cans
He's just as nice as he can be
He often stops and talks to me
My mother doesn't like his smell.
But then, she doesn't know him very well!
Isn't it sad that so often we make our judgments about people from foolish and artificial reasons like this? How quickly we place people in categories: they are blonds, or they are Jews, or they are black, or they are midgets, or they are Catholics, or they are Chinese.

Suddenly our world begins to fill up with walls...walls of differences, and we find ourselves treating people differently because they are behind this or that wall.

And yet every last one of them feels the cold, or gets a fever, or is allergic to pollen. There isn't a person behind those walls who doesn't get hungry, or get sick, or get lonely and depressed at times. Every single soul, regardless of color or creed, or cultural orientation, feels pain when stuck by a pin, or is injured in an accident.

Robert Frost caught the significance of this as he wandered through the fields surrounded with stone walls, and wrote:

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen ground‑swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast."

And as he wonders why walls seem so important in his world, he hears the old cliche, "Good fences make good neighbors." and he goes on to say:

"Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
“Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down."

There are so many times when I am not sure I really want to "love my neighbors" (let alone my enemies). Sometimes they "smell" so bad! But Jesus didn't seem to give me any choice. Here and there, we find beautiful examples of people who have broken the terrible pattern of vengeance, by not only forgiving someone for wrong‑doing, but going the second mile of reconciliation.

John Morley once commented on just such an example when he wrote: "There was no worldly wisdom in it, we all know. But then what are people Christians for?"

They Decided Not To Be

There are a lot of things in our world that could make us all very discouraged. A lot of our forefathers could have given up on this business of making a land of freedom. They could have been quitters...but "they decided not to be".

As you read the New Testament, and see the persecution of early Christians, and the hardships of the apostle Paul and read how he was beaten, imprisoned, stoned and left for dead, it would have been easy to get discouraged. But those early founders of the Faith decided not to be. And I'm glad.

There are two ways to be defeated. Sometimes, we lose at a game or in business, or from superior salesmanship by someone else. That's one way.

But the other way is when we are caught in self‑defeat...when we throw in the sponge, and declare that the odds are against us. Most of the time, people are not defeated by things, but by themselves. We give in. We quit.

We know about Helen Keller, blind, deaf and dumb, from birth. Glen Cunningham, one of the fastest milers on record at 4.4 seconds was crippled in his boyhood in a schoolhouse fire. Doctors said he would never walk again. John Bunyan wrote "Pilgrim's Progress" while in prison, on untwisted papers that were stoppers in the bottles of milk brought to him. "Don Quixote" was written from prison, as was Sir Walter Raleigh's "History of the World". Beethoven was claimed at last by deafness, but he continued to write some of his greatest musical works. Alec Templeton, blind from early in life, became a great pianist. Napoleon was only 5 feet 2 1/4 inches tall. He graduated 43rd in his class. Michaelangelo, who was lame and had a broken nose, lay flat on his back for 20 months painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

All of them had plenty of reasons to say: "Stop the world, I want to get off"...but they decided not to.

As people get older, they feel they are getting useless, and yet Verdi wrote an opera at eighty, and at that same age, Goethe finished writing "Faust". Oliver Wendell Holmes was still writing brilliant opinions at 90 and Louis Pasteur was past sixty when he began his studies that led to a cure for rabies.

The early Christians learned from Paul to say: "For me to live is Christ" They could have been badly defeated, but "they decided not to be."

I suppose most of us could have our feelings hurt dozens of times every week. But, what's the point? Most of the time when someone hurts me, it's their problem, not mine. They got out of bed on the wrong side...their spouse gave them a rough time...they've got "gas" or a tummy‑ache.

There is an old sign on a print shop that read: "Life is a grindstone, and whether it grinds a man down or polishes him up depends on the stuff he's made of."

I could probably be unhappy, un-Christian, unpleasant, and a few more "un"‑things. But I've decided not to be.

Education At The Intersection

The word "confrontation" means, "to bump into something". And life is a kind of continual confrontation. It is forever a meeting...an intersecting of my life with yours, or with an experience, or with some crisis. Sometimes these meetings are painful, sometimes joyful, sometimes fearful, and sometimes tragic. But always they are educational. We can learn from them.

In our school classrooms, the mind comes to grips, with an idea, with a teacher, with history, or with a fact of science. In the laboratory of life, we encounter new sensations, new smells, new facts. Even an argument is an education, and making mistakes is a learning process.

If we looked back over our life‑time, we would find many points of intersection that were significant. We had a head‑on collision with a new idea, or a new experience, or a new problem. Sometimes these experiences seemed like the end of the world, and yet they may also have been the prelude to something better.

Paul looked back over his life, and he said "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content...I know how to be abased, I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want." And then he capped it all off, by adding, "I can do anything, through him who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:11‑13)

The Christian faith has always declared, what we have been slow to accept, that our faith is a kind of head‑on‑collision. The apostle, while thinking he was running the other way, ran head on into Christ. And this encounter changed the entire direction of his life. He learned that you can come to grips with anything if you are going the right way and if you have the right company. He encountered fears, and they made him a stronger man. He encountered new problems and he discovered that his Christ was sufficient for all of them. He encountered beatings, imprisonment, even the threat of death, and he discovered that he had been well schooled at the intersection of faith.

Paul ended his class session to Christian followers, by writing on the black‑board for all of his pupils to see: "My God will supply every need of yours, according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:19)

Sometimes we go "bumping" through life with little reason or thought, and we complain about how tough it has been for us. But when we take the "bumps" while hanging onto the Savior, and when we have head‑on collisions with hard times, but share them with a living Lord, the "agony" has a way of changing to an "ecstacy", and life that might have gone on down to defeat, goes striding on to victory.

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The Gospel Got Loose!

In Paul's writings, he said that "Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (II Cor. 5:18). At that very moment, something was set loose into the world that could not be confined. The Gospel got out! And it was given to us. And like the "hot potato" that it is, sometimes we don't know what to do with it.

The "ministry of reconciliation" suggests to us that under the skin, we are brothers. We are one, and Christ gave us the vision of our need, and commanded us to make it become reality.

Are there divisions? Are we doing anything to heal them? Are there people hurting? Are we carrying God's valentine of love? Are there some who are lonely, feeling left out? Are some of us being small...drawing circles that are too limited? Are we accusing others of being the problem, when we may be at fault ourselves? Is the "balm of Gilead" at work in our midst? Is the "healing" of Christ's spirit being sought? Can others tell we are Christians by our love? Are we being reconcilers in this troubled old world?

A family was getting ready for a trip, and the station wagon was packed and ready to go. They were late, and mother called out: "Johnny, wash your hands. Get your brother. Perhaps we can still make it in time!"

Here is the 3‑fold call of our ministry: l‑‑"Wash your hands"...pray for forgiveness and cleansing. 2‑‑"Get your brother". We must be reaching out to all those around us. 3‑‑"Perhaps there is still time". The hour is late, but not too late to speak forth the message of the Gospel.

This is the task Christ has called us to perform. He died on a cross to make it so. That is how much it meant to Him. Does it mean anything to you...all ye that pass by?

"Lift Off" Can Happen

I've watched the birds, and I've thought, "How nice to soar above the world...to fly!" John Magee, the poet has written:

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter‑silvered wings;...
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high un-trespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

What really is my place in this old world. I'm not an angel, but I'd sure like to fly. I'm not an angel, but the Bible tells me that I was made just a little bit lower than the angels. And yet, my destiny seems to be to "plow" the earth, to "cultivate" it, to bring a rich harvest from it. And my Lord calls me to be a binder of wounds. My task is to be a servant. I belong on this earth. I've been given a task here. I can't live in a pretend world of "Cloud 9".

But there are times when my hands get so dirty, and my knees get so weary, and my head so dizzy. And there are times when the grime of it, and the slime of it, and the weariness of it, makes me feel like I am shackled to this earth...a prisoner in clay.

But then comes the beautiful revelation, that as a human being, I have two sides to my being. I am not a stick‑person, with a flat life on a flat board. There is another dimension. I was meant to "look up". There is height, there is breadth, and length and depth. Sometimes, we can "mount up with wings as eagles, and we can walk, and not faint." We can fly. We can fly, with God, and we can soar above the sinfulness of this world. We can live on a higher plane.

Much of my life is keeping my nose to the grindstone. And that is where it must be a good share of the time. Nobody promised me a rose garden. But one of these days, I'm goin' to fly! And day after day, I practice the process...of loving, and giving, and forgiving, and caring...of lifting my eyes to Him who can deliver me from this bondage of death.

Many people attempt to escape this world with drugs. They get freaked out, and Hell is just around the corner. But our Lord was a macho man, strong, brave, commanding thousands of people. He was tough, but oh, so gentle. And he taught his disciples to fly.

Christianity's "Fly‑in" is sponsored by Jesus Christ, and He is inviting each of us to take the "ground course". "Lift‑off" is available. Come fly with the Lord Jesus. His is the only air‑line that gives an eternal guarantee.

Run Out Of Town

In the book of Acts, we find the exciting story of the origins of the early Church. Stephen was stoned to death by an angry mob, and Saul, consenting to his death, then began great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. All who named the name of Christ were scattered.

At times we wonder what would have happened if the Gospel had stayed in Jerusalem with the original disciples, and under the old Judaistic patterns? Might it have died an early death? Would it have been smothered in its infancy?

But the Gospel got out! It left its place of birth. Indeed it was driven out...run out of town! And this act of hardship saved the Church. The attacks upon the early Christians were a blessing in disguise...as so often hardship is.

Many of us could tell accounts of the hard things in life, which, though they shook us, also strengthened us, and made us stronger. We recall how Joseph in the Old Testament, spoke to his brothers who had sent him into seeming slavery, and said, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good." (Genesis 50:20) And again, we think about the verse: "We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him," (Romans 8:28)

This is not to say that Christians look for trouble, but when it comes, it can be a stepping stone instead of a stumbling‑block. You take problems and twist them into opportunities. Trouble throws you a 'curve', so you look at it squarely, and end up getting a home‑run!

The early Christians had no idea what they had started. But God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform." (Wm. Cowper). Christianity had broken out of its swaddling clothes, and it was on its way out into the whole world.

There is a small lake in Minnesota, called Lake Itasca. A visitor noticed a small overflow at one end, and said to a fisherman nearby, "The lake is leaking". The man replied: "Man, that's no leak...that's the beginning of the Mississippi River!" The Mississippi River may start as a leak in a tiny lake, but it ends with a mighty body of water, flowing to the Gulf. And so, Christianity began with a handful of unpromising people, and situations, but God's forces are still rolling along.

The Good News got out, under duress, and thank God it did, because you and I are the beneficiaries of it. Is it possible today to look at the hard things that come into your life, and say, "I wonder what exciting things the Lord has in store for me? I think I'll try to find out."

Take The Witness Stand

St. Luke in the book of Acts, records that after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples and said, "You shall be my witnesses." (Acts 1:8)

A lot of people have problems with that, and as they sing some of the great hymns of the Church, you can almost hear them adding: "I love to hear the story"...if it doesn't last more than twenty minutes. Or again, "Take my life and let it be"...yes, let it be, Lord, let it be. "Have thine own way, Lord" with Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Smith. Or how about, "If Jesus goes with me...", it may be embarrassing for both of us?

Some of us may not be able to speak easily about our faith. We are the quiet ones. There are some people who have something to say, and then there are those who have to say something! But if our lives have been touched by the Lord, then really we have to "say" something! We must share the good news. We must let the rest of the world know that we too have been touched by the Master.

The way we do the "saying" however can vary a great deal. The Scriptures tell how "the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy." (Ps. 65:13) And in the hymn "This is my Father's world" we hear the words, "the birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker's praise."

There is a witness in the daisy that lifts its head in praise to its Maker. And so, like that lovely flower by the roadside, we too can bear witness in faithful living day by day.

We wish it could be more natural for all of us to share what God has done for us. In the 66th Psalm, the writer says: Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me." (vs. 16) But even when our voices fail us, and words don't seem to fill the bill, the witness of a life of love, of a life of caring, is still measured by our Savior, as acceptable "coin" in Heaven's book‑keeping accounts.

Where In The World Is The Church?

If you were to ask most any person on the street, "Where is the Church?" the answer would probably be, "It is two blocks ahead, on the left", or some such reply. Yes, the Church does exist in church buildings. We might call a Sunday morning worship session, "The gathered Church".

But if that is where the Church is on Sunday mornings, then where does it go during the rest of the week? On Monday, where is the Church? How about on Thursday?

And of course, we begin to realize that the real Church is people. The Church is in the Shopping Center. It is at School, it is in the Board room, in the offices of government. Wherever Christians are being faithful to their Lord, they are the "Dispersed Church"...the Church in the world.

And since Christ is the head of the Church, then Christ must be felt in the Schools, in the Board rooms, in the offices of government, in the controversies of home and nation, if the Church is to be truly in the world.

St. Paul, in his letter to the church at Ephesus, expresses great amazement at how God has made the Church, and for what purpose as he says: "grace was given,...to give the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known." (Eph. 3:8‑10)

And then he goes on to pray: "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend...and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge." (Eph. 3:17‑19)

This love Paul talks about is appealing, but as one person has said, "it's practice is appalling." And yet, this is exactly where the Church exists...wherever Christian people are appealingly trying to put that kind of love to the test.

Reconciliation or Wreck-onciliation?

There is a tremendous need today for people to learn to live together in peace and harmony. In the New Testament, Christians are called upon to be "reconcilers". There is a very deadly sin within most of us that refuses to accept people who are "different". The difference may be that of nationalistic background, racial and ethnic differences, gender differences, differences of religion, and even differences of physical size or color of hair.

We call this "prejudice". We are prejudiced against certain people and this is a form of "wreck‑onciliation". We have preconceptions, predispositions, suspicions, smoldering dislike for certain folk in our world.

In the world of automobiles, high octane gas takes the "knock" out of the engine. And so the Christian is to be the "high octane" to people who are "knocking one another"! How can we run our lives with antagonism and angry disputes among us, when our Lord called us to be "reconcilers" and peace makers.

Once a year, we celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, who has been considered one of the great reconcilers. In Vachel Lindsay's classic poem, "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight" he says:

"It breaks his heart that kings must murder still
That all his hours of travail, here for men
Seem yet in vain. And who will bring white peace
That he may sleep upon his hill again?

And even more than the vision of Abraham Lincoln, is that picture of a cross silhouetted against the hillside, and the realization that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. Reconciliation is a hard thing to achieve. It involves humbling ourselves, it involves penitence that seeks forgiveness. It means going the second mile. It means taking it on the chin, bearing the cross, absorbing evil rather than bouncing it back. It involves understanding of why people do the things they do, and it can all be summed up in one command, "Thou shalt love.."

We are to love, because we were first loved. God has been an aggressive lover. He is the aggressive lover who can break up my temper, my sinfulness. Christ's whole life was an offensive of divine love. And the cross was God's love, at the very flash‑point of its power. It was timed to take the "ping" out of our angry souls, and give us the grace of reconciliation.

We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. If only we could learn to keep the engines of love running smoothly. Perhaps then, our Lord would recognize us as reconcilers, not "wreck‑oncilers".

Famous Last Words

There are so many things in our world that we cannot change. Evil lurks on every hand. How can our society go on, flaunting God's laws, hardly caring for the little people, the oppressed, the poor, the lonely and aging? Does it not seem that injustice is a stronger force than goodness? Where is the cause of righteousness? And where are those who will stand up and be counted for God's Kingdom?

The Christian is often overwhelmed by pessimism as he or she looks out over this troubled world. We are told that the last words of Henry Ibsen, a Norwegian dramatist who had been a great debater and critic of his society, was the one word, "Nevertheless".

When suddenly death struck, it was a rather appropriate thing to say, for it is what the Christian is always talking about. The world puts down goodness, and persecutes the righteous, and hangs Christ upon a cross. We see all of this. We look at life's confusions and the apparent victory of evil, but we say, "nevertheless". Judas could betray Jesus, Caiaphas could make a mockery of his trial, Pilate could say to the soldiers, "make the tomb as secure as you can"...NEVERTHELESS..."on the first day of the week...the women, found that the stone was rolled away!"

Sir James Simpson, the discoverer of chloroform, lost his little daughter at an early age; and it is most appropriate that upon her tombstone should be carved out these words: "nevertheless I live!"

"Nevertheless" is a very fine word. We are often fearful that we as Christians are working alone, and that there is little hope of changing this terrible world about us. "Nevertheless", we must believe that God has not left us to do it by ourselves. Elijah believed that he and only he was left to proclaim the greatness of God, and he was informed that there were still thousands in Israel who remained faithful.

A famous last word is that of John Wesley, who said to those gathered about his death bed, "The best of all is, God is with us." And Oliver Cromwell, upon his dying bed, took one look at the mournful crowd of faces about him, and said, "Will no one here thank God?"

Perhaps it is time for us to stop singing the "blues"...time to stop acting like "losers"...time to rise up and say "Nevertheless". That's right! God is here, and we are on the side of ultimate victory.

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Divine Disturbance

I stopped one day at the "Grain Pit" of the Board of Trade Bldg. in Chicago. I saw persons frantically waving their hands, holding up different numbers of fingers, raucously shouting at the tops of their voices, and every so often, for no seeming reason at all, they would literally fall on one another as their excitement grew stronger and stronger. Here, it seemed were men possessed!

There was a day which we sometimes call the Birthday of the Christian Church, in which the disciples were so excited, and the reports of what happened that day so spectacular, that we can scarcely accept it. There was a divine disturbance, during which ordinary persons became extra‑ordinary and moved out to proclaim their faith.

Dr. Toyohiko Kagawa, a great Japanese Christian leader, once said, "It is a shame for a Christian to be ordinary. There is something within that will make him out‑of‑the‑ordinary and not 'run of the mill'." Sometimes, the non‑Christian person looks upon our proclamation of love, and of turning the other cheek, and they say, "Those Christians are mad!"

They said of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, "The man is mad" as he dedicated four Ph.D's to the natives of Africa. This was not madness, but the Spirit's disturbing of a man until his talents became tools in the hands of Almighty God.

There is a classic story about the Cape Cod farmer of New England who was shingling his house on a very foggy day, and he shingled right off into the fog. Many persons go "shingling off into the fog" in their understanding of the Holy Spirit. In their fanatic zeal, they do the very opposite of that which the Holy Spirit commands us. They find causes that separate them from their fellow‑Christians, whereas the Spirit on that special day of Pentecost came to transcend all barriers of nationality and language and to bind all together in love for Jesus Christ.

God is always trying to break through into life...yours and mine. The Spirit of God has been at work since the very time of creation itself, brooding over the face of the deep. And yet we confess how little we really know about the Holy Spirit.

Ask a sailor "What is the wind". Of all people, he should know. But he will answer, "I cannot say. All I know is that when I feel the wind blowing, I raise my sails, and it takes me to the far‑off harbor". Ask a Christian, "What is the Holy Spirit." Of all persons, he or she should know‑‑and yet the reply may come, "I cannot say. All I know is that when I feel the breath of God upon me, I open myself to it, and it lifts me up and carries me to the far‑off shore."

Everything Is New!

A Church bulletin board once read: "Whatever your past has been, you have a spotless future." That's right...there are new beginnings. Each day, and each hour, is such an opportunity.

In the book of Ezekiel, the prophet shared his visions, and out of these visions of wheels within wheels he sensed the gem of a great truth. There would be great destructions, there would be plagues and desolation, but out of it all, would come a Messiah. God would see that there would come a time, when they would receive cleansing for their sins. "A new heart will I give you", the prophet wrote, "and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you," (Ezekiel 36:26,27)

We are told of a person who came out of a rescue mission one night as a new man. Looking up, he pointed to the brilliant stars above him and exclaimed, "They are all new!" It is like the land of beginning again, when God's Spirit comes alive within the human heart.

The apostle Paul wrote: "Forgetting the things that are behind, I reach forward..." and years later, after many miles and years of serving his Master, Paul said, "If any person be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new." (II Cor. 5:17)

Every day, God invites us to take that first step with Him. It is the open door into the land of Beginning Again. It is the spiritual transplant of a new heart. It is the simple invitation of the Savior, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28)

At times, I feel desperately that inner "heart of stone". The day has gone poorly, my patience has been tried to the uttermost, my spirit has been negative, and my lips have spoken harshly. Then indeed, I must kneel before my Maker, and cry out for a "clean heart". The assurance is that God hears my prayer, and offers His cleansing power. The Psalmist said: "As far as the east is from the west, so far will I remove your transgressions from you." (Ps. 103:12)

Choose Your Rut Now!

Many years ago, before modern highways had come into existence, folks traveled on dirt roads and in Model T cars. I'm told that as you entered one such road, there was a sign that read, "Choose your rut carefully; because you'll be in it for the next 10 miles."

That's good advice for the beginning of January. What you decide to do and to be now, will determine largely what you will be for the rest of the year, unless some radical change occurs.

Are you content with your patterns of caring? Would you be a better "you" if you attended church more often, prayed more, gave more, studied more? Have you forgiven those who may have wronged you? What would the world be like if everyone lived like you live? Would you be better off to criticize less and love more?...to walk less with fear, and more with faith?

In Proverbs 4:23, we read: "Keep your heart with all vigilance; for from it flows the springs of life."

It is not the world or the environment that determines this year for you. Naturally, they will have their influence. But what you resolve to be and do, in the inner springs of your heart, this is where it all begins!

Let us ask God for help as we establish the grooves of grace in which to walk during the good year ahead.

"Beam Me Up, Scotty!"

The New Year makes me think of new things...a new day, a new chance to start over, new opportunities, maybe even a new chance to make good! How nice to be able to have "new years"!

For science fiction buffs, the Star Trec stories have offered challenging ideas for the future. One fascinating idea is that of being "beamed" somewhere. A person is "beamed" through an energy transport from one place to another, and you are there...instantly!

What this could do for our energy‑concerned world! Think of it! I could be "beamed" instantly from here to see my grandchildren in Wisconsin or Florida. Or you could be "beamed" to the Holy Land or anywhere in the U.S.A. or the world! How quickly our highways and automobiles and airlines would become obsolete!

One science fiction writer in describing the process said it would mean that every cell in the body would be re‑constituted and re‑built in absolute mirror form at its new destination, without loss of memory or identity. How incredible! Pure science fiction now...but who knows what may be possible in the future?

And yet, isn't this exactly the kind of opportunity that comes to all of us in Christ Jesus? In Christ, we become brand “new” creatures. "All things become “new” (II Cor. 5:17). The Psalmist said when we acknowledge our Heavenly Father, that "He puts a “new” song in our mouths." (Ps. 40:3). And we are called by "a “new” name" (Isa. 62:2). And then He gives us a “new” commandment (Jn. 13:34) and that “new” law of love, demands a “new” kind of conduct. Also, we are to catch a vision of "a “new” heaven and a “new” earth." (Rev. 21:1) And there, once again, "all things are “new”! (Rev. 21:5).

There is a kind of spiritual "transport" that was promised long before the science fiction writers ever thought about it. Life can be made new! New for me...Whee! And new for you...too!