Just Looking for Lost Donkeys

Saul (son of Kish- Old Testament) was simply out looking for his dad’s lost donkeys. He providentially runs into the prophet Samuel and ends up being king. Yet, if you study his reign, it seems that he was always still looking for those donkeys. He’s pretty much clueless most of the time.

Even from the beginning, even as Samuel is trying to introduce Saul to the people, they can’t find him. It seems he’s off hiding among the luggage (1 Samuel 10). When he is officially introduced, everyone yells “long live the king” (I guess we can assume that was the official beginning of the Israelite Monarchy) and then they all go home, including Saul.

The very next thing we hear about the new king is when messengers arrive at his hometown with the news that the Ammonites have captured the Jewish town of Jabesh. The citizens have already surrendered, but the Ammonites also want to remove everyone’s right eye (you know, for some people, a simple victory is never enough. They also want to rub it in, or in this case, poke it out!).

So when the messengers show up with this awful news, the new king is out in the fields, “behind his oxen.” We can only assume he wasn’t giving royal commands to the beasts, but rather, was plowing the fields himself.

Imagine if next January, John or Barack walked onto the grounds of the White House after the Inauguration and grabbed a lawnmower.

Poor Saul. He had never been a king before. His people had never had a king before. There’s a real steep learning curve here and those fields just had to be plowed. But when the moment called for a real king to make a kingly decision, God intervened (1 Samuel 11).

“The Spirit of God came upon him in power.” Saul started to act like a king and vowed to defend his territory and people (okay, his initial response and message was kinda gory and creepy – almost like a mafia movie- but it was a long time ago!)

The point is, when God chooses us, we might rather hide out among the suitcases or run back to the farm and plow. But when he needs us, he needs us, and will empower us to do what he has called us to do.

Oswald Chambers Repeats a Word!

Perhaps no other Christian writer can say so much with so few words as Oswald Chambers. Perhaps that is why “My Utmost for His Highest” has been continuously in print since 1935 and seems to always be in the top 10 of all religious book lists.

There are updated, revised, and “modern English” versions of this daily devotion book, but if you read his 1935 edition (the one that makes you stop and think about every sentence), you know that Chambers was not one for many words (or at least his wife, who took exact notes of his lectures, did not record many words). Yet, what he has to say with a few words can be elaborated, meditated, and commented on with 100’s of words. You don’t read Chambers quickly and move on. You have to stop and extract the deep meaning he intended.

That is why it struck me as so odd when in today’s reading, Chambers actually repeats a word in a sentence. Very unusual. There must be a reason.

In commenting on Matthew 5.23-24 (leave your offering at the altar and go reconcile with your brother), Chambers says:

“It is easy to imagine that we will get to a place where we are complete and ready, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished, it is a process steadily maintained. It is dangerous to get into a settled state of experience. It is preparation and preparation.”

Wow, he thinks that offering a sacrifice takes a lot of preparation. And just when you think you are ready, it takes even more preparation.

Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, there’s more work to do. Just when you think you’ve given everything there is to give to God, you find more to give. Just when you think you are ready to live that perfect life before God, you need more preparation.

In other words, you can’t be “too prepared” to enter God’s presence. He is holy, we are not. We do not “arrive” at a state of holiness. We are always preparing for it.

I’m just thankful for the grace God affords in the midst of our preparations.

Moving the Mulberry

In Luke 15, the apostles asked for more faith. Jesus responded with the unbelievable truth that if they had any more faith (not a lot more, just a little more, little as in the size of a mustard seed) then they could command mulberry trees to relocate to the ocean. (5-6)

I’ve never seen anyone do that.

The point is not that we need more faith. He is saying that it doesn’t require that much faith to do incredibly miraculous things. No, what we don’t need is more faith, but more obedience.

While the apostles were still scratching their brains trying to figure out this mulberry tree relocation example, Jesus used another one. He said that if any of them had a servant, they would expect compete obedience from him/her. Even after that servant had been plowing all day, the servant would still be expected to prepare his master’s dinner that night. (7-10)

We don’t need more faith, we need more obedience. We have all we need within us to believe that God can do anything with our lives. What we need is more actions based on that belief. We need less prayers for more faith and more deeds of action.

So, the phrase, “if only I had more faith” is not a valid excuse. What you are really saying is, “if only I had more willpower/gumption/oomph to get up and act on my faith.”

Stop trying to move mulberry’s, just act on what you already know.

The Panic of 2008?

It was 135 years ago today that the Philadelphia banking firm Jay Cooke and company filed for bankruptcy and began what is known as the Panic of 1873. It seems they were stuck with millions of railroad bonds that they couldn’t sell. Two days later, the stock market closed for 10 days. Soon 89 railroads went bankrupt and within 2 years, 18,000 companies went under.

Fast forward to 2008, and we are about to panic again. Financial panic is just a part of the American cycle. Stability never lasts. Speculators always want more. Regulations may help, (the stock market is not closing down for 10 days) but what goes up will always come down.

Jesus said that where our treasure is, there is our heart. Whereas stocks and futures may be a good place to put your money, it’s a bad place to put your heart. Your money won’t panic, but your heart will.

A heart panic might just turn into a heart attack.

Instead of being an economic indicator, our hearts were created to love and cherish. Our heart motivates us to serve and be faithful. Oh you might argue that money makes it easier to serve, but when has service ever been about ease. Lose all your money and you still have something to share with others – your heart.

So while the news of the day may seem depressing, remember it is just money. If it’s not worthless yet, it will be when Jesus comes back.

Train Rash?

Here’s a disease I’ve never heard of. No, it’s not something you get from spending too many hours riding on a train (that disease is called boredom). Train rash is something you get from standing too close to a moving train.

It seems that 3 inebriated men visiting Fargo, North Dakota for a conference wanted to take a picture of one of them real close to a moving train. They thought the closer the subject stood to the backdrop, the better the picture. Makes sense, right?

Except the man got so close that the moving train caught his shirt and pants and ripped them off. The local police sergeant, commenting on the man’s slight injuries, said he had “a bad case of train rash.”

This ailment must not be too bad. The nameless victim was released from the hospital.

Have you ever stood too close to something that you knew had the potential to tear you apart?
Sometimes we like to get as close to danger as we can, thinking we are in complete control. Some people did that last week in Galveston, Texas when they chose to “ride out the hurricane.” Now they have “hurricane rash.”

Sometimes we like to get as close to sin as we can, thinking we are in complete control. We can stop and walk away anytime we want to. Wrong. You end up with “sin rash.”

It may sound exciting, energizing, or exhilarating. In reality, you are flirting with something much bigger and faster than you. Just a centimeter closer and our tourist friend in N.D. would be dead. He is not alive because he was strong enough to not move that extra centimeter. He was not in control of that situation.

And he has a “rash” to remind him never to do it again.

Be thankful for the “sin rash” you have. Learn from it. And stay away from moving trains.

Which Way Is Up?

Here are some pictures of a house built in Germany that is upside down. No the pictures aren’t upside down, the house is.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080905/lf_nm_life/germany_house_dc_1

Built in Trassenheide, it’s a tourist attraction. It’s supposed to make you think about the way we view things.

Makes me think of the way we use things. Everything in the house is upside down; the artwork, the kitchen table, and even the bathroom. The whole thing is completely useless. If you are gonna live in this house, you’ll have to relearn how to do just about everything.

“Upside down” is the phrase some translations (from KJV to the Amplified) use to describe what the early church had done to the world. “These men who have turned the world upside down…” Upside down is not a good thing. Other translations render “These men who have caused trouble all over the world.” When you turn something upside down, it does more than just give you an alternate view. It makes the old form and function useless.

If God’s people could really turn stuff upside down today, it would “cause trouble” for the status quo. It would upset the current institutions. Our current methodologies and paradigms for politics, education, welfare, and security would be useless. The way we related to fellow Americans and citizens of the world would change. Commerce would be different. Entertainment values would look very different. Our worldview would be the complete opposite. It would all be “upside down.”

Grace will do that for you.

When you abandon revenge, fear, hatred, and gossip and let grace reorient the way you look at life, it turns everything on its head – upside down.

And the great inconvenience to us all is that we have to relearn how to do everything.

But to be known as the people who turned the world on its head, it would be worth it.

Have a Seat...and Make a Joyful Noise

A long time ago, worship involved only sitting (which, for some, can lead to snoozing).
Then, some churches insisted on “standing for the last verse.” You would sit for the first 2 verses and then stand on the last (any verses between 2 and “last” were basically ignored!)

Of course, some churches have a lot of ritual that demands standing, sitting, and kneeling during certain segments that only the initiated know about. Visitors must pay attention to know what they are supposed to do.

However, many churches today have people standing and sitting and standing and sitting so much that you’re so worn out you need a nap as soon as you get home.

Stand for this chorus, now sit while someone on stage sings a part, now let’s all stand and sing the chorus again. Now sit down to watch this video, now stand up and clap because the video was really moving. Now sit down while we take up an offering to pay for the video. Now stand up while we sing two more songs. Now sit down while we welcome the guests. Now stand up and go hug the guests. Now sit down while we sing “Stand Up For Jesus.” Okay, half-way through the hymn we all collectively realize we got stuck in the wrong position and spontaneously stand up.

If you’re 15 years old, you enjoy all this standing and sitting because every change is a change to turn to your friend and say something. Transitions always require conversation.

If you’re 55, your knees hurt. Tradition said that the Apostle James spent so much time in prayer that his knees “became as the knees of a camel.” Today, our knees swell because of our
hyper-active-worship-posture-changes (bet you can’t say that 5 times real fast!).

There’s a video on 2pointhome.com of how to make an organ chair. Yep, when you sit on the chair, you actually sit on a bellow that forces air through reeds and pipes under the chair and you make music as you sit. I am not making this up. http://2pointhome.com/diys/steps/46129

Imagine if the congregants you worship with all sat in such a chair. Every time we all sat down, we would be making a beautiful noise to the Lord (and put a smile on a lot of faces down here!)

What a great idea. You could please those who complain that the organ was stuffed in a closet 5 years ago, you could involve those who can’t sing in making music, and you could cut down on all those trips to the bathroom during the sermon. Well, they might still leave, but they sure won’t want to come back.

Too Many Boots in the Boot (trunk)

Uploaded to GodTube a few weeks ago was a video by the ever inspiring TD Jakes. The title: Junk in the Trunk.

note: the search engine within GodTube.com seems to be at times demonically possessed. Try this link:
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=79baa9d1ddb53c556bc4

Although it’s an illustration for a series designed for engaged couples, it’s an appropriate thought for just about any situation in life. The car may look all shiny and new on the outside, yet full of all kinds of trash and unexpected items in the trunk. I know some preachers say they can determine your character by looking at your calendar and checkbook register (if anyone still uses one of those), but perhaps you can also tell just as much about someone by the junk in the trunk of their car, or the back of their desk drawer, or the rarely visited recesses of their handbag.

(Bishop Jakes lives in Dallas, where everyone has a car (or two). This is not the case in some parts of the states. While you may have never had a trunk to stash your stuff in, you’ve got something that needs cleaning out. Outer compartment of a backpack, that “catch-all” kitchen drawer, top shelf of hall closet, in/out box at work, bottom of a toolbox, etc, etc.)

Why do we allow that stuff to collect. Laziness (we don’t want to take the effort), comfort (it’s good stuff and it makes us feel good to keep it), hyper-zealousness (we might need that thingymebob some day) are a few reasons. And just as those reasons apply to the physical items in the physical trunk they also apply to the emotional items kept tucked away in our emotional trunk. Bitterness, hurt, and emotional scars can be just as trashy to carry as empty soda cans, worn out lawn chairs, and wallpaper sample books you were supposed to return 2 months ago.

(By the way, did you read about the Montana woman arrested yesterday when they found her dead toddler’s baby in her trunk? He had apparently been there a while!)

A few months ago, when everyone was talking about how to increase their gas mileage, we were all reminded to stop carrying around excess weight in our vehicles (the same advice the American Heart Association offers for increasing the MPG of our bodies – lose weight!). It’s also good advice for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of our spiritual journey. Lose the junk.

Let the Giver of Grace help you clean it out.

"The Reports of My Death..."

Renehan Delaney, 42, saw his dad on TV. The only problem, they had buried his dad 5 years ago. Cremation even. Now there he is on a TV show about missing people.

Seems John Delaney went missing in 2000. He ended up in a hospital unsure of who he was or where he was from. His memory of those all important facts never returned. His family, clueless as to where John was, just assumed the worst.

In 2003, police in Manchester England found a badly decomposed body and decided it was John’s. The family had the body cremated and was finally able to close this horrible chapter of their lives. That is, until earlier this year when Renehan saw his dad on TV. After some DNA tests, the father and son have been united.

This isn’t the story of the prodigal son, but of the resurrected father. It’s the story of someone prematurely presumed dead. Just like Bloomberg did with Steve Jobs last week.

Just like the New York Times in January of 1966 when God was declared dead.

Wait a minute. Time for a retraction!

Have you ever had a funeral for God? Declared him dead in your life? Closed that chapter and moved on without him?

Then, all of a sudden, he shows back up! Quoting Mark Twain even. “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Of course he (God, not Twain) is not dead. Never has been, never will be. We can eulogize and funeralize all we want to. We can kick him out of our lives and tell him to go away, but causing the death of the divine is simply a feat never to be accomplished.

Of course, unlike John Delaney, God never forgets who he is.

Or who we are.

Or what he did for us.

So go ahead and pirouette on that tombstone you erected over his empty grave. When you trip and fall, look around and see who is still alive and ready to pick you up.

Blind Blogging

Blogging - typing stuff that is available for all to see, but in all probability, no one ever will. A way to put your thoughts in words and your words on a screen. Seeking an audience without ever trying. Making a speech to an empty room without worrying about combing your hair.

Blinded by Grace - exactly what happened to Saul while on a journey to arrest Jews who chose to follow Christ. Many of these Messiah-followers were probably elated to hear that Saul was providently stopped while en route. At last, justice from God against those picking on the new Jewish sect. Undoubtedly, many were disappointed that Saul's punishment was only a 3 day blindness. Couldn't God have cut out a tongue or lopped off a leg or something more permanent?

Grace - God's preferred method of giving those who mess up another chance. Grace is a reminder of how awesome God is. After all, we can't earn/buy/steal/ grace ourselves. It only comes from God. Grace lets you see when you're blind, let's you talk when you've poisoned your words with trash, let's you be loved when you've hurt others, and let's you breathe when you deserve to die.

Prayer - May the grace of God bless anyone who happens to stumble on these words and needs another chance. It's not fun being blind, but if you've been blinded for a reason, then grace brings hope. And hope always has a way of seeing even when you can't see.