There is always an other hand. No matter what the situation may be, there is always an other hand.
In Fiddler on the Roof, Rev Tevye is talking to himself about his daughter’s marriage to one he considers an infidel, a Russian Orthodox man. He keeps considering on the other hand, this and on the other hand, that. He finally comes down to the end, realizes that she has broken with his faith and, at least in his mind, with his trust and tradition, and says, There is no other hand! And he counts her as dead.
There is always an other hand. When you are in a church where things are one way and never another, there is something wrong with the church. You are never in an absolutely closed-ended situation. There is always an other hand.
I spent 44 years in the Church of Christ, 20 of it as a minister. I have two degrees with them. But I suppose that part of my problem with the Church of Christ was that I always saw the other hand. The doctrine was so repressive that most considered it was this way or not at all. One of the biggest comments made on stuff was, “Honest scholars say …” In other words, if something that was said disagreed with what you already thought, the scholars who were “behind it” were dishonest. It was an ad hominem argument.
An ad hominem argument is appealing to one's prejudices, emotions, or special interests rather than to one's intellect or reason. Another definition is: attacking an opponent's character rather than answering his argument.
If they do not agree with you, they are (choose one): dishonest, lazy, have an agenda, evil.
A man in my church (the last Church of Christ I was with) came to me one day and told me that when I came, he thought I was pretty smart. But now, he wasn’t so sure. I had said some things he didn’t agree with and my intelligence went down considerably in his sight.
Since he had his mind made up, and I said something different than what was in his mind, I was no longer smart. I now had some kind of agenda and no longer knew what I was talking about.
I guess the problem was that I began to see the other hand too clearly to ignore it.
My schooling was all very conservative Church of Christ stuff, in very conservative Church of Christ schools. So conservative, in fact, that when it came time to leave the Church of Christ, I found that I could not go into the more progressive side of the Church of Christ because they were afraid of my conservative schooling.
It seemed that they too were not progressive enough to see the other hand.
I finally had to leave the Church of Christ completely and go into a whole ‘nother denomination. That was not what I wanted. I loved and still love the Church of Christ. But they no longer loved me. I had begun to see the other hand and realized that there were other arguments and viewpoints than the ones they held.
That has been the problem my whole life. But it only came to a head in 1994 when I left the Church of Christ.
When someone looks at something and says that there is no other point of view, they are being fools. Psalm 53 – The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Anytime you say that God cannot be in something you are wrong.
Unless – and there always is an exception to every rule – God himself says it is wrong. There is no service to God in homosexuality, nor in division nor lying. Those are wrong and always will be.
But, on the other hand, God can change anybody to be what he wants.
The point is, when we get so bollixed up in our own viewpoints that we cannot see any others, we are wrong.
There is always an other hand.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
daily java
Daily Java: Jesus said, “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39).
We worry so much about doing stuff when doing stuff is not the requirement. The requirement is living our lives so that everyone can see our love, both for God and for others. Love really is the answer.
That sounds so simplistic. Like the answer a beauty contestant gives. “My dream is everyone in the world loving each other.” Then she smiles and waves.
But it is true, the Beatles not withstanding. All you need is love. Of course, there has to be a definition of what love is. Love is not rampant eroticism, nor is it the tolerance of whatever someone else wants to do whether you like it or not.
Love is not simply acceptance. There is more to it than that.
When you love your kids and they want to eat nothing but cake, you do not let them do so if you are a good parent. You make sure they have a balanced diet because you love them and want them to grow up right.
If you love your wife, you don’t run around on her, nor do you hurt her. Her happiness is greater than yours. Even if it puts you out, she is first.
That is love in life. Your wife, your kids, others are more important than you are.
Jesus showed his love by dying for us. 1 John 3:16 says This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
His love was sacrificial, so ours has to be sacrificial also if we claim to be his disciples. That is the basis of his love: giving himself to us.
The whole Bible is based on the love of God for people that did not always (in fact rarely) loved him back.
That is the law, the Royal Law as James called it. when we do that, we have done the stuff.
We worry so much about doing stuff when doing stuff is not the requirement. The requirement is living our lives so that everyone can see our love, both for God and for others. Love really is the answer.
That sounds so simplistic. Like the answer a beauty contestant gives. “My dream is everyone in the world loving each other.” Then she smiles and waves.
But it is true, the Beatles not withstanding. All you need is love. Of course, there has to be a definition of what love is. Love is not rampant eroticism, nor is it the tolerance of whatever someone else wants to do whether you like it or not.
Love is not simply acceptance. There is more to it than that.
When you love your kids and they want to eat nothing but cake, you do not let them do so if you are a good parent. You make sure they have a balanced diet because you love them and want them to grow up right.
If you love your wife, you don’t run around on her, nor do you hurt her. Her happiness is greater than yours. Even if it puts you out, she is first.
That is love in life. Your wife, your kids, others are more important than you are.
Jesus showed his love by dying for us. 1 John 3:16 says This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
His love was sacrificial, so ours has to be sacrificial also if we claim to be his disciples. That is the basis of his love: giving himself to us.
The whole Bible is based on the love of God for people that did not always (in fact rarely) loved him back.
That is the law, the Royal Law as James called it. when we do that, we have done the stuff.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
a visit from an old friend
I just saw a friend off. He is Greg Naker from Spokane, WA. He was in my youth group when I pastored there and we have been friends for a long time. even though we lost contact for a long time.
When he comes to see me, it is almost as if we never left each other. I truly love him and wish greatly that he lived closer so we could talk more often. Facebook and email are so limited.
I wish also that we were related so that we would have had an excuse to see each other more often, maybe at Christmas and Thanksgiving and all.
He is welcome at my house anytime and he knows it. I wish him all the best at this very trying time of his life.
May the Lord bless him and keep him and make his face to shine upon him and give him peace.
When he comes to see me, it is almost as if we never left each other. I truly love him and wish greatly that he lived closer so we could talk more often. Facebook and email are so limited.
I wish also that we were related so that we would have had an excuse to see each other more often, maybe at Christmas and Thanksgiving and all.
He is welcome at my house anytime and he knows it. I wish him all the best at this very trying time of his life.
May the Lord bless him and keep him and make his face to shine upon him and give him peace.
an old dream
I had a dream last year and just came over the entry in my computer files. I got up at 3:50 that morning and wrote it down so I would remember it.
I believe in dreams and that they tell you a lot, sometimes what it is that God wants you to know. And then sometimes, they are just an overactive imagination. Hard to tell which sometimes. That is a common failing of Pentecostals. Every dream is not a revelation from God. Most are not.
But here the dream is:
I had decided to start a church. When I looked around, there were a lot of people with me to do so. I told them that the church we were to start would be a loud, obnoxious, edgy church.
I preached to them for quite a while about what our vision was. One thing I said was that I had been there and back again, that I had been the gamut of kinds of preacher – religious and otherwise. I had seen the elephant. (not sure if that phrase was in the dream or came afterwards when I had woken up)
During the sermon, there were interruptions, and I would deal with them. This including people talking to each other, and one person, in the middle of the sermon, asking another if there was any way he could seal his Bible shut. He did this quite loudly. I suppose he wanted to make some point. So I finally took him down a ladder from where we were (up on a highway of sorts with our stuff around us) and pointed to town and told him he could find someone to help him there. Then I left him there climbed back up and resumed. I sang, acappella, the song Send the Light.
As I preached, I walked along the group, which was spread out along the highway, yet in town somewhere.
The group I had with me was age wise and racially diverse. It surprised me that they were there with me. In fact, I told someone that I was surprised that someone had followed me in this venture. I don’t remember seeing Ella. But it was an exciting experience.
I know that I will never start a church again, but it sure looked fun.
I do not know what the dream meant. Maybe articulated wishful thinking.
I believe in dreams and that they tell you a lot, sometimes what it is that God wants you to know. And then sometimes, they are just an overactive imagination. Hard to tell which sometimes. That is a common failing of Pentecostals. Every dream is not a revelation from God. Most are not.
But here the dream is:
I had decided to start a church. When I looked around, there were a lot of people with me to do so. I told them that the church we were to start would be a loud, obnoxious, edgy church.
I preached to them for quite a while about what our vision was. One thing I said was that I had been there and back again, that I had been the gamut of kinds of preacher – religious and otherwise. I had seen the elephant. (not sure if that phrase was in the dream or came afterwards when I had woken up)
During the sermon, there were interruptions, and I would deal with them. This including people talking to each other, and one person, in the middle of the sermon, asking another if there was any way he could seal his Bible shut. He did this quite loudly. I suppose he wanted to make some point. So I finally took him down a ladder from where we were (up on a highway of sorts with our stuff around us) and pointed to town and told him he could find someone to help him there. Then I left him there climbed back up and resumed. I sang, acappella, the song Send the Light.
As I preached, I walked along the group, which was spread out along the highway, yet in town somewhere.
The group I had with me was age wise and racially diverse. It surprised me that they were there with me. In fact, I told someone that I was surprised that someone had followed me in this venture. I don’t remember seeing Ella. But it was an exciting experience.
I know that I will never start a church again, but it sure looked fun.
I do not know what the dream meant. Maybe articulated wishful thinking.
detecting and hating sin
An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin. (Psalm 36:1-2)
I was just reading an article about Roman Polanski. If you haven’t read about him, he is a filmmaker from the 60’s and 70’s who was caught having sex with a 13 year old girl. Rather than face prosecution for statuatory rape, he ran to Europe. The US has been trying to extradite him for several decades, but the Europeans have thwarted it.
At present, Hollywood is on his side. Their claim is that he is misunderstood and is a genius at what he does (The Pianist (2002); The Ninth Gate (1999); Frantic (1988); Chinatown (1974); Rosemary's Baby (1968), among a bunch of other dubious entries in IMDb.com). Their assetion is that since he has done some stuff that they like, he is exempt from normal people’s rules.
When it really comes down to it, there is a liberal assertion that anyone that is liberal and (allegedly) talented is exempt from the rules that govern regular non-talented people.
One person on TV even went on to say that it really wasn’t “rape-rape” as such. It was different.
And it was different. It was him and not me. If a normal person, a conservative, did something as bad as this, he or she would go to jail almost immediately and society would frown on them mightily.
But if a liberal does it, there has to be a good reason and he doesn’t need to be treated badly. He is, after all, sensitive.
It all goes back to the lack of the fear of God in their eyes, as the Psalmist says here. His self-image is so great that he is unable to see what he is doing wrong. Enough rationalizing and you can be blind to almost anything.
That is what happens when you want what you want to be the defining factor in life, I want this, so therefore, this has to be okay.
It is a sad thing, but it is true. And it will continue to be true as long as we do not fear God. When that fear is missing, and since we have to worship something since we are made that way, we begin to worship what we want.
That is why the apostle Paul said that the knowledge of God is death to those who are not saved (2 Corinthians 2:16). They see it as the death of what they want. They cannot see it as life because they do not have that mindset.
Lord, give me your mind so I can see your will.
I was just reading an article about Roman Polanski. If you haven’t read about him, he is a filmmaker from the 60’s and 70’s who was caught having sex with a 13 year old girl. Rather than face prosecution for statuatory rape, he ran to Europe. The US has been trying to extradite him for several decades, but the Europeans have thwarted it.
At present, Hollywood is on his side. Their claim is that he is misunderstood and is a genius at what he does (The Pianist (2002); The Ninth Gate (1999); Frantic (1988); Chinatown (1974); Rosemary's Baby (1968), among a bunch of other dubious entries in IMDb.com). Their assetion is that since he has done some stuff that they like, he is exempt from normal people’s rules.
When it really comes down to it, there is a liberal assertion that anyone that is liberal and (allegedly) talented is exempt from the rules that govern regular non-talented people.
One person on TV even went on to say that it really wasn’t “rape-rape” as such. It was different.
And it was different. It was him and not me. If a normal person, a conservative, did something as bad as this, he or she would go to jail almost immediately and society would frown on them mightily.
But if a liberal does it, there has to be a good reason and he doesn’t need to be treated badly. He is, after all, sensitive.
It all goes back to the lack of the fear of God in their eyes, as the Psalmist says here. His self-image is so great that he is unable to see what he is doing wrong. Enough rationalizing and you can be blind to almost anything.
That is what happens when you want what you want to be the defining factor in life, I want this, so therefore, this has to be okay.
It is a sad thing, but it is true. And it will continue to be true as long as we do not fear God. When that fear is missing, and since we have to worship something since we are made that way, we begin to worship what we want.
That is why the apostle Paul said that the knowledge of God is death to those who are not saved (2 Corinthians 2:16). They see it as the death of what they want. They cannot see it as life because they do not have that mindset.
Lord, give me your mind so I can see your will.
daily java
Daily Java: For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.- Jeremiah 29:11-13.
This is one of those passages that is both comforting and frustrating at the same time.
It is comforting because I know that God has something in mind for me. He has plans for me and those plans are to give me hope and a future. That is great. God loves me and wants the best for me.
On the other hand, it is frustrating because I want to know what they are. I am burning time now in my life. At the age of 60, I do not have that much time left. If God has plans, what are they? When will they manifest themselves in my life? When will I know what they are?
It seems that my whole life has been waiting for God to show his plans to me. I have beat my head against his wall again and again. I would do everything and then I would realize that it is his will that I am swerving, so I would wait for him. But in both cases, it would seem that he would ignore me.
Then every once in a while, something would come that would show me that he was watching me and knew me. Almost dribbles of knowledge.
But I do not want dribbles of knowledge. I want to see him working in my life.
Of course, someone will say (without a bit of knowledge), you just need to have faith and to wait on him. You can’t push the will of God. He will do things in his own time.
And that is absolutely true. And I have. People who say things like that are good at parroting cloying aphorisms without thinking about what they mean. They just sound good and when they say them, they feel “spiritual.” They are on the order of the idiot pastor who told a woman that her husband died of cancer because she didn’t have enough faith. It was just something to say that took them off the hook and gave them feelings of spirituality. It also makes them feel superior.
But enough of that screed. That isn’t why I am writing this blog. I guess.
I want God to manifest himself in my new work in Lincoln. And I need him to do it soon. In six months I will be 61.
This is one of those passages that is both comforting and frustrating at the same time.
It is comforting because I know that God has something in mind for me. He has plans for me and those plans are to give me hope and a future. That is great. God loves me and wants the best for me.
On the other hand, it is frustrating because I want to know what they are. I am burning time now in my life. At the age of 60, I do not have that much time left. If God has plans, what are they? When will they manifest themselves in my life? When will I know what they are?
It seems that my whole life has been waiting for God to show his plans to me. I have beat my head against his wall again and again. I would do everything and then I would realize that it is his will that I am swerving, so I would wait for him. But in both cases, it would seem that he would ignore me.
Then every once in a while, something would come that would show me that he was watching me and knew me. Almost dribbles of knowledge.
But I do not want dribbles of knowledge. I want to see him working in my life.
Of course, someone will say (without a bit of knowledge), you just need to have faith and to wait on him. You can’t push the will of God. He will do things in his own time.
And that is absolutely true. And I have. People who say things like that are good at parroting cloying aphorisms without thinking about what they mean. They just sound good and when they say them, they feel “spiritual.” They are on the order of the idiot pastor who told a woman that her husband died of cancer because she didn’t have enough faith. It was just something to say that took them off the hook and gave them feelings of spirituality. It also makes them feel superior.
But enough of that screed. That isn’t why I am writing this blog. I guess.
I want God to manifest himself in my new work in Lincoln. And I need him to do it soon. In six months I will be 61.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
daily java
Daily Java: "“Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.”- Proverbs 14:22.
My laptop went ballistic this past weekend with a virus. It told me on the one hand, that the computer ws infected. It gave me several files that it said were corrupted. It also wanted me to buy some new anti-virus software, but wouldn’t let me use mine.
Then when I got home it was fine. The only real difference is that I have it wired into the modem here and there it was going wireless.
I do not know why it went bad, and I do not know why it is okay now.
Of course, what I do not know about computers fills books. I am pretty good on a basic level, but beyond that I am dead in the water.
I figured that I would have to come home and wipe it clean, start over with the recovery disk. Then I couldn’t find my recovery disk. I finally just turned it on to see what happened and nothing did. Runs like a top if a top and a computer were similar. Always wondered where that expression came from.
It never ceases to amaze me at the meanness of people who manufacture viruses. And I do not understand them at all. Are they so devoid of human compassion and understanding that they cannot help but hurt others.
And, of course, when the porn site flashed on during the virus part, I knew instantly what was wrong. These sites are so insiduous. I look at a lot of stuff on the internet, none of it bad, but some, I suppose who are related to bad sites kind of sideways in ways I do not know. When I hit a site that is related to a bad one, I guess the bug comes through that sideways connection. Which means that I can really trust no one online unless I know them personally.
And once, a virus like that came through my internet connection through no fault or association of my own. It was the fault of the internet provider.
I hate it, but it is part of life. Kind of like coming out and seeing graffitti scrawled on your garage door. Or something like that. Sometimes people just get mean and there is no dealing with them.
Of course, what goes around comes around. You cannot build a good foundation on faulty building materials. In the end, and it may be all the way at the end, the good overcome and the evil fall. Sooner or later, people who plot evil get caught.
I sure am glad I am not one of those people.
My laptop went ballistic this past weekend with a virus. It told me on the one hand, that the computer ws infected. It gave me several files that it said were corrupted. It also wanted me to buy some new anti-virus software, but wouldn’t let me use mine.
Then when I got home it was fine. The only real difference is that I have it wired into the modem here and there it was going wireless.
I do not know why it went bad, and I do not know why it is okay now.
Of course, what I do not know about computers fills books. I am pretty good on a basic level, but beyond that I am dead in the water.
I figured that I would have to come home and wipe it clean, start over with the recovery disk. Then I couldn’t find my recovery disk. I finally just turned it on to see what happened and nothing did. Runs like a top if a top and a computer were similar. Always wondered where that expression came from.
It never ceases to amaze me at the meanness of people who manufacture viruses. And I do not understand them at all. Are they so devoid of human compassion and understanding that they cannot help but hurt others.
And, of course, when the porn site flashed on during the virus part, I knew instantly what was wrong. These sites are so insiduous. I look at a lot of stuff on the internet, none of it bad, but some, I suppose who are related to bad sites kind of sideways in ways I do not know. When I hit a site that is related to a bad one, I guess the bug comes through that sideways connection. Which means that I can really trust no one online unless I know them personally.
And once, a virus like that came through my internet connection through no fault or association of my own. It was the fault of the internet provider.
I hate it, but it is part of life. Kind of like coming out and seeing graffitti scrawled on your garage door. Or something like that. Sometimes people just get mean and there is no dealing with them.
Of course, what goes around comes around. You cannot build a good foundation on faulty building materials. In the end, and it may be all the way at the end, the good overcome and the evil fall. Sooner or later, people who plot evil get caught.
I sure am glad I am not one of those people.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
daily java
Daily Java: John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. (John 1:15-18)
It is hard to remember what things were like before you had your life-time watershed moment, before you had your life set on its course.
It is hard to remember what it was like not to be married to my wife. We have been together for more than twice the time we were apart.
It is hard to remember what it was like before I went into the ministry. Having been a pastor for 36 years, I have trouble remembering the time before I became a pastor.
Life has been set for so long, it sometimes seems as if it has always been this way.
John the apostle felt the same way when he wrote this. Since he was writing it some 70 years after the fact, it was hard for him to remember what it was like before. His comment about John: He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. In his mind, Jesus had always been and it was probably hard for the old John to remember when he was new. I would even imagine that the old John had difficulties remembering all of what happened that long ago. After all, it was only 3 years out of his long life. And he was probably pretty young then.
Seminary was a two year period 35 years ago, and the memories, while sometimes quite vivid, are fading as I get older. The same with the memories of our wedding and honeymoon, high school years and childhood in general. That is a normal thing. They are all part of the fabric of my existence, to use a neat phrase. None of them are particularly gone, but they are all kind of melded together in my memory. It is hard to remember a life without them.
Jesus brought grace and truth. And John can see the blessings that he has gotten from them – one blessing after another. He can see all of the great things that have happened. Sure, some bad things happened also, but the grace of God had overwhelmed everything else. The thing is, he had the grace of God and the Lord’s blessings in his life for so long that he could not remember not having them.
He knows he has not seen God, but for sure he has seen his results in everything he is, has done and ever will do in the little time he had left.
That is what I strive for. The total knowledge of God in such a way that it becomes part of my very existence.
I want to know him like Paul knew him. As he said, I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day (2 Timothy 1:12).
It is hard to remember what things were like before you had your life-time watershed moment, before you had your life set on its course.
It is hard to remember what it was like not to be married to my wife. We have been together for more than twice the time we were apart.
It is hard to remember what it was like before I went into the ministry. Having been a pastor for 36 years, I have trouble remembering the time before I became a pastor.
Life has been set for so long, it sometimes seems as if it has always been this way.
John the apostle felt the same way when he wrote this. Since he was writing it some 70 years after the fact, it was hard for him to remember what it was like before. His comment about John: He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. In his mind, Jesus had always been and it was probably hard for the old John to remember when he was new. I would even imagine that the old John had difficulties remembering all of what happened that long ago. After all, it was only 3 years out of his long life. And he was probably pretty young then.
Seminary was a two year period 35 years ago, and the memories, while sometimes quite vivid, are fading as I get older. The same with the memories of our wedding and honeymoon, high school years and childhood in general. That is a normal thing. They are all part of the fabric of my existence, to use a neat phrase. None of them are particularly gone, but they are all kind of melded together in my memory. It is hard to remember a life without them.
Jesus brought grace and truth. And John can see the blessings that he has gotten from them – one blessing after another. He can see all of the great things that have happened. Sure, some bad things happened also, but the grace of God had overwhelmed everything else. The thing is, he had the grace of God and the Lord’s blessings in his life for so long that he could not remember not having them.
He knows he has not seen God, but for sure he has seen his results in everything he is, has done and ever will do in the little time he had left.
That is what I strive for. The total knowledge of God in such a way that it becomes part of my very existence.
I want to know him like Paul knew him. As he said, I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day (2 Timothy 1:12).
daily java
Daily Java: "The words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times" (Psalm 12:6)
Some jewelers are reputable, you can take their word on the quality of their silver. Some aren't. When I bought my silver wedding ring, I bought it from one of those mall kiosks run by a strange looking guy. They specialize in silver and have 1000 different silver things.
But what always bothered me is how cheaply they sell their stuff.
Ella and I had been going more and more to silver since our 25th anniversary. And besides, since my hair was graying the way it was, silver looked better on me than gold. So I decided to buy a silver wedding ring.
I looked at the ring for a few minutes and thought about it but decided not to buy it. The guy at the kiosk wanted to sell something and tried to talk me into it. After saying no a couple of times, he offered me a price I couldn’t refuse. It was really low, and I couldn’t pass it up.
I wondered how he could run a business selling stuff that cheaply.
While the ring has never turned on me or anything like that, and it retains its shine, still, I wonder how pure silver it is.
Not that I will get rid of it or anything, but I do wonder. That guy, with his really low price, is not my silver standard in the world. For that, I want to go to a really good, expensive jeweler, one that is known for his quality. Of course, I will pay 10 times what I paid to that guy in the middle of the mall, but I will know I got quality silver.
The same with the word of God. When the Lord says something, you can take him at his word and know he is telling the truth. God's word is our final authority in life.
I know that he always tells me just what I need to know. He tells me the truth. John 17:17 says his word is truth. He is my silver standard. His silver, his word, is refined to the point that I know it is pure, that it is real.
To him I go for what is real.
Some jewelers are reputable, you can take their word on the quality of their silver. Some aren't. When I bought my silver wedding ring, I bought it from one of those mall kiosks run by a strange looking guy. They specialize in silver and have 1000 different silver things.
But what always bothered me is how cheaply they sell their stuff.
Ella and I had been going more and more to silver since our 25th anniversary. And besides, since my hair was graying the way it was, silver looked better on me than gold. So I decided to buy a silver wedding ring.
I looked at the ring for a few minutes and thought about it but decided not to buy it. The guy at the kiosk wanted to sell something and tried to talk me into it. After saying no a couple of times, he offered me a price I couldn’t refuse. It was really low, and I couldn’t pass it up.
I wondered how he could run a business selling stuff that cheaply.
While the ring has never turned on me or anything like that, and it retains its shine, still, I wonder how pure silver it is.
Not that I will get rid of it or anything, but I do wonder. That guy, with his really low price, is not my silver standard in the world. For that, I want to go to a really good, expensive jeweler, one that is known for his quality. Of course, I will pay 10 times what I paid to that guy in the middle of the mall, but I will know I got quality silver.
The same with the word of God. When the Lord says something, you can take him at his word and know he is telling the truth. God's word is our final authority in life.
I know that he always tells me just what I need to know. He tells me the truth. John 17:17 says his word is truth. He is my silver standard. His silver, his word, is refined to the point that I know it is pure, that it is real.
To him I go for what is real.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
light charismatic
Back when we were in the Disciples of Christ, we were beginning to feel the drawing of the Spirit in our lives. We were with a denomination that didn’t believe in the active operation of the Holy Spirit so we didn’t really understand it.
I told Ella that I would like to find a church to pastor that was light charismatic. Charismatic to me was more of a style than a substance, so we wanted to pastor a church that lifted their hands when they sang and who sang contemporary songs and such, but who were not (to our minds) wackos. They were happy and excited.
When the Holy Spirit came into contact with us and we were baptized in the Spirit, we realized how foolish that was. One cannot be “light charismatic”. You are either working under the moving of the Spirit or you are not.
I have known churches that have trumpeted on their webpages the proud fact that they were non-charismatic. What they mean is that they are standard and aren’t Pentecostal.
But many times, what it means is that the Spirit is not alive in their services. In fact, the one thing they are best at, when it comes to the Spirit of God, is quenching the Spirit, or putting out the Spirit’s fire (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
You cannot be light charismatic. In the same way, you cannot be a light Christian.
Jesus said, He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. (Matthew 12:29-31).
You either are a Christian or not. You either have the Spirit of God within you or you don’t.
You may not speak with tongues, or heal people, or prophecy, but if you are living as God would have you live, you have the Spirit of God within you. Being baptized in the Spirit is not the same as having the Spirit within you. You get the Spirit when you believe in God (Acts 2:38).
Take your Christianity seriously and live for him. Show his Spirit in your lives.
I told Ella that I would like to find a church to pastor that was light charismatic. Charismatic to me was more of a style than a substance, so we wanted to pastor a church that lifted their hands when they sang and who sang contemporary songs and such, but who were not (to our minds) wackos. They were happy and excited.
When the Holy Spirit came into contact with us and we were baptized in the Spirit, we realized how foolish that was. One cannot be “light charismatic”. You are either working under the moving of the Spirit or you are not.
I have known churches that have trumpeted on their webpages the proud fact that they were non-charismatic. What they mean is that they are standard and aren’t Pentecostal.
But many times, what it means is that the Spirit is not alive in their services. In fact, the one thing they are best at, when it comes to the Spirit of God, is quenching the Spirit, or putting out the Spirit’s fire (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
You cannot be light charismatic. In the same way, you cannot be a light Christian.
Jesus said, He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. (Matthew 12:29-31).
You either are a Christian or not. You either have the Spirit of God within you or you don’t.
You may not speak with tongues, or heal people, or prophecy, but if you are living as God would have you live, you have the Spirit of God within you. Being baptized in the Spirit is not the same as having the Spirit within you. You get the Spirit when you believe in God (Acts 2:38).
Take your Christianity seriously and live for him. Show his Spirit in your lives.
daily java
Daily Java: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35,37)
The hardest concept for me to grasp for much of my life has been that God would love me even if I did bad. His love is not contingent on my performance. He loves me anyway. He may not be pleased with me, but he loves me anyway.
The same goes for my kids. I love them even when they act like idiots. My love is not predicated by their performance. I love them anyway. I have always told them that if they ever need it, my home is open to them. I may not care for their actions, I may even not care for them personally, but I still love them.
One of the worst pictures we can have of God is his insistence that we perform to his expectations before he loves us. He does that no more than we do as parents. Or rather, if we do, we are pretty sorry.
He always loves us and is always willing for us to come back home to him.
That is the central message of the Bible.
The hardest concept for me to grasp for much of my life has been that God would love me even if I did bad. His love is not contingent on my performance. He loves me anyway. He may not be pleased with me, but he loves me anyway.
The same goes for my kids. I love them even when they act like idiots. My love is not predicated by their performance. I love them anyway. I have always told them that if they ever need it, my home is open to them. I may not care for their actions, I may even not care for them personally, but I still love them.
One of the worst pictures we can have of God is his insistence that we perform to his expectations before he loves us. He does that no more than we do as parents. Or rather, if we do, we are pretty sorry.
He always loves us and is always willing for us to come back home to him.
That is the central message of the Bible.
Monday, February 15, 2010
abby's 33rd birthday
We had our daughter’s 33rd birthday today. I made enchiladas and Ella baked a chocolate cake with white buttercream frosting. Abby’s special request. Even though she doesn’t like nuts, we put them on half the cake. Somehow a plain buttercream frosting doesn’t seem all that appealing without them
What really struck me is that she is 33 years old. She has had a rough life in many ways, but it seems as though it were just a short time ago that she was little. The same with our son, Sam. They are full grown adults with families and jobs and cars and stuff.
I miss them.
What really struck me is that she is 33 years old. She has had a rough life in many ways, but it seems as though it were just a short time ago that she was little. The same with our son, Sam. They are full grown adults with families and jobs and cars and stuff.
I miss them.
daily java
Daily Java: This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
I love my wife. She is a very fine person, in addition to being attractive and especially loving me back. I love my daughter and my son. I love my parents. Other people I love in varying degrees.
But I have always wondered how you could truly love someone without having first the love of God in your heart. I know that love is our manifestation of God in our hearts. If he can come out in no other way, he will in love. It is natural since we are made in his image. It is the one thing that we automatically show, whether God is in us or not. Since it is his nature, and we are made in his image, it cannot help but come out.
But there is a problem in translation. If God is not in our hearts, our manifestation of that love is flawed since it is only through our own ideas that we show the love.
No matter how much I may love my wife, or my kids, or my parents, or anyone else, I love God more. They know that and accept it.
What I guess I cannot figure out is how I could love them as much as I do without the love of God overshadowing everything else. After all, I love because God loved me. Everything that I claim to do in love comes from God.
So if I do not have God in my life or in my heart or as my motivation, that means I cannot truly love others. When it comes down to it, if I reject God and his love, I have thought of nothing else in my life except myself. Everyone else really becomes meaningless. I have denied the entrance of true love into my life when I deny the entrance of God into my life. I have decided that everything in my life will be for my own pleasure and for my own motivation.
That means that when I will not let true love into my life, I can not really feel true love. Everything else will be subjected to what I feel and what I want, including my wife and kids and parents and everyone else. When it comes to a real problem, I will choose myself over them, because I already have. I have chosen myself over true love, which is God.
After all, the word says, just a little bit further, God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us. Without him, love is not complete. It is only partial, incomplete, insubstantial, flawed.
After all, no love based on your own perceptions can possibly be complete. Since you are flawed, your version of anything will be flawed. And your version of love will be flawed. It may be the best version of love any human ever made, but it will be flawed, because it will be from you.
Only the love of God is unflawed. And when that motivates your life, you will know true love. Your love will be complete, not only in your life, but in your manifestation of that love to others: your wife, your kids, your parents, everybody.
Only in God can anyone really love.
I love my wife. She is a very fine person, in addition to being attractive and especially loving me back. I love my daughter and my son. I love my parents. Other people I love in varying degrees.
But I have always wondered how you could truly love someone without having first the love of God in your heart. I know that love is our manifestation of God in our hearts. If he can come out in no other way, he will in love. It is natural since we are made in his image. It is the one thing that we automatically show, whether God is in us or not. Since it is his nature, and we are made in his image, it cannot help but come out.
But there is a problem in translation. If God is not in our hearts, our manifestation of that love is flawed since it is only through our own ideas that we show the love.
No matter how much I may love my wife, or my kids, or my parents, or anyone else, I love God more. They know that and accept it.
What I guess I cannot figure out is how I could love them as much as I do without the love of God overshadowing everything else. After all, I love because God loved me. Everything that I claim to do in love comes from God.
So if I do not have God in my life or in my heart or as my motivation, that means I cannot truly love others. When it comes down to it, if I reject God and his love, I have thought of nothing else in my life except myself. Everyone else really becomes meaningless. I have denied the entrance of true love into my life when I deny the entrance of God into my life. I have decided that everything in my life will be for my own pleasure and for my own motivation.
That means that when I will not let true love into my life, I can not really feel true love. Everything else will be subjected to what I feel and what I want, including my wife and kids and parents and everyone else. When it comes to a real problem, I will choose myself over them, because I already have. I have chosen myself over true love, which is God.
After all, the word says, just a little bit further, God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us. Without him, love is not complete. It is only partial, incomplete, insubstantial, flawed.
After all, no love based on your own perceptions can possibly be complete. Since you are flawed, your version of anything will be flawed. And your version of love will be flawed. It may be the best version of love any human ever made, but it will be flawed, because it will be from you.
Only the love of God is unflawed. And when that motivates your life, you will know true love. Your love will be complete, not only in your life, but in your manifestation of that love to others: your wife, your kids, your parents, everybody.
Only in God can anyone really love.
Friday, February 12, 2010
trip to topeka
As we say in Texas, we are fixing to go to Independence for the night. Tomorrow morning we go to Topeka, KS, for my interview with the Foursquare people. I know all the material and all, it is nothing more than that which I have studied and preached for the past 36 years, but still. I never did tests well and they make me apprehensive, even though I know what I am doing.
Although, can one really know what they are doing when it comes to the knowledge of God and his grace and Spirit? But you know what I mean.
After we get through there, we will go to Lincoln and hopefully be there in time for the ladies meeting at the church at 5:00. I will be glad when this is all over. The trip is really getting to me. 750 miles round trip each week. I don’t know how people drive like they do all the time. It would get to me. especially as I get older.
I used to drive marathon distances, since, for one thing, I didn’t always have the money to stop at a motel. For another thing, motels always seem to me to be the ultimate waste of money. If I am by myself, I can sleep in the car as easily. If you need to, you can always stop at a truck stop and take a shower and stuff.
Enough for now.
Although, can one really know what they are doing when it comes to the knowledge of God and his grace and Spirit? But you know what I mean.
After we get through there, we will go to Lincoln and hopefully be there in time for the ladies meeting at the church at 5:00. I will be glad when this is all over. The trip is really getting to me. 750 miles round trip each week. I don’t know how people drive like they do all the time. It would get to me. especially as I get older.
I used to drive marathon distances, since, for one thing, I didn’t always have the money to stop at a motel. For another thing, motels always seem to me to be the ultimate waste of money. If I am by myself, I can sleep in the car as easily. If you need to, you can always stop at a truck stop and take a shower and stuff.
Enough for now.
daily java
Daily Java: Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13: 6-7)
The Bible Gateway page has had 1 Corinthians 13 on for the past few days and I have used it on my Facebook church pages. For the past couple of days. But this one struck me.
It is the old ploy a guy gives a girl, if you loved me you would go to bed with me. Or a parent with a child: if you loved me you would clean your room. It is easy to put conditions on our love. That is how we are made. If you loved me, you would … whatever.
But the Bible tells us that God has loved us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). His love is everlasting. That means that even if we turn from him, he will still love us.
However, that love, even with God has limits. Let’s say a man has a wife who he dearly loves but who has decided for some reason to not return the love. She leaves him, he waits for her. She starts dating other men, he still waits. She gets engaged to another man, he still waits for her. He would take her back any time, because he loves her. She gets married and has children and she and her new husband grow old together and die. Even though her first husband loved her and would take her back anytime, he has to acknowledge sooner or later that she is not coming back and get on with his life. The fact that he still loves her does no good in the face of her absolute rejection.
The difference in his and God’s love, of course, is that at any time we can come back to him. He always waits. The only thing that can separate us from God is death. Even then, he still loves us, but he has to acknowledge that we do not love him, not do we want anything to do with him.
That is why John says in 1 John 5 that we don’t pray for those who have died outside of God. It does no good. There is not recourse for them now that they have turned their backs on him. Yes, he still loves them, but he allows them to make the choice.
This is a little far afield from the scripture, but it was on my mind. And the coffee is good this morning.
The Bible Gateway page has had 1 Corinthians 13 on for the past few days and I have used it on my Facebook church pages. For the past couple of days. But this one struck me.
It is the old ploy a guy gives a girl, if you loved me you would go to bed with me. Or a parent with a child: if you loved me you would clean your room. It is easy to put conditions on our love. That is how we are made. If you loved me, you would … whatever.
But the Bible tells us that God has loved us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). His love is everlasting. That means that even if we turn from him, he will still love us.
However, that love, even with God has limits. Let’s say a man has a wife who he dearly loves but who has decided for some reason to not return the love. She leaves him, he waits for her. She starts dating other men, he still waits. She gets engaged to another man, he still waits for her. He would take her back any time, because he loves her. She gets married and has children and she and her new husband grow old together and die. Even though her first husband loved her and would take her back anytime, he has to acknowledge sooner or later that she is not coming back and get on with his life. The fact that he still loves her does no good in the face of her absolute rejection.
The difference in his and God’s love, of course, is that at any time we can come back to him. He always waits. The only thing that can separate us from God is death. Even then, he still loves us, but he has to acknowledge that we do not love him, not do we want anything to do with him.
That is why John says in 1 John 5 that we don’t pray for those who have died outside of God. It does no good. There is not recourse for them now that they have turned their backs on him. Yes, he still loves them, but he allows them to make the choice.
This is a little far afield from the scripture, but it was on my mind. And the coffee is good this morning.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
snowing outside
It is snowing outside right now as I am writing this. We have had a lot of snow in the past month.
In Nebraska, where we have been for the past few weeks and are planning to move, the snow is piled up to unbelievable heights. All along the streets it is probably two feet tall at least. In the mall parking lot, the snow is 10 feet high. It is strange to see snow that high.
And in the northeast they are having record snowfalls, up to three feet deep. That is a pile of snow.
As a Texas coastal guy, snow has always really fascinated me. In the army in 1970, it snowed in northeast Georgia where I was stationed at the time. Several of the guys were from snow country and they immediately began grousing about the snow.
I, on the other hand, as Mel likes to say, had not seen much snow in my life. I was, after all, from the Galveston area. I was excited and a couple of my friends were excited too. We began to play in the snow and throw snowballs and stuff. Before long, our infectious enthusiasm caught the snow country guys and they began to mess around a little in the snow, too.
It wasn’t long before we all were playing in the snow, the whole lot of us – northern, southern, in between. We were all having a grand old time.
And one thing I noticed. When the snow fell, it hid all of the ground in a beautiful way. Areas that weren’t so pretty, areas that were – all got covered and all looked the same. It didn’t matter whether it fell on trash or flowers, it all looked white and pretty.
Psalm 51:7 says, Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. The grace of God covers us like that snow. No matter what our lives were before we came to him, no matter the scars or ugliness, his grace covers us and makes us beautiful
In Isaiah, God says, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18)
God’s grace is such that it can cover any sin and you will be as pretty as a snow covered field in February.
In Nebraska, where we have been for the past few weeks and are planning to move, the snow is piled up to unbelievable heights. All along the streets it is probably two feet tall at least. In the mall parking lot, the snow is 10 feet high. It is strange to see snow that high.
And in the northeast they are having record snowfalls, up to three feet deep. That is a pile of snow.
As a Texas coastal guy, snow has always really fascinated me. In the army in 1970, it snowed in northeast Georgia where I was stationed at the time. Several of the guys were from snow country and they immediately began grousing about the snow.
I, on the other hand, as Mel likes to say, had not seen much snow in my life. I was, after all, from the Galveston area. I was excited and a couple of my friends were excited too. We began to play in the snow and throw snowballs and stuff. Before long, our infectious enthusiasm caught the snow country guys and they began to mess around a little in the snow, too.
It wasn’t long before we all were playing in the snow, the whole lot of us – northern, southern, in between. We were all having a grand old time.
And one thing I noticed. When the snow fell, it hid all of the ground in a beautiful way. Areas that weren’t so pretty, areas that were – all got covered and all looked the same. It didn’t matter whether it fell on trash or flowers, it all looked white and pretty.
Psalm 51:7 says, Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. The grace of God covers us like that snow. No matter what our lives were before we came to him, no matter the scars or ugliness, his grace covers us and makes us beautiful
In Isaiah, God says, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18)
God’s grace is such that it can cover any sin and you will be as pretty as a snow covered field in February.
daily java
Daily Java: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (1 Corinthians 13:4-5)
It has always amazed me at the things that are done “in love”. Someone will do something horrible to you and then tell you that they only tell you this because they love you. Or someone will use the love of God as an excuse to do something horrendous to the church or someone in it.
As Paul said, these things out not so to be. Out of love for us, Jesus died. Out of love for us, God gave up his Son. Out of love for us, the Godhead went through the agony and pain of crucifixion and death.
Jeremiah 31:3 says I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. He loved us always and wants the best for us. And that love is what draws us to him.
Love does not let people go to hell in the name of tolerance. Jesus loved everyone he came into contact with, but he also sent them away changed into something better.
It has always amazed me at the things that are done “in love”. Someone will do something horrible to you and then tell you that they only tell you this because they love you. Or someone will use the love of God as an excuse to do something horrendous to the church or someone in it.
As Paul said, these things out not so to be. Out of love for us, Jesus died. Out of love for us, God gave up his Son. Out of love for us, the Godhead went through the agony and pain of crucifixion and death.
Jeremiah 31:3 says I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. He loved us always and wants the best for us. And that love is what draws us to him.
Love does not let people go to hell in the name of tolerance. Jesus loved everyone he came into contact with, but he also sent them away changed into something better.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
the first streaking
I just heard the song by Ray Stevens about the Streaker. I remembered that I was at Odessa College on Odessa, TX in 1974 when the first streaker in the country came by. It had to be one of the most ignorant fads that could be done.
The streaking got so bad that it was embarrassing. One guy comes running out of the Student Union bldg wearing a ski mask and nothing else and his car wasn’t there waiting for him. He ran in place for a few seconds and it drove up fast. He dived in the back window. There was a gathering of high school girls and a whole group of guys streaked through. There is little more stupid looking than a bunch of naked guys running through a building. One fellow ran across the football field and the president of the college ran after him and tackled him. Then the president let him go and the guy ran off, rather chagrined.
A girl wanted to streak so a crowd gathered. Clothes began to be thrown over a bush while everybody waited. Quite a crowd gathered. About that time, someone shouted, Wait! She’s behind us! The girl behind the bushes was a ruse to divert the crowd from the girl who wanted to streak. She was embarrassed so she waited until no one was looking then ran. What purpose it served I don’t know. In fact, what purpose the whole thing served, I don’t know.
The fad spread to the rest of the country pretty quickly as stupid fads do. But I was at Odessa College when it began. What an honor. Now if I could only have been where disco began. That was the real honor.
The streaking got so bad that it was embarrassing. One guy comes running out of the Student Union bldg wearing a ski mask and nothing else and his car wasn’t there waiting for him. He ran in place for a few seconds and it drove up fast. He dived in the back window. There was a gathering of high school girls and a whole group of guys streaked through. There is little more stupid looking than a bunch of naked guys running through a building. One fellow ran across the football field and the president of the college ran after him and tackled him. Then the president let him go and the guy ran off, rather chagrined.
A girl wanted to streak so a crowd gathered. Clothes began to be thrown over a bush while everybody waited. Quite a crowd gathered. About that time, someone shouted, Wait! She’s behind us! The girl behind the bushes was a ruse to divert the crowd from the girl who wanted to streak. She was embarrassed so she waited until no one was looking then ran. What purpose it served I don’t know. In fact, what purpose the whole thing served, I don’t know.
The fad spread to the rest of the country pretty quickly as stupid fads do. But I was at Odessa College when it began. What an honor. Now if I could only have been where disco began. That was the real honor.
daily java
Daily Java: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”- 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
There was a girl in my youth group who felt it her Christian duty to tell people stuff. If she didn’t think the sermon was his best, she would tell the preacher that. If something someone was wearing wasn’t as good as it was yesterday, she would tell them. She almost delighted in pointing out problems in people's lives. And she thought she was doing it in the name of God. “I have to tell the truth,” she would say. But what she did was make people irritated.
It was not so much what she said, it was how she said it. The best advice, the most beautiful language in the world, the best phrasing and illustrations, the finest crafted homiletical masterpiece in the world is worthless if it is not spoken in love.
You can take a lot from a person if you know that person loves you, or at least cares about what they are saying. That is exactly why a parent can discipline a child physically and the child still love them. They know the parent did it because they loved the child. The discipline was needed, yes, but when done with no love, it becomes abuse.
It doesn’t matter what you do, if you do not do it in love, both for God and for others. You can prophesy, you can explain stuff to a fantastic degree, you can believe in something so strongly that you can accomplish great and wonderful things, but if you don’t have love, it is nothing.
That is why works will not save us. Lots of people give to the poor, and will even be self-sacrificing. But if they do not love God and those they sacrifice for, it is worthless.
Everything in the world is worthless if you do not have love. Nothing is good without it.
The tragedy is living your life in a self-sacrificing mode, but in the end lacking the love that should have motivated it. Kind of like slapping a fully decorated birthday cake down in front of someone you don’t like. Your lack of love removes all the joy from the gift.
Keep doing the stuff, but look to your motivations.
There was a girl in my youth group who felt it her Christian duty to tell people stuff. If she didn’t think the sermon was his best, she would tell the preacher that. If something someone was wearing wasn’t as good as it was yesterday, she would tell them. She almost delighted in pointing out problems in people's lives. And she thought she was doing it in the name of God. “I have to tell the truth,” she would say. But what she did was make people irritated.
It was not so much what she said, it was how she said it. The best advice, the most beautiful language in the world, the best phrasing and illustrations, the finest crafted homiletical masterpiece in the world is worthless if it is not spoken in love.
You can take a lot from a person if you know that person loves you, or at least cares about what they are saying. That is exactly why a parent can discipline a child physically and the child still love them. They know the parent did it because they loved the child. The discipline was needed, yes, but when done with no love, it becomes abuse.
It doesn’t matter what you do, if you do not do it in love, both for God and for others. You can prophesy, you can explain stuff to a fantastic degree, you can believe in something so strongly that you can accomplish great and wonderful things, but if you don’t have love, it is nothing.
That is why works will not save us. Lots of people give to the poor, and will even be self-sacrificing. But if they do not love God and those they sacrifice for, it is worthless.
Everything in the world is worthless if you do not have love. Nothing is good without it.
The tragedy is living your life in a self-sacrificing mode, but in the end lacking the love that should have motivated it. Kind of like slapping a fully decorated birthday cake down in front of someone you don’t like. Your lack of love removes all the joy from the gift.
Keep doing the stuff, but look to your motivations.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
snow and designer fashions
It is snowing outside. Beautiful big fat white snowflakes, the kind like you see in pictures of snow. This weekend we had the driving pellets that feel like a sand-storm. That are absolutely no fun. It feels like it will abrade the skin off your face and then, to add insult to injury, will give you frostbite.
Sunday afternoon, we went to an outdoor mall in Lincoln, one of those that are designed to look like a little upscale city. It was about 38 or 39, no wind and the snowflakes were falling straight down. I had on a sweater and my fedora and it was perfect. It was the kind of day, although overcast, that was beautiful.
We walked around and looked at the stores and had a good time. On Monday, when we left to come home, the wind was blowing at 20-25 mph, it was 18 and the snow was blowing again like a sandstorm. As the song says, what a difference a day makes. One day it is almost a picture and the next a horror movie.
On that note, one of the stores we went into was called Von Maur. It was a store like Nieman-Marcus or Nordstrom’s. I usually don’t want to go into stores like that. I have never enjoyed conspicuous consumption, so I have never enjoyed those kind of stores. As we went through it to get to the other side, three girls came by, dressed in the current height of fashion, things that by their obvious worn look had cost big bucks. I thought about kids growing up in that kind of setting, where they bought basic things from an upscale store. After a while, they would feel entitled to that kind of place and will, undoubtedly have a lot of trouble if their future husbands could not support that habit. Being forced after a while to buy things from Dillards’, or JC Penney’s or Sears or, horror of horrors, Wal-Mart.
I have never really gotten into designer fashions. That is probably a good thing since I am 6’3” and tend toward gargantuan. I suppose that there isn’t a big and tall fashion store anywhere and I would be reduced to having to have my stuff tailor made. Rough life. Having to go 2 or 3 times a week to have the tailor take more measurements and fit me again. Easier to go to Wal-Mart and buy what I need. Of course, JC Penney and Dillard’s both have big and tall departments where I can find some good stuff on sale occasionally. As I told my son one time, not having a lot of money makes smaller things more fun. Of course, that could be rationalizing. Since I am a pastor and they do not exactly get a lot of money, I have had to make do. The funny thing is that my family has always been well-dressed. I pride myself on that.
Or I would if I weren’t so humble. Once I got a medal for humility, but they took it away when I wore it. Oh, well.
Sunday afternoon, we went to an outdoor mall in Lincoln, one of those that are designed to look like a little upscale city. It was about 38 or 39, no wind and the snowflakes were falling straight down. I had on a sweater and my fedora and it was perfect. It was the kind of day, although overcast, that was beautiful.
We walked around and looked at the stores and had a good time. On Monday, when we left to come home, the wind was blowing at 20-25 mph, it was 18 and the snow was blowing again like a sandstorm. As the song says, what a difference a day makes. One day it is almost a picture and the next a horror movie.
On that note, one of the stores we went into was called Von Maur. It was a store like Nieman-Marcus or Nordstrom’s. I usually don’t want to go into stores like that. I have never enjoyed conspicuous consumption, so I have never enjoyed those kind of stores. As we went through it to get to the other side, three girls came by, dressed in the current height of fashion, things that by their obvious worn look had cost big bucks. I thought about kids growing up in that kind of setting, where they bought basic things from an upscale store. After a while, they would feel entitled to that kind of place and will, undoubtedly have a lot of trouble if their future husbands could not support that habit. Being forced after a while to buy things from Dillards’, or JC Penney’s or Sears or, horror of horrors, Wal-Mart.
I have never really gotten into designer fashions. That is probably a good thing since I am 6’3” and tend toward gargantuan. I suppose that there isn’t a big and tall fashion store anywhere and I would be reduced to having to have my stuff tailor made. Rough life. Having to go 2 or 3 times a week to have the tailor take more measurements and fit me again. Easier to go to Wal-Mart and buy what I need. Of course, JC Penney and Dillard’s both have big and tall departments where I can find some good stuff on sale occasionally. As I told my son one time, not having a lot of money makes smaller things more fun. Of course, that could be rationalizing. Since I am a pastor and they do not exactly get a lot of money, I have had to make do. The funny thing is that my family has always been well-dressed. I pride myself on that.
Or I would if I weren’t so humble. Once I got a medal for humility, but they took it away when I wore it. Oh, well.
daily java
Daily Java: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. … 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Everything on this earth has a beginning. God doesn’t, but he is not on this earth. We are. Humans are. It is really hard to try to think about the eternality of God. He has always been. All of his parts (?), if you can call them that, are eternal. They have always been. They will never cease. He is eternal, he is omniscient, he is omnipresent. If there is one thing that is absolute, it is, as Revelation says, he is, he was, he always will be.
And the Word has always been there, because he is God.
But Jesus had a beginning. The man named Jesus began nine months before his birth when the angel came to Mary. That is hard to remember. The man, Christ Jesus, the Messiah, he who was our Savior, began. And in him the Word dwelt, the fullness of the Deity living in bodily from (Colossians 2:9).
As our Savior, Jesus was human. We have to remember that. If he were not human, all of the trials he went through were worthless. And, not only that, but the comments Hebrews makes about him learning obedience, about the fact that we have a high priest like us, yet without sin, would be of no real worth. And if he was not really human, the experience of God made human would not be real. Which means, of course, that Jesus didn’t really die. If he were not human, he couldn’t.
But he was. And he did. And he rose from the dead. Because God made him human. The Word was made manifest in humanity when Jesus came into being.
The Word is eternal. But Jesus, that physical manifestation of the Word, was human and as such had a beginning.
What a sacrifice for God that he made himself as human (Philippians 2) and lived with us so he could die with us and raise with us. God be praised!
Everything on this earth has a beginning. God doesn’t, but he is not on this earth. We are. Humans are. It is really hard to try to think about the eternality of God. He has always been. All of his parts (?), if you can call them that, are eternal. They have always been. They will never cease. He is eternal, he is omniscient, he is omnipresent. If there is one thing that is absolute, it is, as Revelation says, he is, he was, he always will be.
And the Word has always been there, because he is God.
But Jesus had a beginning. The man named Jesus began nine months before his birth when the angel came to Mary. That is hard to remember. The man, Christ Jesus, the Messiah, he who was our Savior, began. And in him the Word dwelt, the fullness of the Deity living in bodily from (Colossians 2:9).
As our Savior, Jesus was human. We have to remember that. If he were not human, all of the trials he went through were worthless. And, not only that, but the comments Hebrews makes about him learning obedience, about the fact that we have a high priest like us, yet without sin, would be of no real worth. And if he was not really human, the experience of God made human would not be real. Which means, of course, that Jesus didn’t really die. If he were not human, he couldn’t.
But he was. And he did. And he rose from the dead. Because God made him human. The Word was made manifest in humanity when Jesus came into being.
The Word is eternal. But Jesus, that physical manifestation of the Word, was human and as such had a beginning.
What a sacrifice for God that he made himself as human (Philippians 2) and lived with us so he could die with us and raise with us. God be praised!
Monday, February 8, 2010
we are back
We are back from Lincoln, NE. It was a long trip. Snowed the entire time and at points the road was covered over, even on the freeways. Of course, the trucks couldn’t be bothered to slow down for the bad conditions, so it was a difficult trip. I can understand why some of the early settlers and all could go snow blind. The glare is tremendous.
We had a good few days in Lincoln. The church warmly received us and seems to be glad we are coming. I am looking forward so much to this work. For one thing, it begins my ministry in the Foursquare Church. For another, I have been idle entirely too long and am dying to get back into full time ministry. After all, I am burning time now. Any time I lose now comes out of the total I have left and I do not have enough left to spare any.
Also, I have not had the time to add anything to this blog. I look forward to beginning the Daily Blather again tomorrow.
We had a good few days in Lincoln. The church warmly received us and seems to be glad we are coming. I am looking forward so much to this work. For one thing, it begins my ministry in the Foursquare Church. For another, I have been idle entirely too long and am dying to get back into full time ministry. After all, I am burning time now. Any time I lose now comes out of the total I have left and I do not have enough left to spare any.
Also, I have not had the time to add anything to this blog. I look forward to beginning the Daily Blather again tomorrow.
Friday, February 5, 2010
a mirror of God
Daily Java: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
I have always wanted the things I say to be the oracles of God, the words of God, something that he would say if he were speaking instead of me. if I am crucified in Christ and he lives in me, then anything I say should be like that. I cannot just blap out stuff and expect it to be fine, I have to remember that he is speaking through me, that whatever comes out of my mouth is perceived by other as coming out of his mouth.
That is one of the problems that comes with calling yourself a Christ follower. If you are following him, then you are trying to be like him. And if you are doing that, you are trying to make your life like his, your speech like his, you reactions to life like his. And if you tell people that, then whatever you say, they figure Jesus would say. When you say stupid things, things that hurt, stuff off the top of your head, then they see Jesus that way
Jesus said When you see me, you see the Father. His point was that he was a mirror of God. We are that same: mirrors of God. Not as good as Jesus, obviously, but still, we mirror him in our own flawed way.
I have always had a problem with saying the first thing on my mind. There were times in my life that if I had not been so big, someone would have taught me more perfectly the way of righteousness with their fists. I got away with it on sheer size, but I was wrong.
We have to remember that others are looking at us and that we mirror the Father who has sent us to do his will on this earth. We want to be like Jesus.
I have always wanted the things I say to be the oracles of God, the words of God, something that he would say if he were speaking instead of me. if I am crucified in Christ and he lives in me, then anything I say should be like that. I cannot just blap out stuff and expect it to be fine, I have to remember that he is speaking through me, that whatever comes out of my mouth is perceived by other as coming out of his mouth.
That is one of the problems that comes with calling yourself a Christ follower. If you are following him, then you are trying to be like him. And if you are doing that, you are trying to make your life like his, your speech like his, you reactions to life like his. And if you tell people that, then whatever you say, they figure Jesus would say. When you say stupid things, things that hurt, stuff off the top of your head, then they see Jesus that way
Jesus said When you see me, you see the Father. His point was that he was a mirror of God. We are that same: mirrors of God. Not as good as Jesus, obviously, but still, we mirror him in our own flawed way.
I have always had a problem with saying the first thing on my mind. There were times in my life that if I had not been so big, someone would have taught me more perfectly the way of righteousness with their fists. I got away with it on sheer size, but I was wrong.
We have to remember that others are looking at us and that we mirror the Father who has sent us to do his will on this earth. We want to be like Jesus.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
in lincoln, ne
We are in Lincoln, NE, tonight with some new friends, Jim and Bonnie Peterson, enjoying their hospitality. Currently, it is snowing and has accumulated probably 1-2 inches. It makes it beautiful outside, but it won’t be fun driving around tomorrow. That won’t stop us, but it does make it treacherous. Fortunately, the people in Nebraska are used to this kind of stuff and don’t act like idiots when it gets slippery. More tomorrow.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
visiting with friends
We just had some great people over for supper. Keith and Sandy Troost are some of the folks we have gotten to be friends with here in Boonville. We had chicken and sausage in a Cajun cream sauce over brown rice. Turned out pretty good, if I say so myself. Keith is a coffee drinker like I am so we drank a considerable mount of coffee.
As I have mentioned before, I think, we have made good friends here in Boonville. I really did not expect to do so. I figured that we would just kind of hang around until we left. I guess the problem is that we like to entertain and cook for others. So, it was natural to invite people over and cook dinner for them. Of course, when I have people nearby, I cannot help but ask them about themselves, and soon I get to know them.
We really do not have a lot in common with the Troosts when it really comes down to it, but we like each other. That is the beauty of Christianity: the fact that disparate people can get together and get to know each other. One thing I have always enjoyed about being a pastor is that I have the chance to talk to and visit with anyone, no matter what the strata of society they may be in. and whether or not we have “things in common” as such, we get along together as members of the body of Christ. I like that.
As I have mentioned before, I think, we have made good friends here in Boonville. I really did not expect to do so. I figured that we would just kind of hang around until we left. I guess the problem is that we like to entertain and cook for others. So, it was natural to invite people over and cook dinner for them. Of course, when I have people nearby, I cannot help but ask them about themselves, and soon I get to know them.
We really do not have a lot in common with the Troosts when it really comes down to it, but we like each other. That is the beauty of Christianity: the fact that disparate people can get together and get to know each other. One thing I have always enjoyed about being a pastor is that I have the chance to talk to and visit with anyone, no matter what the strata of society they may be in. and whether or not we have “things in common” as such, we get along together as members of the body of Christ. I like that.
daily java
Daily Java: Acts 28:26 'Go to this people and say, "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving."
It is strange to try to talk to someone whose mind is made up. They do not care what great arguments you may marshal for your point of view, and they don’t even care if they are wrong. What they believe is what they believe.
I was in a denomination like that most of my life. And I have noticed since I left that most denominations are like that. Not quite to the extent to the one I left, but still. Folks do not want to learn something new, and will do everything they can to stop it.
The fact that you are right doesn’t matter. When the Lord sent Isaiah on his mission, he told him that no one would listen. Now we all as preachers know that is true but it would be a bummer to be told that by the Lord as we started. “Now, Johnny (the Lord has known me a long time), you will study and prepare and deliver and all, but, when it comes down to it, no one will listen.”
The only real impact a preacher makes is through several years of talking, constant reinforcement of what he is saying. After a while, it comes through. Telling people how the cow ate the cabbage will do not good. Only patient teaching. After a while, people began to grasp what Isaiah was saying, and it really didn’t take a lot of effect until it was read centuries later.
It is true that sometimes people's minds are so made up that they will not listen to anything that they do not already believe. It is a sad way to live.
It is strange to try to talk to someone whose mind is made up. They do not care what great arguments you may marshal for your point of view, and they don’t even care if they are wrong. What they believe is what they believe.
I was in a denomination like that most of my life. And I have noticed since I left that most denominations are like that. Not quite to the extent to the one I left, but still. Folks do not want to learn something new, and will do everything they can to stop it.
The fact that you are right doesn’t matter. When the Lord sent Isaiah on his mission, he told him that no one would listen. Now we all as preachers know that is true but it would be a bummer to be told that by the Lord as we started. “Now, Johnny (the Lord has known me a long time), you will study and prepare and deliver and all, but, when it comes down to it, no one will listen.”
The only real impact a preacher makes is through several years of talking, constant reinforcement of what he is saying. After a while, it comes through. Telling people how the cow ate the cabbage will do not good. Only patient teaching. After a while, people began to grasp what Isaiah was saying, and it really didn’t take a lot of effect until it was read centuries later.
It is true that sometimes people's minds are so made up that they will not listen to anything that they do not already believe. It is a sad way to live.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
ordination
I just got an email that said that my interview with the Foursquare Church will be Saturday at 10AM in Topeka, KS. That is exciting to me, something that I have looked forward to in the past couple of years. I have already been ordained in the Christian Church, the Assembly of God and had a tacit ordination in the Church of Christ, non-instrumental. That group doesn’t really ordain, they just recognize. Of course, then they do everything they can to denigrate you and your position as minister. But that is another story.
I am nervous about this. I have no problem with theology. I have been a pastor for 35 years, so answering questions about the “faith that lies within me” is nothing new. However, I don’t know a lot about the Foursquare Church in the history section and it doesn’t matter a lot to me. I just pray I can get through that okay. After all, I went through the AG process and that was a wooleybugger.
I want to do well. I want the Lord to say Well done, good and faithful servant. That is my prayer.
I am nervous about this. I have no problem with theology. I have been a pastor for 35 years, so answering questions about the “faith that lies within me” is nothing new. However, I don’t know a lot about the Foursquare Church in the history section and it doesn’t matter a lot to me. I just pray I can get through that okay. After all, I went through the AG process and that was a wooleybugger.
I want to do well. I want the Lord to say Well done, good and faithful servant. That is my prayer.
daily java
Daily Java: Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8 Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' (Luke 17:7-10)
It is easy to get all involved with how good we are, how talented we are, how glad God must be to have us in his kingdom. We forget that we are like we are because of him and his grace. He gave us the talents, he gave us the abilities and he expects us to use what he has given us. We didn’t get it because we are so good, we got it because it s the measure of grace he wanted us to have.
When we serve God, we serve God because we love him, not in order to make him love us. When we do good things, we do them as part of our service. When we have done all we are supposed to do and we have reached the end of our lives, Luke says we are just unworthy servants. We sat in the King’s palace and did the King’s stuff with the abilities the King gave us, and the materials the King gave us using the King’s tools and time. Nothing to do with us. All to do with him. Enough.
It is easy to get all involved with how good we are, how talented we are, how glad God must be to have us in his kingdom. We forget that we are like we are because of him and his grace. He gave us the talents, he gave us the abilities and he expects us to use what he has given us. We didn’t get it because we are so good, we got it because it s the measure of grace he wanted us to have.
When we serve God, we serve God because we love him, not in order to make him love us. When we do good things, we do them as part of our service. When we have done all we are supposed to do and we have reached the end of our lives, Luke says we are just unworthy servants. We sat in the King’s palace and did the King’s stuff with the abilities the King gave us, and the materials the King gave us using the King’s tools and time. Nothing to do with us. All to do with him. Enough.
Monday, February 1, 2010
long cool woman in her 60's
Listening to oldies on the radio. Beth, by KISS is on right now. A strange song for such an in your face group. I am still thinking about a comment made by a DJ on this station a few days ago. The Hollies had just finished Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress, and he said, of course, she’s in her 60’s now. It was almost as if a loud BOOM sounded. I knew that on one level. It has been 45 years since that song was big, but still. Quite a shock.
The time that passes for you in life goes so fast. And I am not ready for it to be gone so fast. Nothing I can do about it of course, but I am not finished. I always wanted God to say, well done, good and faithful servant, but I do not feel I have done enough for that to happen. Oh sure, I know he does not gauge us on quantity, but I am not finished. I need more time.
The folks at Lincoln asked me the other day when I planned to retire. I said I did not plan to do so. My ideal is to die quietly at home after a full day at church at an old age. 120 or 130 will do. That is all I ask.
The time that passes for you in life goes so fast. And I am not ready for it to be gone so fast. Nothing I can do about it of course, but I am not finished. I always wanted God to say, well done, good and faithful servant, but I do not feel I have done enough for that to happen. Oh sure, I know he does not gauge us on quantity, but I am not finished. I need more time.
The folks at Lincoln asked me the other day when I planned to retire. I said I did not plan to do so. My ideal is to die quietly at home after a full day at church at an old age. 120 or 130 will do. That is all I ask.
christian movies
I am watching a Christian movie right now, Beautiful Dreamer. I guess it must be a failing of mine that I do not in general like Christian movies. It is not that I need violence or stuff like that. It is that most Christian movies are junk. They are leaden and slow and generally badly acted. Kind of like movies with Russians in them. Introduce a Russian into the movie and the movie automatically drags. Christian movies are kind of the same. Beautiful Dreamer is one of the better ones I have seen, I will have to admit.
It is a shame that good directors always do moral crap. What could happen if a really good director did a Christian world-view movie. That was one thing that the Passion did so well. It answered the question, what if someone decent did a movie on the life of Jesus? I don’t mean that I wish someone would put out a whole bunch of well-made goofy Christian movies, just that someone would make a bunch of high quality, action oriented movies that had a Christian world view, that were decent and not liberal garbage that denigrates all that I hold dear.
It is amazing to see what the world considers “faith-based” movies. When the Passion came out, Hollywood was all ready to do Christian stuff for those weird Christians. The next one out was Nativity, one of the most boring and whiny movies I ever saw. Any time Hollywood shows Christians they are whiny and gripy and domineering. And usually the bad guys. It has been that way for a long time. This dawned on me when I watched How the West Was Won, one of my favorite movies again not long ago. It suddenly dawned on me that the bad guys, a man played by Walter Brennan, and his kids were quoting Bible verses. The same kind of person was in Judge Dredd, another movie I liked, but the bad guys were shouting Hallelujah and such a lot.
It would be something if someone who was really good at his job were to direct movies which were quality and decent.
Then we could get lawn chairs and watch while the pigs flew in formation overhead.
It is a shame that good directors always do moral crap. What could happen if a really good director did a Christian world-view movie. That was one thing that the Passion did so well. It answered the question, what if someone decent did a movie on the life of Jesus? I don’t mean that I wish someone would put out a whole bunch of well-made goofy Christian movies, just that someone would make a bunch of high quality, action oriented movies that had a Christian world view, that were decent and not liberal garbage that denigrates all that I hold dear.
It is amazing to see what the world considers “faith-based” movies. When the Passion came out, Hollywood was all ready to do Christian stuff for those weird Christians. The next one out was Nativity, one of the most boring and whiny movies I ever saw. Any time Hollywood shows Christians they are whiny and gripy and domineering. And usually the bad guys. It has been that way for a long time. This dawned on me when I watched How the West Was Won, one of my favorite movies again not long ago. It suddenly dawned on me that the bad guys, a man played by Walter Brennan, and his kids were quoting Bible verses. The same kind of person was in Judge Dredd, another movie I liked, but the bad guys were shouting Hallelujah and such a lot.
It would be something if someone who was really good at his job were to direct movies which were quality and decent.
Then we could get lawn chairs and watch while the pigs flew in formation overhead.
UPDATE: Improbably ending, but it was a good movie.
Daily Blather
Daily Blather: At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." (John 9:1-3)
One of the problems the early church had with this passage was that it showed a picture of Jesus that they didn’t want to hear: namely a loving forgiving Jesus. So many in the church want a harsh unforgiving Jesus on one side and a tolerant everything goes Jesus on the other. To so many, the idea of Jesus forgiving this woman without requiring public repentance and restitution is beyond their worldview. The woman was an adulteress, she needed to at least tell Jesus she was sorry she had been a prostitute. Jesus didn’t even ask her is she was. All he said was don’t do it again.
Forgiveness of people who don’t ask for it is hard. All this woman saw was judgment, but Jesus gave her compassion. Yes, you are a weak human being who has done stupid things, but go on. Be better. Try your best not to get in this situation again.
She had gotten judgment all her life. Whatever had driven her into this lifestyle, you can be sure that judgment followed her. All of her customers, all of her acquaintances, the people she met at the store or the water well or anywhere gave her judgment. The men who used her judged her. All the world gave her judgment. Jesus didn’t condemn or even look down at her. I would imagine he even gave her his cloak to cover herself. After all, she was caught, the text says, in the very act of adultery. The slimy little creep who was with her got away, and she was hauled up in front of a bunch of leering men to be condemned.
But Jesus did nothing, except to show her love.
People do not come to church for fear of being exposed as sinners. That is stupid because we all are sinners. Some of us have accepted Jesus, but we are all failures. If he condemns her, he has to condemn us too.
Since we are his servants, and since he is an uncondemning master, so we should be. Someone once said that the church should be a hospital, not a hospice. We go there to be healed, not to die. And we are healed when someone gives us the medicine of the Great Physician. Enough for now.
One of the problems the early church had with this passage was that it showed a picture of Jesus that they didn’t want to hear: namely a loving forgiving Jesus. So many in the church want a harsh unforgiving Jesus on one side and a tolerant everything goes Jesus on the other. To so many, the idea of Jesus forgiving this woman without requiring public repentance and restitution is beyond their worldview. The woman was an adulteress, she needed to at least tell Jesus she was sorry she had been a prostitute. Jesus didn’t even ask her is she was. All he said was don’t do it again.
Forgiveness of people who don’t ask for it is hard. All this woman saw was judgment, but Jesus gave her compassion. Yes, you are a weak human being who has done stupid things, but go on. Be better. Try your best not to get in this situation again.
She had gotten judgment all her life. Whatever had driven her into this lifestyle, you can be sure that judgment followed her. All of her customers, all of her acquaintances, the people she met at the store or the water well or anywhere gave her judgment. The men who used her judged her. All the world gave her judgment. Jesus didn’t condemn or even look down at her. I would imagine he even gave her his cloak to cover herself. After all, she was caught, the text says, in the very act of adultery. The slimy little creep who was with her got away, and she was hauled up in front of a bunch of leering men to be condemned.
But Jesus did nothing, except to show her love.
People do not come to church for fear of being exposed as sinners. That is stupid because we all are sinners. Some of us have accepted Jesus, but we are all failures. If he condemns her, he has to condemn us too.
Since we are his servants, and since he is an uncondemning master, so we should be. Someone once said that the church should be a hospital, not a hospice. We go there to be healed, not to die. And we are healed when someone gives us the medicine of the Great Physician. Enough for now.
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