Getting A New Perspective

Every so often, we need to get a new point of view. We have pushed back the frontiers of first one science and then another, until we stand awed and inspired by the immensities and complexities of the world around us.

Science, instead of removing us from God, has sometimes drawn us closer to Him. It has forced us to our knees to behold...the still unexplored...the still unknown parts of this mighty universe.

A minister said that once each year, he preached on astronomy. He didn't know much about it...but it made him think big! And it does!

Who can comprehend the vastness of outer space? For example, if you could ride a light beam (186,000 miles per sec.), you would pass the sun in 8.6 min. Continuing at this same rate of speed, you would reach the nearest star (little Proxima Centauri) in about 4 years. And then, still moving at the speed of light, it would take you 99,996 years to reach the edge of the Milky Way (which is our own galaxy). Beyond this, there are at least 500,000 other galaxies already chartered, and more being discovered all the time. That's a "wow" in my book!

And then, look in the opposite direction and there are equally amazing discoveries in the micro world. The atom, eg.,...so tiny, that 2,000,000 of them in a row, would cover a space no larger than the tiny dot over the letter "i" on my printer.

In the midst of this, we are tempted to ask with the Psalmist, "What is man that thou art mindful of him?" (Ps. 8:4)

Does this put us in our place, and yet it gives us a place. God, who has made the galaxies of outer space has also arranged the minuteness of inner space. Can we then believe that He has ignored or overlooked the all important activities of those He has chosen to call His children?

He created us. He gave us a place. He has exalted us to a high degree, but He has also humbled us, lest we lose our sense of values and balance.

In a world already existing for over 2 billion years, can incidents that happen to you and me for one day or for one year, or even for one lifetime, actually affect God? Where upon the records of the universe, will be recorded the disappointments of John Smith, or of Joe Blow, who became discouraged one day in May and almost gave up the battle?

And yet the assurance keeps coming, that although what happens to me, doesn't seem to matter much, and the world goes on pretty much as usual without my small contribution...that it is recorded! And it does make a difference, and that God does care, and that He cares for you and for me.

I rejoice that the God who made us, is big enough to know the disappointments of each person, and if we put our trust in Him, He will set us high upon a Rock, and put a new song in our hearts, and will help us not to stumble or fall.

When My World Falls Apart

Does the Lord lead us?...every step of the way? Do we really believe that? Perhaps we cannot accept this...cannot be truly sure, until we can learn to thank God even when our world starts to fall apart!

The Bible writers seemed to fully believe this. And it is hard for us to understand their way of speaking, unless we see their point of view.

Maybe this illustration will help. Back in the year 1965, I learned a great deal about pain and suffering. I was in the hospital for three major surgeries in 6 months. Until that time, I could visit people in the hospital, and not fully appreciate what they were feeling. I thought I could, but not really!
But now, I began to feel that I had shared somewhat in the suffering of mankind.

Paul once said, "We must learn to give thanks to God in all things." And I wondered, could I thank God for this? I would not have asked Him for it. I would not ask for it again. But having had it, it became a blessing in my life.
And so, I can look back upon it and say, "Thank you, God, for giving me pain, and suffering...for exposing me to this difficult experience."

At this point, I could even say, "The Lord led me into suffering. He led me into pain...that I might know how to praise Him. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
I don't believe that it was the Lord's intentional will that I should go to the hospital and have suffering...but under the circumstances of need, it became not only within His will, but directly a part of it, that I should go to be made well.
And so I say, "The Lord gave me a burden, so that I might better understand the burdens of others."

Has your world fallen apart recently? Have things gone from bad to worse? Then just hang in there...God hasn't deserted you. The day will come when you will be able to look back with perspective, and say, "Thanks be to God...for now I see life differently than ever before. I may even be wiser and richer now because of this burden I've been forced to bear."

Is Everything Vanity?

Is it wrong to enjoy the good things of life? There was a "Playboy" of the Old Testament who wrote:"There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in his toil." (Ecclesiastes 2:24)

He was honest. He could not see much for the future. Heaven and hell were not ideas with which he was familiar. Death for the writer was mostly a nothingness. And so he believed that life was meant to be enjoyed while you had it.

Perhaps he has a good lesson for us to learn. Why do we get so tense with one another...so upset...so irritable? Is it not because we have our noses to the grindstone and do not take time to just enjoy the moments that we have, and the friends that we can enjoy. Sometimes we do not even have fun with our children while we have them. At times we ignore good health while we have it. We are always pushing for that time in the future when we can enjoy ourselves and that time never comes.

What does life mean? Are there things of significance, of value? One of the conclusions that Ecclesiastes comes to is that we ought to learn to love life...not indulge life, or glorify indulgence, but to glorify Him who gave us life. You see, life was meant to be enjoyed. Jesus said, "I am come that you might have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)

Ours is not to be tearful preaching, but cheerful teaching. Ours is not to be doleful proclamations, but soulful exclamations. We are to love life!

We make the tragic mistake of believing that our task is to make a living, whereas our task is to make a life that is worth living. We might even say: "What shall it profit a man to make a darn good life in the future, and not be able to have good living now?"

Is it wrong to enjoy the good things in life? No. The question is: do we know what the good things in life really are?

Enjoy your children while you have them. This is good. To be obsessed with only your security for the future is vanity.

Enjoy your neighbors. This is good. To be so busy with day by day pursuits that you do not learn to know them is vanity.

Enjoy your faith. This is good. To put it aside as a luxury to be had when you are older, or as a chore to perform, is to miss the glory of life. It is vanity and emptiness.

Enjoy the privilege of giving, of sacrifice. This is good. To hoard and to keep everything to yourself is like cancer. It eats out the heart and meaning of life and is vanity.

Enjoy your God. This is good. There is an old creed that says: "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever." All else is vanity.

How To Live All Day Long

How do you live all day long? It isn't easy is it? There are times when a person despairs...when he cries out, "My God, My God...why?"

A despondent man went to an old sage. He said to the wise man that he wanted to be released from life, because it was too hard. The sage picked up some herbs of healing that he had...gave them to the man and said: "Go find 7 persons to whom you can give this herb. After you have helped them, return to me, and I will give you release from life."

The story goes that the man did so, but by the time he had returned, he no longer wanted release. He wanted to live. In the healing of others, he himself had been healed!

A doctor announced that he was a "Cure for the Blues Specialist". When a person came to his office, he gave him a card with the formula: "When you feel yourself getting blue, something for somebody else go do." It wasn't great poetry, but it was a good philosophy.

There is seldom a day goes by, without some pain or hardship for you to bear. But, if it is true of you, just remember, that it is happening to everyone else too.

When you see your own problems, and cry your own tears, and feel your own pain, the day is hard indeed. But if you help to carry the load of others, somehow your own becomes a bit easier to bear.

Someone has defined "sympathy" as: "your pain in my heart!" The Psalmist reminds us that there is One who is forever sharing our burdens. "Blessed be God, who daily bears us up." (Ps. 68:19) God takes our pain in his heart. He bears us up. The apostle Paul says: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." (II Cor. 1:3)

Awhile ago, an Alka seltzer commercial had a man saying, "I can't believe I ate the who-o-o-le thing!" If we live each day with the comfort and under-girding of the Almighty, we will be able to live the who-o-o-o-le day, and do it well.

You Cannot Live In Tomorrow

It is good to dream and plan wisely for tomorrow. But we cannot live on that street today. Worrying about the future will only sap our strength for this moment.

Jesus said: "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)

As we look back, we discover that the Past has changed us greatly, and the Future will change us some more. So, welcome to the Future. In a sense, the Christian has an Aladdin's lamp, and we ask, "Show us tomorrow." And the answer comes back, "Emmanuel: God with us!"

We know not what the future holds, but we do know Who holds the future. And we are content. The past has changed us, and the present is full of change, 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."

God daily imparts His grace to us. We need no rehearsals. The play is already going on. And each day that we live is a time to live, to love, to serve, to weep, and to laugh. We must not wait for tomorrow, because tomorrow may never come.

And so, today is a gift carefully wrapped. It may have surprises crammed into the corners and crevices, but God is sufficient, and I must not worry.

There is an ancient poem, based on the Sanskrit (of 1200 B.C.) that goes like this:
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."

Look well therefore to this Day!

The Aroma Of Christ

I'm not sure I ever thought of myself as an aroma. Paul in II Cor. 2:15 said, "we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved."

There are a few people I might call "stinkers", and at times, I might even concede that I qualify for that name too, but to be a good "aroma"...that is quite a challenge.

Paul also goes on to say that we are to be a "fragrance from life to life" (vs.16) so that through our example, others might find new life. Unfortunately we can also be a"fragrance from death to death". Because of my failures and my weaknesses, other folks may stumble and fall. What a horrible thing!

Unlike those in the animal world, we do not have the power of tracking others through smell. Our pets can apparently do it to an amazing degree, as well as most creatures in the animal Kingdom.

But what if I could leave such a fragrance of love, such an aroma of forgiveness, such a redolence of compassion, such an odor of mercy, that my journey through history would leave a vapor trail suggesting the spirit of Christ? That would be my highest privilege, my greatest tribute, my most resounding epitaph on the spiritual trail markers for my children and the world to see.

I may not qualify as one of the great movers of history, but if I could be registered among those who revealed the "aroma of Christ"...that would be all I desire.

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Running With The Horses

Jeremiah the prophet, believed he had heard the Lord giving him a direct command:

"Before I formed you...I knew you
Before you were born, I consecrated you.
I appointed you a prophet to the nations..." (Jer. 1:4)

But although he spoke the words of the Lord with conviction, using imaginative devices and illustrations, he was hated by the people and despised. He complained to the Lord that things weren't going well and he was tired, but the Lord's response was as follows:

"If you have raced with men on foot, and
they have wearied you, how will you
compete with horses? And if in a safe land
you fall down, how will you do in the jungle
of the Jordan?" (Jeremiah 12:5)

Not very encouraging, was it? Almost like saying, "Cheer up, the worst is yet to come!"

Someone has defined happiness as "a state of going somewhere, one directionally, without regret, or reservation." This was Jeremiah, and the pioneers of the early faith.

The zeal of the early church pioneers was incredible. John Wesley in his diary wrote: "Leisure and I have taken leave of one another." Christian Newcomer made more than fifty trips on horseback across the Appalachian Mts., his last after he had passed his 80th birthday. Many of the early pioneers of the Church literally lived on horseback. They were very ordinary people who above all things wished to be faithful. They were footmen, who through the years had learned to run with even the horses!

The Church can use more such persons today, who run not only with their fellow brothers and sisters, but have been conditioned to run against the devil himself.

God made an oyster to be safe in its shell. It was destined to be safe, but doomed to forever being an oyster. God took human kind, and placed all the protective bone on the inside, exposing raw nerves to a cruel world. We were not destined for safety, but destined to subdue the world, and bring all mankind to the love of God.

Some of us are still looking for an oyster shell. Above all else, we want to be comfortable. No so, Jeremiah and the great pioneers. They were conditioned by the grace of God to run with the horses, taking the jibes and taunts of life. They got the victory. May we also run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

The Authentic Person

Is everyone a hypocrite? Are we playing with life and religion? Are we wearing masks and going through the forms? What is vital Christianity? What about integrity and authenticity? Are we being honest? How much of the time are we pretending? Can we be genuine?...Can we "tell it like it is?"

Young people think the adult generation is hypocritical...two faced...shot full of holes. It undoubtedly is! But so will it be probably when they get older too.
It was so in Jesus' day. And Jesus was the young upstart who had the audacity to "tell it like it is"!

Jesus' followers didn't observe the rules. And they didn't I suppose, because Jesus didn't! But the rules they broke were the man made variety...not God's rules! When they ate, they didn't go through all the ceremonial rites, or the certain prescribed way of washing their hands. The Scribes and Pharisees asked, "Why? Why don't you go through the formula? Why don't you follow the rules? Why don't you play the game...like the rest of us?"

And Jesus caught them at it, and exposed the game they were playing. They were playing at religion. And Jesus attacked the hypocrites because they were so self righteously convinced of their goodness. Their blindness actually set them in opposition to God!

Everybody plays roles, and this is not necessarily bad, but as Christians, we are also subject to playing games. We make spectacular pronouncements for justice and equality and go on living as though it weren't so. We worship the Prince of Peace, and yet teach man made acceptance of bombing villages and people. We worship the Creator who made the earth with its abundance for all, and yet teach the doctrines of men, keeping this abundance for a few. We worship the Father of all races, and teach the commandments of mankind that tell us to keep other races in their place. The tragedy is that we are consciously sincere in these matters. but we are unconsciously insincere as well.

We are the "almost Christians" or as T.S. Eliot described it...We are the "Hollow Men"..."stuffed men...heads filled with straw, and dried voices". We live on the outside as Christians, but inside we are almost nothing at all.

The disciples followed Jesus, because he was real...genuine...authentic. The fact that he overlooked some of the man made traditions somehow didn't seem too important. In Jesus, they saw the kind of men they were meant to be. In his presence, they became aware of sham and hypocrisy and self centeredness in their own lives.

In the presence of Jesus, and the fellowship of the loving community of the Church, we can believe that we are accepted and forgiven. And with that assurance, we can be honest, drop the masks, and forget the pretend roles we feel obligated to play. And then, stripped of pretense, we become free enough to be ourselves as God made us...whole persons....no longer playing at religion, no longer counterfeits, but real, genuine, and authentic.

Good Grief

How inappropriate can you be? How can grief be good? And after tragedy strikes, and the newspapers share all the shocking details, who would dare to say "Good Grief".

On the other hand, even as lights seem to be going out all over the world, we Christians have the audacity to say, "God is not dead, nor has He left us alone."
A president is assassinated, fire storms destroy hundreds of homes, a plane crash results in the loss of all lives, an earthquake kills hundreds of people, and destroys an entire city. More people die of AIDS this year, than ever before. On and on the tragedies continue.

Does grief bring us to our knees? Does the burning of churches in the south, unite people? Out of black Fridays, can there sometimes be glorious Sundays?
As a people, we are often in grief. But God has a way of turning it into "good grief"...of changing sorrow into greatness, of transforming sadness into gladness. The tears of a people are for the cleansing of their eyes.

Strange, isn't it, that the really great and significant things that take place in our world, cluster around tragedy and self sacrifice. What do we do with tragedy? We turn it into "good grief". That's what we must do! The apostle Paul said "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us." (Ro. 5:3)

I'm not happy about "grief". But when I confront it through the Lord's eyes, I am able to find my way through.

Good News Becomes The Bad News

Through the years, Christians have been rejoicing in the "Good News". "That's what the Gospel is all about", they say.

That's true. The good news is that God loves us, and that He has sent Christ into the world to reconcile the world to Himself. But along with that comes the fact that He has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation.

This gospel says that we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord, and that I must be reconciled to them. But I don't want to claim some of my neighbors as part of my family. I don't want to love folks whose jobs cut into my pay check. I don't want to accept freaks who paint their hair and wear rings and jewels in every part of their body. I don't like people who talk differently than I do. I have no interest in being friends with people of different color. I just want to live my own life, and let the rest of the world go by.

But here is the bad news!...Christ calls me into a caring and reconciling relationship. I have to try to learn to love even those who are hard to love. I must try to reach out to people who are different, and folks who look at life in a different way than I. I don't have to agree with them, but I have to try to love them.

Woe is me! There goes my complacency. If Jesus was willing to live and die for me...then the least I can do is try to live for Him. That's the good news for today...but sometimes, I must confess, it puts me to the test.

What Really Moved Jesus?

At a meal one day, in Simon's house, with a group of super critical religious leaders, Jesus sat alone and misunderstood. Every word he said was challenged and twisted by those who were trying to dis-credit him.

To the amazement of all at the table, a woman of the street came in, and taking an alabaster jar of costly ointment, she poured it out upon Jesus' head.

We do not know what Jesus had done for her...but she needed to do something for him. It was as though she saw the storm clouds gathering. It was like the shadow of the cross upon him.

Why did she do it? Was it an impulse? Did she want to do something to show that she cared? Some have said she may have been in love with Jesus. She didn't pour out just a few drops of this valuable ointment...and say, "I guess that should be enough for the occasion." No, it all went.

Her unblocked impulse moved Jesus. It was not smothered with caution. She was lifted clear out of arithmetic into love...where one no longer counts the cost.
The record says that Jesus was moved, deeply stirred by this extravagant action. We remember a few other times: a Centurion asking for his son's recovery. Jesus was impressed by his faith. Or the widow who put her whole living into the treasury box...the widow's mite. Jesus spoke in glowing terms about her gift.

And now this. There was a kind of excitement in Jesus as he spoke about it. The only measurements some people have for values are those of the market place. This oil...what a waste!..."it could have been given to the poor," they said. But they really didn't care so much about the poor...it just sounded good.

To some people, worship is waste. What good is it? Beauty is unnecessary. You can't eat it! It butters no bread...It builds no barns...It yields no compound interest. To these persons, a life of sacrifice is always a waste. The life of David Livingstone...what a waste! Or Dr. Schweitzer..."think of what he could have done with those 4 Doctor's Degrees, instead of going as a missionary. What a waste!"
Perhaps we have a clue here as to why Christ had to die..because there are so many in our world, who care more for things than for people.

Come Fly With Me

Have you watched the birds, and the soaring eagles, and sometimes thought, "How wonderful to be able to soar above the grime and slime and weariness of this old world, and see life from a different perspective."

A good friend gave me lessons years ago, and I finally did the big "solo" thing. "I could fly!...but I couldn't afford financially to continue, so I haven't done much since." John Gillespie Magee, Jr. in "High Flight" said it so well:

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter silvered wings;
Sun-ward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of wheeled and soared and
swung...
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
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.

I'm not an angel, but the Bible tells me that I was made "just a bit lower than the angels". I may not have wings yet, but the potential is there. This world is my home, but it is not my only home, and there is another dimension to this flat existence. A lot of my life is lived with my nose to the grindstone, and that's where it has to be much of the time. Nobody promised me a rose garden. But one of these days, I'm goin' to fly!

And Sunday after Sunday, I practice the process...of loving, and giving, and forgiving, and caring, and lifting my eyes to Him who can deliver me from this bondage of death, until with Jesus, I can fly.

Our Faith has regular "Fly ins". Our Lord invites you and me to take the ground course, and "lift off" is possible, whenever we need Him, and whenever we cry out in desperation. Come fly with the Lord Jesus. Here is the only air line that can give you an eternal guarantee.

It's School Time Again

I’m for the kids! Jesus was too, you know. He said, “let the children come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the Kingdom!”

It occurred to me that our kids aren’t getting ready to go to work! They are at work! School is just as much going to work for them as punching the clock is for us. Theirs is almost an 8-hour day. And by the time they ride the bus for an hour each way, it is more than that.

Consider the environment of a school child for 12 years: The child sits in a desk, lined up in rows, with 20-30 other children. Any office with desks and secretaries that close to each other would bring a protest of violation of human space and rights! Day after day, the children sit in that same room, looking at a blackboard in front of them, or to their side. Bulletin Boards break the monotony. An American flag is to one side; a school clock is somewhere in the room; a pencil sharpener is there for all to use. There is surely a world globe, and a few other typical items. Almost the same monotonous items in every classroom for 12 years! In recent years, the addition of computers has changed a major part of the environment.

Day after day, a child raises his or her arm eagerly to answer questions the teacher may ask. Day after day, that arm is cushioned in the hand while the student waits for recognition…an arm is a heavy thing to hold! There is probably no carpet on the classroom floor. The room is most certainly not air-conditioned…sometimes overly hot…sometimes overly cold!

Consider the lines that child must go through: a line waiting for the bus, a line waiting for a drink, a line to go into the lunch room, a line in the fire drill, a line waiting for the bathroom. A child has a regimented day, perhaps not as much as years ago in the school room, but it still is: up early in the morning, be there on time, stay there, with only a few times out of the classroom for a short science class, or gym, or lunch break. And then, home at night, with the possibility of home work. And then back at it again the next day and the next and the next!

Children are not preparing for life’s work. They are doing it! And thank God, for dedicated teachers who can take this regimented day, and make it a shining star!...and can take these young laborers, and turn them into excited searchers for truth!

Jesus loved the children. He said they were not to be minimized. And we as adults must not “turn them off”. We must set them an example of conduct, and charity, and faith, and life-style in keeping with God’s will, rather than against it. It could involve prayer at school, but it most certainly must involve prayer at home.

I Went To School Once!

Once upon a time, I went to school too! Good old one room country school…nothing like it anymore! Kids just don’t learn like they used to!

Of course, today, everything is being done on computers, and we are taking pictures of Saturn over one billion miles away; and television is beamed on satellites around the world; and what used to be world geography to us, is now daily newspaper material!

Too bad, the kids today couldn’t have the advantages we had of those gas lamps and outdoor plumbing. Boy, were those the good ol’ days!

Come to think about it…they weren’t all that good! Maybe I am rationalizing a bit. Education today can’t be all bad! After all, doctors go back for more of it…ministers have requirements for continuing education…school teachers must take extra classes to keep in shape!

Is it possible my skills as a Sunday School teacher could be improved with a little extra training? Would I as a church member benefit by recent understandings of Scripture? Is it possible that I’m just getting too judgmental about others, and really need to do some growing myself, in order to keep up with this rapidly changing world?

How about a little up-to-date school for some of us too? Who wants to let the kids get all the credit? Think I’ll check into one of the fine Sunday School classes today, or find a Bible course that meets my needs, or a Lab School to sharpen my skills. After all, education isn’t just for kids!

Selfishness Is Dangerous

Sometimes I get scared when I think of the dangers of selfishness. What does it do to my personality? What does it do to my family? How can I teach them to give, and to give gladly and generously…to learn to trust in something other than materialistic things?

This is one of the tasks of the Christian Faith. I must learn “FAITH” for myself, before I can teach it to my children. I must learn to give to God without penny-pinching in the assurance that when I give up my “hoarding” and give up my faith in “material things”, I begin to launch out in faith with a God who has assured me that He will ”open the windows of heaven, and pour down an overflowing blessing”. (Malachi 3:10b) An old rhyme goes as follows:

“If I get mine.
And God gets His
Then everything will be just fine
But if I get mine
And keep His too
What do you think God will do?”

And someone has added the answer, “We believe God will collect!”

I’m not sure I know how God “collects”, but I do believe I understand the spiritual law of giving. A lake that receives but does not give out is a stagnant lake. By that same token, a life that receives without giving back just as generously, becomes a dead soul!

I do not want to make the mistake of not giving! I believe God has given me the privilege of giving to keep me from becoming absolutely selfish. Here then, is a law of my being…”giving is living.” Have I really understood the “health-cure” my church offers me when it asks me to give?

As a Christian, I have never felt strange about asking people to give. Not to do so, would be an act of unconcern on my part!

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Where Is Your Faithfulness?

What does a farmer think about when he sees the grain tumbling from the combine into the wagon…thousands of kernels, pouring into storage bins? Does he think about the blessings of God? The prophet Malachi said: “Put me to the test and you will see that I will open the windows of heaven and pour out on you in abundance all kinds of good things.” (Malachi 3:10) Does that farmer think about God’s goodness? No? Then he should!

What does a mother think when she sends her children off to school, and watches them…healthy and strong, learning and growing? Does she think about what Jesus said: “You know how to give good things to your children. How much more then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Lk. 11:13) Does she think about what Jesus said? No? Then she should!

What does the average person think when he goes to work in the morning, and puts in another 8-hour day and collects a full week’s pay check? Does that person think, like the Psalmist, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.” (Ps. 68:19) Does he think about the Psalms? Or do you? No? Then you should!

How does God put up with our indifference, when He has been so good to us? Where is our faithfulness? Where are we on Sunday mornings? Are we in God’s House to praise Him? Where are we when it comes time to give an extra offering? Are we giving of the first fruits of the land, or the first portion of our pay-checks? Are we reflecting His goodness to us through our gifts? Where are we when the difficult times come? Are we the first to complain, or do we remember the good times, and say, “Thanks be unto God, for His inexpressible gifts.” (II Cor. 9:15) Where are we when someone needs a greeting or a friendly word? Are we so busy with our own little problems, that we cannot see beyond our own nose?

Let us remember to praise the Lord! As the Psalmist has said: “Praise God in his sanctuary.”...”Praise him for his mighty acts.”…”Praise him with the sound of the trumpet.”…”Let everything that hath breath, praise the Lord.” (Ps. 150)

What Is Your Life?

The writer of James has some simple, practical wisdom. He writes: “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.’ As it is you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:14-16)

This morning, the air was heavy with fog…it was hard to see the highway and other cars. Suddenly a car would loom out of the fog, and then just as suddenly it would move on. Life is like that in many ways. Each of us must live a kind of solitary existence. We move through the fog, briefly encountering other lives. Our two lives cross and we influence each other briefly…but then on we go into the fog again.

Several of my neighbors have moved recently to distant communities. I realize how briefly our pathways have crossed. For others, there is the agony of sickness and death. For some, there is the joy of birth and new life. But how brief and ephemeral is our existence. Our life is like a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

But out of the fog, and through the mists, comes the light of the Savior. The warmth of His Presence dissolves the confusion and the fear and then we are able to see clearly. We are so tiny in this great universe! We have little reason for boasting. Much of the blessings and mercies of God, we have turned into confusion…but thank God for Jesus, the light of the world. He takes away our fear of tomorrow, and of dying, and he gives us courage for living. He helps us to make sense of a seemingly meaningless existence. Following Him, we can know what is right to do, and through Him, we have the strength to do it. May He give you strength to live this day at your very best.

He's Keepin' Score

Every baseball game, every football or basketball game tends to bring up some questionable calls by the umpires and referees! The “Instant Playback” helps us to see the gross errors and mistaken “calls” that are made. But it’s just a game, and the players learn to live with it!

But there is also a “game of life”. And day after day, you and I see people getting hurt, we see injustice and unfairness. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer! Many times, bad people do not get punished for their evil, and criminals go scot-free. At the same time, there are good people who are unjustly accused, and righteous folk who suffer more than their share! Where is the justice of this old world in which we live? Why do the righteous suffer, and the evil prosper? These are questions as old as time itself.

A good friend of ours puts a unique kind of slogan in his front lawn weekly by careful mowing and hand-trimming of the grass. One week, it said: “He’s Keepin’ Score”…I like that! There is an absolutely fair and unimpeachable Referee. Not all the scores are settled in this world! Not all the rewards and punishments are meted out during this brief existence! The Psalmist said it rightly, “The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away”. But those who live faithfully, who walk in righteousness, are like a tree, planted by streams of living water, and yield fruit in their season. (Psalm 1)

God has His own “instant Play-back”. He is not fooled by what some people get-away-with! “He’s keepin’ Score”, and I’m glad! I may get “fouled” in the game of life! I may have “three strikes” on me unfairly, but the Lord knows, and He is my ultimate Judge! I’ll take my chances with His score-card!

It Is A Strange Sign

If a person with three eyes and four arms flew in on a space vehicle, and came to observe Holy Communion in our church, there would be one puzzled alien! But maybe you are confused too. Does it really mean something? Why in the world, has the Church from century one, observed this phenomenon? Let’s take a look.

1—It is drama: the gospel is acted out here. “God so loved that He gave.” Everlasting life is given through the sacrifice of Jesus. That’s drama and powerful stuff!

2—Sins are forgiven here as well: ours, and all who ask for it from the Giver of forgiveness. Good news, if we just believe and accept it.

3—There is atonement in this observance. Jesus brings at-one-ment. The wall that sin made is broken down. Through confession and forgiveness of sins, I am no longer separated from my neighbor or from my God.

4—And here is magic! As we lift up in memory the one who is more precious than silver, and worth more than all the treasures that earth can produce, we count the coins of our spiritual bank account, and remember Jesus, and what he did for us, and said to us. And that remembrance is magic.

5—In a terribly divided world, this sign tells us boldly that there is no exclusiveness. We must be of one accord. We may not go into rapture at the thought of loving all races and all cultures, or even of loving some of our immediate brethren, but we either learn to do just that, or find ourselves consigned to the Pit! “Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity”, Jesus said. (Lk. 13:27) It’s a bit scary, this food and drink given to us.

6—But finally in this sign, we find ourselves living between two worlds. We look back into the world in which Jesus was crucified and then we look forward to the world in which he is to be crowned Lord of all.

Fortunately, if we have grasped its meaning, we end up taking the “bread”: and the “wine” as we should. We may even find ourselves standing next to that three-eyed, four-legged creature from outer space, or that two-legged hard-to-love neighbor from down the street, and discover that we can get used to it. You see, our God is the Father of all, and Jesus Christ is the Savior of all, and we who go by His name, must be the friend of all.

There’s no doubt about it. It is a strange sign. But I hope we stay in the ranks of those who find life-transforming power in taking “the bread” and drinking “the cup” as new citizens of that brave new world of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Somebody Touched Me!

When the President comes to town, or a movie personality, or a rock-artist of fame, the crowds throng the guest, reaching hands out to touch. They want to shake hands, get an autograph, or even touch the person’s clothing. Why?

The New Testament tells a similar story of crowds, thronging our Lord, and especially of a woman, who reached forward to “touch” Him.

Again and again, we read of Jesus touching someone: the blind man, the lame, the leper. The touch of the Savior brought healing, wholeness, the woman who reached out to touch was healed!

His touch was like a miracle! How many times Christians have rejoiced in their newness of life with the simple statement of faith, “He touched me!” Touching is life’s best communication. It is better than a thousand words. What can you say in those hundreds of instances when words just don’t come, or when words are simply inadequate? The warm handshake, the friendly hug, the touch of someone’s hand is often the only thing that will do the job!

Please touch! Life is lonely when people walk around in a wilderness of words. It is easy to feel rejected, left out, “out-of-touch” in today’s world.

Many churches take a moment for folks to “give the peace”…a handshake, a greeting, or the words: “the peace of God be with you”.

John said in his epistle, concerning Jesus: “that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen, which we have looked upon, and touched with our hands.” (I John 1:1)

Whenever we take the Last Supper, or the sacrament of Holy Communion, we are allowed to take the bread, to hold it between our fingers, and to receive the grape juice (the Wine), and it touches our tongues. The Word does become flesh, and in the act of sacrament, we have touched Him, and He touches us, to make us whole!

Take Life

Several books have been written about life after death. Doctors and others have collected information about those declared dead, who returned to life, and shared their recollections of what had happened to them in the process. Interestingly enough, nearly all of them had similar experiences: a feeling of leaving their bodies, of seeing themselves and others from a distance, and then of seeing a great light, and experiencing a strong Presence, who gave them a feeling of joy and happiness.

This is nothing new to us! For centuries, Christians have believed this truth about life after death! We may not have analyzed it in quite this same way, but we do believe that there is a marvelous existence beyond that last breath! The really big question we think may be just as important is: “Is there life before death? Is there life during life?”

All of us know, for example, of people who are alive, but not really living!...who have all the characteristics of living bodies, but who are really dead in their relationship to God and others.

We hope to live again after death. We believe God has provided this assurance for those who trust in Him. But to truly live for Him now…while we are yet alive, is even more critical!

In the sacrament of Holy Communion, Christians dramatize the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. The cross is a pointer that directs us to the future…but if it does not make us joyous and triumphant in the present…then it was all for nothing!

“Take life!” Jesus said, “Take it now!” Come to Him as a beggar…leave as a King! Come with your poverty. Leave with His great treasury of Life!

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Have A Yeasty Heart

Home-made bread is a vanishing species! But every so often, we have it!

How unpromising that little roll of grayish dough looks in the pan. But, give it a few hours, and it rises above the confines of the pan that had so completely buried it. Somewhere, within that mass of inert-looking stuff, there is a vital spore that begins to multiply, and a kind of miracle takes place!

Somewhere within each of us, there is a seed, a yeasty piece, just waiting to be re-born and brought to life! There are a lot of church members among us, inert, at a stand-still in their spiritual lives, but with a good yeasty heart.

“This is my Body,” Jesus said. Let us praise God, for the “Body” of the Church of Jesus Christ. And let us pray that each of us may let the yeast of Christ’s spirit bring a miracle within us, as we work together in His miracle-filled world.

Where In The World Is Everybody Going?

Sometimes in the summer, one gets those “left-behind” blues. Everybody else is going someplace! Packing up for Florida! Fishing up in Canada, flying over to Hawaii, Alaska, the ocean, Niagara Falls! What a variety of spots to go!

Most of us get vacations, and we have no reason to complain; but I do think of those many persons in our community who are not able to go, go, go! In my Chicago church, there was a lady, so crippled by arthritis, that she could never travel! She never went anywhere! But one day she told me, “I’m going to Mexico next week, and I’m all excited!” I knew better. She was not going, but she did so vicariously through friends. She found out all about the places they planned to stop; she read up on these spots, and she ended up knowing more about the trip than those who went!

In many ways, going to church can be an exciting venture. Or, how about going to visit a neighbor, or making a phone call? Here’s some close-to-home activity. Need some excitement?...go to the library…read a book… read the Bible, and meet the Eternal!

My day can be exciting, because today, I am going to meet the King! Who can out-boast my experiences when I tell my friends I have been walking with, and talking to the Lord of the Universe, the Creator of the world!

No need to have those “stay-at-home” blues! Just get your ticket for today’s gift of life. You can really go places with God! Pleasant traveling!

Don't Turn Off The Clouds!

Years ago, my nature photography lacked character. But I have discovered a secret: when you take pictures…if possible, get some clouds in the sky!

Most of the time, we think we don’t want clouds. Clear blue skies seem nicer. But out west in the mountains, the majestic peaks seem to draw the clouds to them at least once a day. The lightning flashes, the thunder rolls, and the rain descends. The mountains have learned that the clouds are necessary to keep life fresh and alive.

There is a kind of daily classroom for all of us, and the Teacher of life requires discipline, growth, and study. Business isn’t always that great, and day after day needs sacrifice, hard work, and faith from our business-people. Farmers watch their crops grow with bated breath. Will they survive? Profits are never guaranteed.

God put us in this world with no absolute assurance of clear skies. Life is difficult, but storms and problems appear to be necessary to build character. Jesus said, “If you are not willing to take up a cross and follow me, you are not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:38) There is a toughness that our Lord requires of all who would follow Him.

Today, He invites you to come to Him. He promises no life of ease, but He does promise an abundant life, and an eternal life for all who take up the disciplines of the Cross and walk with Him.

It is not easy to be a Christian in today’s world; but we are the people of God, who are pledged to be loyal and faithful to Him. Accept these disciplines, and you will find that even the clouds make life more interesting, and troubles have a way of turning into opportunities.

Clouds and problems are not that bad. Indeed they may even be good. In the book of Romans, we read that we are to “rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts.” (Ro. 5:3-5)

Count Your Many Blessings!

The devil got his grip on me last week! Did everything he could to make me miserable!...covered my body with chiggers and sores!...thought I would die!

“Why me?” I thought to myself. “What have I done to merit such grief?” And I pondered the old story of Job and his boils. In the 2nd chapter, we read, “Satan made sores break out all over Job’s body. Job went and sat by the garbage dump.” (Job 2:7-9 T.E.V.)

I’ve found myself sitting by the garbage dump fairly often haven’t you? So many times, my problems, and my griefs and my distress become greater in my mind than God’s mercies and God’s love, and God’s marvelous provisions!

Can’t say we don’t have a right to complain now and then…but why cry those salty tears so often, when you can change your tune, and change your life by concentrating on the good things God has heaped upon you? Count your many blessings! See what God has done! And like Job, you too will find victory over Satan’s wicked darts!

Got The Summer-Time "Blahs"?

How does it happen that all winter long, we wait for summer, and then when summer comes, we suddenly find ourselves wrung out, done out, sort of numb and hung-out?

Could it be because we’re looking too much at our world, and not enough at God’s? Our world is tiring, boring, sometimes meaningless and so we get the “blahs”…those ugly, troublesome “blues” that are called “blahs”!

But take a look at God’s world, and we hear the Psalmist saying, “The heavens are telling the glory of God….the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul…the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart…More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold.” (from Ps. 19) On and on the writer goes, suggesting that if we get hung up on ourselves, it is fatal, but if we take a look at God’s world, it is like tonic for our souls, like treasure to our spiritual pocketbooks, like life for our summer-shriveled spirits.

There’s no cure like the prescription of the Great Physician: take one or two doses of Bible study and worship each week. Attend church, where the summertime “blahs” become acts of praise, and depression turns to a resounding “Amen”.

It Takes Obedience

One of the special parts of vacation-time is sitting along the lake, and just doing nothing at all!

I did that one morning along Lake Michigan, just as the sun was coming up about 5:30. It was beautiful! A few moments before, and the lake was dark and calm. But suddenly the sun arose and every tiny wave responded, reflecting the sun in a golden pathway stretching from my seat to the opposite side of the lake.

The waves didn’t question their need to reflect the sun…they just did it, in perfect obedience.

I thought to myself…”Why can’t we as God’s children do the same? Why are we so concerned about reflecting our own glory, or making the almighty dollar, or being so busy in doing nothing? Why cannot we too be obedient to the rays of God’s love and simply reflect them to make a golden pathway for others to see His glory?

Maybe it’s not a profound idea, but it seems as though I should do a better job in reflecting his Glory rather than being so concerned about my own.

I Saw God At Work Today

I saw God at work today! And He’s looking for workers! No unemployment in His Kingdom!

I saw Him in the sky, upon the earth, under the waters, cardinals flashing by, geese honking on the wing, geodes rolling down the creeks, onions sneaking their fragrances into gardens, while dandelions are having their come-uppance in yards all over America!

Over in the play-ground, wall-to-wall kids, growing, learning…fully employed in the process of becoming like their elders, but hopefully a little wiser. Back home, moms and dads, struggling with the task of bringing up Johnny, and wondering where they’re bringing him up to! And over at old First Church, church members are gathering to bring the sacrifice of their hearts, to place upon the altars of God’s will.

Yes, in these days of unemployment, I’m glad I’m fully employed for Him. No other task demands so much! No other work pays such beautiful dividends!

Are you getting all the dividends God wants to give you?

Has The Pollination Taken Place?

How fast the corn is growing! An old farm saying when I was a boy was, “knee-high by the 4th of July!” Would you believe it…now it gets that high by at least a month earlier? And today, it is tall and fully tasseled out

Years ago, a friendly farmer showed me the pollinator corn being planted between every 4 regular rows of corn to produce high-grade seed corn. Later, after it has done its job, these rows are sacrificed and cut down.

How we have controlled the development of our plants…we can make the stalks tall or short; we can determine the number of ears per stalk, and the size or length of the ear. We can plant special corn for dry areas or wet spots…early spring or late spring. In that tiny kernel of corn, we can store the facts to determine exactly what it will do!

Why are we so slow in developing that more perfect human being? Oh, we’ve developed taller people, stronger and faster people; but somewhere along the line, we have not developed nicer people, more loving and peaceable people.

Jesus came as that perfect pollinator-person we were meant to be! He made that complete sacrifice so that we might be able to go on living more abundant lives. Why not take the beauty of his life, and the perfection of his spirit to pollinate and hybridize your own? How could you talk about salvation in more specific terms?

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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 1:12)

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”.