Monthly Archives: January 2021

“Stay in the Ark! The Ground’s Not Dry Enough Yet!”

On January 5, 2021 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“He waited . . . .” (Genesis 8:10, of Noah, after the waters had largely abated after the great flood.)

So, we have several vaccines now! Praise God! And a hearty thanks to all the people who were involved in the development of said vaccines. Maybe science matters after all.

However, the pandemic still rages on. We still need to be careful. We can still die or be seriously sick with this plague. Seriously! We can also make other people sick. It is not just about me. Frankly, I hate wearing masks. They steam up my glasses. They are uncomfortable and make it hard to breathe or be heard and understood. Sometimes, I forget that I am wearing a mask, and try to put food or drink in my mouth. The results are not felicitous.

However, if there is even the slightest chance that wearing a mask might protect me or others, I think I’ll continue to do it. No, I don’t like it at all. Yes, sometimes I forget. But I am trying to remember that, while we may indeed see the light at the end of the tunnel, I’m still in the tunnel. And so are we all.

Noah had been quarantining with his family and a bunch of noisy, stinky animals for months. He could already see the tops of the mountains. The ground was drying out. Yet Noah still didn’t come out of the ark—for months—until God said to do so.

It would be a shame to survive this plague for so many months, and then go out of the ark just a bit too soon. I don’t want to be the last person to die from this horrible thing. I don’t want you to be that person either.

Stay in the ark, beloved. Yeah, I know it’s uncomfortable and it smells bad. Still, stay in the ark. Please!

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“A Prayer about What we Don’t Know”

On January 4, 2021 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Psa. 19:12      Who can discern his errors?

                        Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

13        Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;

                        let them not have dominion over me!

             Then I shall be blameless,

                        and innocent of great transgression.”

We don’t know what we don’t know. And it is quite likely that many of the things we no for sure are wrong. Blind spots are the norm rather than the exception for our species.

The ancient psalmist, after raving on and on about how wonderful God’s communication through nature (Psalm 19:1-6) and through God’s Law (verses 7-11) suddenly makes a sharp turn (verses 12-13. He realizes that no matter how wonderful nature or God’s Law may be, he—the psalmist—may not be able to make good use of what God has to say. Why? Hidden faults!

The Hebrew word order in verses 12 and 13 (13 and 14 in the Hebrew Bible) is interesting. Usually, word order in Hebrew is verb, subject, and object. If a word other than a verb occurs at the beginning of a sentence or clause occurs first, it often suggests that this word is being emphasized.

In the case of verses 12 and 13 (13 and 14 in Hebrew), the object is batting lead-off. Here is my very literal translation, which will help to illustrate how this is done in Hebrew:

“Hidden faults, who can discern?

From hidden faults, cleanse me.

Moreover, from presumption, spare your servant.”

And then the psalmist prays, “Don’t let these things rule my life.” In other words, the psalmist prays about he-knows-not-what. But he does know that the problem is in himself, even though he also knows that he doesn’t know precisely what the problem is.

And that is probably a good prayer for all of us to pray. The truth is this: No matter how much or how loudly God speaks through nature or through his Word, I may have a hearing problem.The problem isn’t that I can’t hear. The problem is that I refuse to hear. And it is my own chosen ignorance about my own hidden sins that keeps me from hearing God’s voice.

Ultimately, it isn’t the sins of our parents, or our husband, or our wife, or our boss, or our fellow church attender, or the Muslims, or the Jews, or the atheists, or the Republicans, or the Democrats—it isn’t any of those other individuals or groups, that keeps any of us from hearing God speaking to us. And, to make it very personal, it is my sins that I don’t know about—and that I don’t know that I don’t know—which will drown out the voice of God.

“Repenting of Not Repenting”

On January 3, 2021 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

Our pastor preached a wonderful sermon today. It was all about coming back from setbacks. It was altogether a great message—especially after 2020. The best thing that most of us got out of 2020 was ourselves! And that is no small thing.

However, I was really intrigued and touched and moved to change by Pastor’s altar call. I was watching online, so I couldn’t go to our corporate altar, but I could and did kneel at my chair in front of my desk where I was listening.

So what was this challenging invitation? Pastor invited us to repent.

What?! That’s it! Isn’t repentance kind of an old-fashioned word? Who repents anymore? And do I need to repent?

However, our wise Man of God blockaded that exit in a hurry. “And if you don’t need to repent, you really need to repent!” he told us. That may not have been his precise words, but that was what I heard—heard and took to heart.

Have I done wrong things for which I need to repent? You bet! Have I wanted to do wrong things? Absolutely! And if I indulge those kinds of wants, if I ask them in for coffee, I most certainly need to repent of those desires.

And then, of course, there are all the good things that I have been too lazy to do. Need to repent of those too! (Well, maybe I am not so much lazy as I am busy. Nah, that’s a dodge! Much of my business is just laziness dressed up in nice clothes.)

So, on this third day of the Year of our Lord, 2021, I knelt and repented. I had a surprising amount of repentance to be doing for just three days into the new year, but there you go. Resentments, gluttony, lust, looking back too much, garden-variety selfishness: The list goes on and on, but I won’t. And then there was all the positive, godly, helpful things that I refused to do.

One of the lay leaders in our church wrapped up the service online by saying, “Repentance is not feeling sorry. Repentance is doing a one-eighty.” His wife is one of the fine leaders on staff on our church, but he’s pretty wise too.

So, I need to do a one-eighty and get moving in the right direction. This blog post is my pledge to God, to myself, and to you that this is precisely what I am doing.

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“God is in the Seeking”

On January 2, 2021 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Those who know your name trust in you,

for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” (Psalm 9:10, New International Version)

One of the many things I love about the Bible is how it contradicts itself.

Now that I have your attention, let me explain. I’m not sure that it is a matter of the Bible contradicting itself. It is more a matter of the Bible contradicting our usual notions of logic.

Take the second line of Psalm 9:10, for example. The psalmist affirms that the LORD hasn’t forsaken those who seek him. What?! Wait! Say that one more time! . . . Now say it again!

If the LORD hasn’t forsaken us, why do we need to search for him? And if we are seeking God, doesn’t that suggest that he is not with us right here, right now? You see what I mean, don’t you?

And yet, it is a wonderful image isn’t it? Not logical perhaps, but wonderfully refreshing: a God who accompanies us, even as we seek him. Now that is the kind of God a body would want! And that, according to the psalmist is precisely the kind of God we have!

Keep seeking God, dear believer—or unbeliever! He is with you in your questing and in your questioning. He will not abandon you until you’ve found him. He won’t abandon you then, either.

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“And the Word for the Year: Generosity!”

On January 1, 2021 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

Several years ago, I read a post by Jon Gordon that encouraged his readers to choose one word for the year to set the tone for the year. I have been doing this for several years now. The past two yearly words have been self-control and holiness. I can’t say that I have done well with them, but I still think that Gordon is onto something good.

This year, my word is generosity. This word, as I perceive it, is not just about money or stuff. And generosity is not only about giving to others. Rather, generosity is about giving and receiving. It is about giving material things and giving lots of other things that could hardly be called stuff.

Generosity is something that many of us have received. In fact, no matter how difficult life is (and it is so for many people), there are very few of us who haven’t experienced receiving generosity at one time or another. Some of us, like me, are swimming in a sea of generosity. I have received generosity from my parents, friends, twelve-step compatriots, my wife, family, and a host of others. Even if I didn’t believe in God, I think I would have to believe in generosity.

But I do believe in God, and I have experienced so much generosity from God! Forgiveness, grace, life, life eternal, spiritual gifts of service, the sending of his Son to this planet, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the church—and on and on and on. Yes, I’ve received generosity alright!

And then, there is the giving of generosity. If I have received so much generosity of all kinds, material and spiritual, how could I not be generous?

But the truth is, I can be incredibly selfish. I’m more generous, I think, than I used to be, but as Robert Frost said, “I have miles before I sleep.” Generosity is always a possibility, but it only becomes lived reality in the living itself.

So, this is the Year of Generosity. My intention is to be a generous person in a plethora of ways. (I just love the word “plethora”!) I plan to be generous with stuff—even including my books. I will be generous with my time, with my praise and gratitude, with words of encouragement. I will be generous with my sweetheart, my students, my church, people that I like, and people of whom I am not so fond.

I’m even planning to be generous with myself. Can you believe it?! I do!

(For another post on generosity, see my post “Brimming with Wealth and Generosity” at https://www.downtoearthbeliever.com/?p=1723.)

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