Christmas Grace

I remember Jean Valjean saying in Les Miserables that the real punishment of a convict begins after they are released. This story shows how one man is changing that. It's a great reminder of the Christmas spirit of giving and love and grace toward all people!

Kansas City Star - December 23, 2009 - A1 News

Car wash owner hires ex-convicts when others won't. Jobs are scarce out there, no matter how impressive the resume. If that resume listed time in a state penitentiary, imagine just how much more scarce. Nearly 700,000 people are released from federal and state prisons to their communities each year, about 25,000 between Missouri and Kansas. Where do they go? Some end up with a job and pick up a rag at the bright orange and blue All Seasons Car Wash. Here at 1510 Truman Road is found one of the grittier tales of good will...

(complete article here)

Make Love, not war.

Make Love, not war. Let's end the myth of redemptive violence.

"Violence is for those who have lost their imagination. Has your country lost its imagination?" (hospital administrator in Iraq)

"Our world is desperately in need of imagination, for we have spent so much creativity devising ways of destroying our enemies that some folks don't even think it's possible (much less practical) to love them. We have placed such idolatrous faith in our ability to protect ourselves that we call it more courageous to die killing than to die loving."

Shane Claiborne - The Irresistible Revolution

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

Jesus - Luke 6:27-36

I can relate...

read the whole article on the "Out of Ur" blog.

the journey continues

It has been nearly eight months since I wrote about my friend and I completing our fantastic 18 month journey through the 11 books of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series. But our milestone, albeit a major one, was not the journey's end. It gave way to a season of pause... to reflect, to appreciate, to anticipate, and to mourn. Sadly, Mr. Jordan died before completing The Wheel of Time. His passing left a chasm that cannot be filled. He was a unique and special soul, and he cannot be replaced. But, thanks be to the Light, Mr. Jordan passed the torch, albeit indirectly, to Mr. Brandon Sanderson. Mr. Sanderson will take us on the remaining journey, a journey with the characters we know and love, to the fascinating places we have savored, experiencing the amazing events as the Wheel turns toward the Last Battle. He will bring us the story that Mr. Jordan envisioned, all the way through to the ending that Mr. Jordan himself wrote before his passing. As I pick up The Gathering Storm, volume 12 of 14 of The Wheel of Time, I'm filled with excitement. Just finishing the Prologue, I already find myself caught up in this epic tale of good and evil, of humans like us making choices which will affect the outcome of the Last Battle.

Our season of waiting is over this weekend as we set out once again to complete the Journey. Mr. Jordan, thank you for the wonderful journey. I give back to you the words that you wrote so many years ago:

"The Light shine on you, and the Creator shelter you. The last embrace of the mother welcome you home."

- Shienaran eulogy, ch.10 "The Great Hunt"

into Aslan's country

Our Maisy has gone to join Cassie and Callie (our passed kitties) in Aslan's country, where they are all talking animals now. We will miss her very much, but we are grateful for all the wonderful years she shared with us. The Pinnacles, Wilburn Ridge, the (not so) wild ponies, and Mt. Rogers were just practice for high adventure in Aslan's country. Further in and higher up!

"The creatures came rushing on, their eyes brighter and brighter as they drew nearer and nearer to the standing Stars. But as they came right up to Aslan... they looked in the face of Asian and loved him, though some of them were very frightened at the same time. And all these came in at the Door, in on Asian’s right...

“Further in and higher up!” cried Roonwit and thundered away in a gallop to the West. And though they did not understand him, the words somehow set them tingling all over. The Boar grunted at them cheerfully. The Bear was just going to mutter that he still didn’t understand, when he caught sight of the fruit-trees behind them. He waddled to those trees as fast as he could and there, no doubt, found something he understood very well. But the Dogs remained, wagging their tails...

Aslan said... “The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”

And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."

C.S. Lewis - "The Last Battle" - The Chronicles of Narnia

democracy of the dead

"democracy of the dead" - that title has a good halloween ring to it. I'm reading a fantastic book by Brian McLaren entitled "A Generous Orthodoxy". I recommend it highly, and I'd love to be a part of a group study of the book. In the chapter "Why I Am catholic", McLaren quotes one of the many brilliant passages from G. K. Chesterton's classic book "Orthodoxy". The wisdom of Chesterton is something we are sorely in need of today. Savour the wisdom in this passage. Read it several times if need be. It is rich.

But there is one thing that I have never from my youth up been able to understand. I have never been able to understand where people got the idea that democracy was in some way opposed to tradition. It is obvious that tradition is only democracy extended through time. It is trusting to a consensus of common human voices rather than to some isolated or arbitrary record...
It is quite easy to see why a legend is treated, and ought to be treated, more respectfully than a book of history. The legend is generally made by the majority of people in the village. The book is generally written by the one man in the village who is mad...
If we attach great importance to the opinion of ordinary men in great unanimity when we are dealing with daily matters, there is no reason why we should disregard it when we are dealing with history or fable. Tradition may be defined as an extension of the franchise. Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man’s opinion, even if he is our groom; tradition asks us not to neglect a good man’s opinion, even if he is our father. I, at any rate, cannot separate the two ideas of democracy and tradition; it seems evident to me that they are the same idea. We will have the dead at our councils.

G. K. Chesterton in "Orthodoxy", pg 52-53

subtle but huge distinction

The following is from the Introduction to the book "From Achilles to Christ" by Dr. Louis Markos. This subtle but huge distinction is often overlooked in the way we define Truth, and the way we view the Bible. The more I read and learn, the more I realize the importance of a proper view of scripture and not equating scripture with Truth. As Christians, we believe that the ultimate Truth was revealed to us in Jesus.

"Many Christians, particularly evangelicals like myself, are prone to claim that the Bible is the ultimate source of truth. But that is not technically true. Christ, not the Bible, is the ultimate source of truth; the Bible is but the most perfect and reliable embodiment of that truth which resides in Christ alone. Indeed, in the Gospel of John, Christ tells his disciples that he is the truth (14:6). The distinction here is vital. If it is the living Messiah and not a single book that is the source of truth, then it is possible for that truth (albeit in a lesser, fragmented form) to appear throughout the imaginative literature of the ancient pre-Christian world.

We have all been programmed by our Creator with a desire to seek and yearn after the God who is truth. If it is true, as Paul teaches in Acts 17:26-28, that we were all made in his image, that he is not far from us, that in him we live and move and have our being, then it must also be true that those timeless works of ancient Greece and Rome that record the musings of humanity’s greatest seekers and yearners will contain traces, remnants and intimations of that wisdom which made us.

Truth is limited neither to the Scriptures nor to the sacred tradition; the Bible, though it tells us all we need to know to find salvation in and through Jesus Christ, does not attempt or purport to be an encyclopedia of all knowledge and wisdom. It can lead us to Christ and can instruct us in the rudiments of our faith, but it cannot answer all our questions nor can it satisfy all our deepest desires and yearnings for truth, beauty and understanding. God speaks to us in many other ways and through many other media. Though the Scriptures must ever act as the touchstone against which all such communications are to be measured, we must not allow puritan suspicion of the moral value and doctrinal status of humanistic pursuits to prevent us from accessing these messages from our Creator."

excellent book!

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart D. Ehrman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This past week, I read UNC Professor Bart Ehrman's book entitled "Misquoting Jesus". It is an excellent book! It is not the attack on faith and scripture that I was expecting. Rather, it is a scholarly, yet accessible, work on how our scriptures came to us! I find my faith and understanding of the scriptures strengthened, not shaken! I now have a better understanding of the alternate versions of the text which appear in the footnotes of my study bibles. I have also gained a deep respect for the hundreds of people over the course of history who have dedicated their lives to finding the text of the original manuscripts, helping to bring us closer to the them, and to the authors who penned them. The investigative process that Dr. Ehrman and others use is fascinating, and I'm encouraged that this work has been and is taken very seriously. I recommend this book to anyone seeking a better understanding of the processes through which the Bible has come to us.

View all my reviews

The Great Reversal

Walking with the crowds
Carried along by the pressing forward.
Each one eager to get ahead
But each one starting the same:

Born as a baby, and from then on, struggling towards meaning, power and influence.
Be someone
Be remembered
Make a big impression.
Leave some indelible mark in your 3 score years and 10.

From birth, a struggle to find eternity, to burst through life with such dazzling intensity, that everyone will remember forever.
But walking the other way, picking out a route against the crowds, a solitary figure passes me... passes all of us - all straining away innocence, to be someone,
And he passes us, a quiet chaos in the crowd.

Christ, eternal, omniscient, creator; beyond time, source of wisdom and beyond petty claims of influence. . . in very nature God, slips into reverse and walks back past us - away from Kingship, away from power, away from influence, away from eternity, away from wisdom. . . towards infancy.
Calmly stepping into the body of a tiny child.

And even as this baby grows, figuring out how to control the body he himself designed, he still walks the
other way, realising that life cannot be found in the struggle for permanence, but in giving it up.

This Great Reversal subverts me. Tired of pressing forward, I realise I need to turn, for what I have been searching for has just walked past me the other way.

Quoted in the book Signs of Emergence from VX23: see www.vaux.net for an extensive archive of Vaux writing.

Cassie

Sweet Dreams Kitty. :-)

Seven Pounds of Guilt?

Last night, we watched the film "Seven Pounds". It had been recommended to us by many folks, and we were anxious to finally see it.

"Seven Pounds" is a fascinating story of a man doing his best to repay a great debt he had incurred with humanity... the taking of seven lives in a moment of carelessness. The story is presented in many pieces, and I found myself riveted to the screen as I took in as many details as possible, hoping to assemble the pieces into the whole story. This assembly eventually came (but due to my characteristic "slowness" in putting together the whole story, it came near the end of the movie), and when everything clicked into place, I was left disappointed and saddened by the apparent messages of the story.

The primary character, Tim, indeed put forth a remarkable effort toward redeeming himself of the debt he felt he owed to humanity. In essence, he saved seven lives, even at the cost of his own, in order to atone for the seven lives he had taken. He accomplished this atonement by giving life saving gifts, mostly in the form of organ donations, to the fortunate recipients. Which leads me to one of the troubling aspects. I've read in other reviews that these gifts were given in the spirit of grace. But I think they were not. Before each gift was given, Tim carefully and sometimes ruthlessly evaluated each recipient's worthiness of the gift. He even denied the gifts to some he judged unworthy. While this all seems fair and just and noble in our contemporary worldview, it is not a picture of the Grace that we receive from God, the same Grace that we are called to bestow on others. Tim's grace definitely had some strings attached, and was to some degree earned by the recipient. This left me sad.

My other disappointment with the story is that Tim lived the rest of his life under the belief that he alone could atone for his debt. Again, on the surface, this seems very fair and just in the perspective of our contemporary worldview. Tim was willing to pay his debt to society and did so at the cost of his own life. But I see an atonement that depended solely on Tim. His redemption was self earned, and all up to him. And it was driven by the constant weight of guilt and debt that he, presumably, was only able to relieve through the seven life saving gifts he made. Tim lived the remainder of his life under the weight of the Law. He did not experience Grace for himself. Again, I was left saddened, and disappointed by this message in the story.

In "Seven Pounds", I had hoped for a picture of real Grace and Redemption, not a modern day parable of a life under the burden of the Moral Law which none of us can keep. It is nice that Tim took responsibility for his debt and his careless actions. But his lifelong burden and enslavement to make things right by his own efforts paints a powerful picture how badly the world is in need of the perfect Grace and Freedom that is offered us by God. Tim may have "evened the score" in one respect, but he lost more than his physical life in the process. He gave up Joy, true Grace, and perhaps lost his Soul as well.

the temptation of power

Jacques Ellul wrote:

"We have to say very forcefully that we see here the perversion of revelation by participation in politics, by the seeking of power. The church lets itself be seduced, invaded, dominated by the ease with which it can now spread the gospel by force (another force than that of God) and use its influence to make the state, too, Christian. It is great acquiescence to the temptation Jesus himself resisted, for when Satan offers to give him all the kingdoms of earth, Jesus refuses, but the church accepts, not realizing from whom it is receiving the kingdoms."

This so reminds me of the agenda of the so-called "Christian right" which has been so powerful over the past few decades. It would be wise to note from whom they receive their power and influence.

Jacques Ellul, "The Subversion of Christianity", p.124

it's that time again!!!

It's that time again!!!

2009 Summer Book Sale
Friday, June 26, 4 – 7 p.m. Friends members only—join at the door!
Saturday, June 27, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Everyone welcome.
Sunday, June 28, 2 – 5 p.m. Everyone welcome. $7 Bag Sale, auditorium only.

blog-worthy

My recent reading has not been very blog-worthy. (not to be confused with sponge-worthy! Seinfeld has indeed burned itself indelibly on my subconscious. Thanks Elaine!)

Following the elimination of my previous position (and with it, my job) in Texas Instruments' January RIF, I've been focusing most of my energy and attention on starting my own company, and working very hard on my first significant sized job. Part of building a new business is tailoring one's expertise specifically to one's clients' needs. In this case, one of those needs is to install and configure a server running Microsoft Small Business Server operating system. Therefore, my recent reading has been fairly un-blog-worthy. For example...Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 Administrator's Companion
that is a page-turner, let me tell you!

OK, software books and kidding aside, I did read something pretty amazing recently in the back of a book I read last year. The book is entitled "The Ragamuffin Gospel" by Brennan Manning. I loved the book when I read it, but for some reason, I did not read the Appendix which is entitled "19 Mercies: A Spiritual Journey". I still have not read it all, but I stumbled upon one of them that I want to share here. It especially resonated with me after reading "The Shack" twice, and meeting the author a few weeks ago. It is from page 239-240 of "The Ragamuffin Gospel", and it speaks for itself:

8. The God who is love.

A second radical message from Jesus about the Father is that God is love. It sounds almost trite, doesn't it? But a comparative study of world religions will show how striking and novel is the Christian affirmation that God is love.

That means that all God does is love. Not only that God is love, but that God is loving - in fact, the He always acts in a loving way. Just as the sun only shines, conferring its light and warmth on those who will receive them, so God only loves, shedding His light and warmth on those who would receive them.

All changes in the quality of a Christian's life grow out of a change in one's vision of reality. Jesus said, "You will come to know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32)

Therefore, I ask you: Do you really believe that God is unchangeably, unalterably loving? And have you let that change your personal vision of reality .. every hidden corner and embarrassing shadow and intense desire of it? Your personal transformation begins here.

When I was a little boy, I had a naive idea that when I went to confession, God was frowning on me because I had been bad. As soon as I confessed my sins, God would begin to smile again. Somehow my confession implied a change in God. How absurd! My confession only implies a change in me.

Now I understand things differently. More like this: You and I are standing in the middle of a spotlight on the platform of a church; the rest of the church is in darkness, but we are in bright light. To me this scene is a good image of ragamuffins living in a state of grace. Now, suppose that you or I commit grave, deliberate sin. What happens? We step aside into shadows, but the light remains shining. God's love never changes - we have simply chosen to step away from it. When we repent, we come back into the light of God's love, which has always been there.

Reading: I John 4:7-16

Grace is the majesty, the freedom,
the undeservedness, the unexpectedness, the newness,
the arbitrariness, in which a relationship to God and
therefore the possibility of knowing Him is opened up to
man by God Himself ... Grace is God's good pleasure.

Karl Barth

a gem of Wisdom from "The Shack"

This is a gem of Wisdom from the book "The Shack" which i need to remember more often than I'd like to admit...

"... my love is a lot bigger than your stupidity"

Papa to Mack

I can't believe it!

I cannot believe it!!! After waiting for years and years... decades actually... I've just discovered that one of my favorite films has FINALLY been released on DVD. The movie is Cannery Row starring Nick Nolte and Debra Winger. This movie is a must see. It is a wonderfully acted and narrated adaptation of John Steinbeck's novels Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday. John Huston's narration is marvelous. The characters are endearing and will wiggle their way into your heart. I haven't been able to watch it for years, because I do not have a copy (YET), but I cannot wait to get my hands on the DVD and savor it anew. This film is a work of art and will always be a classic to me. Get a copy and watch it, you won't be sorry!

Love Shack

Yesterday was amazing. I am still swimming in the sea of Love and Grace and Healing we experienced together at newhope church. Mr. Paul Young, author of the amazing book entitled "The Shack", shared his story with us. I am still in awe of the Work of Papa in his life. We felt the Spirit move strongly in the house. The message and demonstration of God's healing and re-creative Power that we experienced changed lives. We will never be the same. I encourage you, if you were not present with us at newhope church yesterday, to listen to Paul's story here at newhopenc.org. I hope God's Spirit speaks to you the words you need. You will never be the same again. And once again, I want to share one of my favorite quotes from "The Shack", words that paint a beautiful picture of the Kingdom into which we are called to be a part:

"Mack, if anything matters then everything matters. Because you are important, everything you do is important. Every time you forgive, the universe changes; every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, my purposes are accomplished and nothing will ever be the same again." -- Sarayu

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Amen

springtime beauty

 

N.T. Wright on the Resurrection

I'm reading a book by N.T. Wright entitled "Surprised by Hope - Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church". It is excellent reading, and probably merits re-reading multiple times. I just finished reading Chapter 4 entitled "The Strange Story of Easter". It is a very interesting discussion of the many ways people look at the resurrection of Jesus.

Wright discusses the challenge presented by the Resurrection:

"The challenge is in fact the challenge of new creation. To put it at its most basic: the resurrection of Jesus offers itself, to the student of history or science no less than the Christian or the theologian, not as an odd event within the world as it is but as the utterly characteristic, prototypical, and foundational event within the world as it has begun to be. It is not an absurd event within the old world but the symbol and starting point of the new world. The claim advanced in Christianity is of that magnitude: Jesus of Nazareth ushers in not simply a new religious possibility, not simply a new ethic or a new way of salvation, but a new creation."

The beginning of a new creation! That is exciting! He continues...

"And this is the point where believing in the resurrection of Jesus suddenly ceases to be a matter of inquiring about an odd event in the first century and becomes a matter of rediscovering hope in the twenty-first century. Hope is what you get when you suddenly realize that a different worldview is possible, a worldview in which the rich, the powerful, and the unscrupulous do not after all have the last word. The same worldview shift that will enable us to transform the world."

This is the first book by Wright which I've read, but from what I've read so far, it will not be the last! I think it is cool that I reached this chapter "The Strange Story of Easter" during Holy Week. Very cool.

ps. see also "Easter's Challenge to Empire" (by N.T. Wright)

pps. check out Bishop Wright on the Colbert Report. A friend pointed it out to me...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bishop N.T. Wright
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

major score!

We are loving the Friends of the Durham Library book sale!

Gordon MacDonald's take on "The Shack"

Check out this very interesting analogy of The Shack to Psalm 23! I like Mr. MacDonald's insight.

"The Shack" by King David
Why certain stories disturb many and comfort so many more.
by Gordon MacDonald

Soon after William Paul Young's The Shack hit the bookstores, a friend handed me a copy and said, "You need to read this; it's going to be the next best-seller."

I put the book on my "to read" pile, and it remained there for several weeks. Then, in an idle moment, I picked it up and scanned the first few pages. Soon I stopped scanning and started reading.

| Finish the article |

Spring Book Sale!

It's time for the Friends of the Durham Library Spring Book Sale!!!

2009 Spring Book Sale
Friday, March 27, 4 – 7 p.m. Friends members only—join at the door!
Saturday, March 28, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Everyone welcome.
Sunday, March 29, 2 – 5 p.m. Everyone welcome. $7 Bag Sale, auditorium only.

Bruce on The Daily Show!

Check it out! Bruuuuuuuuuuce!!!!

weekend of milestones

This has been a weekend of milestones for me. Two 18 month projects have reached completion, and at the same time, are to be continued...

Last night, I finished reading the last published volume of a truly wonderful fantasy series by Robert Jordan entitled "The Wheel of Time". A friend of mine and I started this journey 18 months ago, in Sept 2007. This series is one of my daughter's favorites (she has read it many times) and I decided that I wanted to share the experience that she loved so much. In 7,564 pages, 3,430,682 words (who's counting? ), Robert Jordan transported me into another world, a world so real, and with so much depth, that I feel that I have been there. I know the characters. I love and care deeply for some of them. I have seen the geography. I have experienced the magic. I have learned of cultures and peoples and historical events which shaped the world of "The Wheel of Time". In short, I have taken an 18 month trip that I'll never forget, a trip that will always be a part of me, for the rest of my life. And what a fantastic journey it was!

I'm so grateful to my daughter for giving me the first two volumes, and then for encouraging me along the way. We've had such great times talking about the story, sharing our insights and feelings about the events, the people, the cultures, the history. It has been a fun, fantastic, enriching experience. In addition, I'm grateful to my friend who embarked on this journey with me. He was hooked not very far into the first volume ("The Eye of the World", pictured above). I have enjoyed all the time he and I have spent talking, e-mailing, and IMing about the story. Taking a trip is fun, but it's so much more fun to travel with a companion. I'm thankful to my friend for sticking with me for this journey so far...

I say "so far" because the journey is not complete. Sadly, Robert Jordan died last year, before completing the twelfth and final volume entitled "A Memory of Light". He suffered an untimely death on September 16, 2007 from cardiac amyloidosis. His passing was a great loss to the world, especially to those of us who love his writing. Brandon Sanderson has taken on the task of completing this final volume from the partially completed manuscript and the detailed notes and recordings that Jordan left behind. I am eagerly looking forward to completing this fantastic journey, that has become a part of my life. To be continued...

My other milestone was this morning. 18 months ago, newhope church began a visionary project to build a new home base for ministry in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. This morning was our first Worship in our new building. I do not have the words to describe how wonderful this morning was. How Great is our God! The weather was cold and raining, as it has been for the past 2 days, weather in which no one wants to be. Yet the rain was from Above, a rain of Blessings. Both services were packed, the 2nd service being standing room only. The Worship and the Teaching were wonderful. After 18 months of hard work, planning, prayer, and following God's leadership, as of this morning, newhope church has a base from which to reach out in love, grace, and healing to the people of the Research Triangle and beyond. How Great is our God!

(see The Dream of newhope church)

And once again, this morning is not the completion, but is rather a step, a milestone along the way, as God works through His body at newhope. I am excited and anxious to see what lays ahead for us, and to be a part of His Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven.

To be continued...

Like a Child - Rob Bell

Check out Rob Bell's great teaching on the John chapter 1. Great stuff!

January 18th, 2009

MP3

Like a Child - Rob Bell

http://www.marshill.org/teaching/

Blinded by the Law

John 5:1-17 tells the story of a man who was paralyzed for 38 years. The man was lying on a mat by a pool that was believed to possess healing powers for the first person into the water after an angel of the Lord stirred it up.

6) When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
7) "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
8) Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk."
9) At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,
10) and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat."

The reaction of the Jews, the religious establishment, was to attack the man for not keeping their legalistic view of the Sabbath. Their worldview was so firmly rooted in their interpretation of the Law that, instead of seeing a miracle, all they could see was a man carrying his mat on the Sabbath! They must have known the man, he had been living with this disability in their community for 38 years. He hung out at this public pool, waiting for a chance to be healed. But the Jews, instead of rejoicing with the man and praising God for the miracle of healing, judged and attacked him. Their religion blinded them to the Grace and Healing of God. They were witness to a miracle and blew it. They missed it.

Why does this sound so familiar? I think it is because the Truth in this story is timeless. We so easily fall into the same trap as these religious folks did. When we see hurting people healed, broken people mended, dysfunctional people finding direction, when we see God at work. So often, we critique theology or methods that may differ from our own religious traditions, instead of praising God for His Grace and Healing. We should praise God wherever He is at work. We should praise God no matter who He is working through. We should join God where He is at work. God is so much bigger than the religious boxes we try to force Him into.

I think that when we see God in the box of our traditions and religion, the box is really like the frame of a window, a window in a box into which WE have confined ourselves. God is outside, unconfined, like sunshine and radiance pouring in. If we want to see God, we need to keep our window clean and clear of the smudges and haze that this world deposits on it. We need to draw closer to our window, to gain a wider view of the bright Outside, instead of backing away from it. Backing away only narrows our field of Vision. Better yet, we can work to enlarge our window, to let more of Him into our life. Or best of all, open our window and crawl out into the bright Morning of His Day, freeing ourselves from our religious box. Maybe crawling out is not an option in this life, maybe we will instead be lifted out of the window, in His Hands, when this life is over. In the meantime, my hope and prayer is to draw close to my window, work to keep it clean and clear, and to make it bigger, all with His help. If I get close enough, maybe I'll forget about my box altogether. :-)

(photo by swamprose)

Greater Things

Marriage at Cana by Giotto

Immediately preceding chapter 2, John tells us how Jesus had told Nathanael:

50) Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that."

I wonder if Nathanael had any idea what Jesus had in mind when he said "greater things".

John goes on to describe in chapter 2 the story of Jesus turning the water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana. John describes this transformation in John 2:11 as the first of Jesus' miraculous signs.

Lately, I've been hearing the phrase "greater things" over and over. The lyrics of Chris Tomlin's (fantastic) song "God of This City" declare:

Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City

After being laid off from my job of nearly 15 years, I've been assured by friends praying for me that greater things are in store. As my church prepares to move into a new, much larger building, we have claimed greater things for the mission of ministry into which God has called us.

"Greater things" sounds great. For my city, I envision better relationships between all the very different people living in our community. For my job, I envision a pay increase, or a position that is better suited to my calling and passion for work. For my church, I envision reaching hundreds more people with the message of God's Love and Grace. I'm not sure what Nathanael envisioned when he heard Jesus promise "greater things". Maybe hope for some relief from Roman taxes and oppression? Maybe a promise of more freedom to worship God instead of bowing to Caesar? Who knows? It doesn't say.

There is no question, those things would have been greater. But I suspect Nathanael wasn't expecting the miracle, the sign from God, that Jesus performed at the wedding. At that wedding party in Cana, Jesus took "greater things" to a "Whole Nutha Level ". Which leads me to wonder... are my expectations for "greater things" measured on my limited scale of "greater", or am I using God's scale?

"Lord, open my eyes, to envision 'greater things' on Your scale, not mine."

John 1 - The Word

John Chapter 1 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. The Word of God. Often we hear the Bible itself referred to as the "Word of God". But this seems a bit of a misnomer after some reflection on John 1. As wonderful and truth-filled as our scriptures are, I see the books, the chapters, the sentences, the words, and even the letters all step aside as they testify to and witness to and focus on the True Word of God, Christ. This Word is described so beautifully in John chapter 1.

1) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2) He was in the beginning with God. 3) All things came into being through him. And without him not one thing came into being that has come into being 4) In him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

Wow. Then it goes on to say...

14) And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.

C.S. Lewis writes about this in Mere Christianity:

"He is the self-expression of the Father-what the Father has to say. And there never was a time when He was not saying it."

and from a side-note in my Bible:

Jesus the Word
John used language with special meaning for both Greek and Jewish readers. In Greek philosophy, "word" (logos) was a key term, often referring to the power of reason undergirding all creation. For Jews, too, "word" had great significance, for God spoke his word to create the world and to transform his people. Yet John's meaning passed beyond the Greek and Jewish ideas. An eight-year-old girl expressed it well. When asked why Jesus was called the Word, she said, "Because Jesus is all God wanted to say to us."

Yep. She got it. If we are to know God, we need to know the Word, Jesus.

Something else jumped out at me in John Chapter 1... something that hadn't before. Some priests and Levites were sent to John to find out who he was. After a series of incorrect guesses, they repeated their question:

22) Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
23) He said,

"I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord'"

as the prophet Isaiah said.

Part of John's answer jumped out at me... "I am the voice of one". I'm still computing on that phrase. Seems like it should apply to me too. I have a voice. I feel like I'm in the wilderness at times. Am I crying out? Does what I say and do "Make straight the way of the Lord"? What do I "say" about myself? When asked who I am, how do I answer? Or more importantly, regardless of how I answer out loud, what is the real answer to who I am and what I am saying with my life? Hard stuff.

To be continued...

Lars and the Real Girl

We watched a really great movie this evening called "Lars and the Real Girl". There are many wonderful, in fact, downright inspirational aspects to this film. I was very moved by the support of Lars family for him, and the unified support of his community. I think that we can all learn from this movie, about how to love and support someone with extraordinary needs, helping them to walk through rough times, and to grow beyond them. I highly recommend viewing this movie if you have the chance. It is available to rent on DVD. (read review)

interview with Adam

Check out this excellent interview with Adam Hamilton in the Wesley Report. Also, check out his blog, and his sermons at the Church of the Resurrection website. Adam's wisdom, insight, and surrender to God's Word inspire and challenge me. I hope you are blessed as well.


In addition, Adam's new book entitled "Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity" sounds like a must-read. It is reviewed here. I want to get a copy and read it ASAP.

day by day

"I suppose living from day to day ('take no thought for the morrow?') is precisely what we have to learn - though the Old Adam in me sometimes murmurs that if God wanted me to live like the lilies of the field, I wonder He didn't give me the same lack of nerves and imagination as they enjoy! Or is that just the point, the precise purpose of this Divine paradox and audacity called Man - to do with the mind what other organisms do without it?"

C.S. Lewis in a letter to Mary Willis Shelburne 30 Oct 1958

the edge of the cliff

A friend sent this to me today. Awesome timing.

I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
Revelation 3:8

When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go, only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly! 'The power of one sentence! God is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in your favor. If you believe, send it. If you don't believe, delete it. God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close. If you need God to open some doors for you...send this to ten people. Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing...

A "higher" judge?

Oh how easy this is to say, but how difficult it is to actually do.

"I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him."

C.S. Lewis in a letter to a Miss Breckenridge 19 April 1951

Do It Again!

"All the towering materialism which dominates the modern mind rests ultimately upon one assumption; a false assumption. It is supposed that if a thing goes on repeating itself, it is probably dead; a piece of clockwork. People feel that if the universe was personal, it would vary; if the sun were alive, it would dance...
...The sun rises every morning. I do not rise every morning; but the variation is due not to my activity, but to my inaction. Now to put the matter in a popular phrase, it might be true that the sun rises regularly because he never gets tired of rising. His routine might be due, not to lifelessness, but to a rush of life. The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children. when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy. A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite for infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."

G.K. Chesterton in "Orthodoxy", Chapter IV, "The Ethics of Elfland"

Cats and Dogs

From Dogs and Kitties

"We were talking about cats and dogs the other day and decided that both have consciences but the dog, being an honest, humble person, always has a bad one, but the cat is a Pharisee and always has a good one. When he sits and stares you out of countenance he is thanking God that he is not as these dogs, or these humans, or even as these other cats!"

C.S. Lewis on Luke 18:9-14,
in a letter to Mary Willis Shelburne
12 March 1955