Monthly Archives: September 2021
“Thank You, Angel/s!”
I was doing my gratitude list this morning and listed “whatever angel or angels are detailed to guard me.” I do include the angels in my gratitude list at times, but probably not often enough.
Now, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an angel. No, I take that back. Maybe once. However, I do believe that they exist and are in our world. I believe in lots of things that I can’t see, so why not angels?
So, here are a few random thoughts about angels and their purposes:
First, angels are mentioned a lot in the Bible. According to Professor Google, they are mentioned 273 times in the Bible. That’s a lot of mentions for me to simply ignore them!
Fundamentally, they are messengers. This is the basic meaning (“messenger”) for both the Old Testament Hebrew word that is usually translated “angel” and for the New Testament Greek word. In the Bible, the word can refer to human messengers, but often to supernatural messengers sent from God. Probably many of my best insights come from God and are mediated by angels. (However, I don’t want to blame everything I say on God or the angels.)
Certainly, children have angels that accompany them—and probably protect them—according to Jesus (Matthew 18:10). However, angels aren’t just for children. The author of the Book of Hebrews says that angels are “. . . ministering spirits sent out to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14, my own paraphrase). So, you and I never outgrow our need for angels. Never!
And while I’m thinking about the angels as servants, let me give my opinion (it is nothing more) that this is one of the reasons why we are generally unaware of the angels. Usually, servants work behind the scenes, and are, therefore, not seen. The same is true of most of the human angels I’ve known over the years. It is definitely true of my wife. Of course, we often aren’t aware of the angels because we are spiritually obtuse most of the time, too.
So, in the future I may direct you to some passages in the Bible that speak of angels. The angels may be unseen and unsung heroes of God and our world, but there is no reason to avoid saying “Thanks” to them every once in a while.
“Is the Universe Flat?”
The question for today is this: Is the universe flat, and how do we know? (Yes, I know. I sneaked in two questions while only speaking of one question. Questions, like rabbits, multiply rapidly.)
It all began innocently enough. My 12-step affirmation for today is this: “Today, by God’s grace, I am learning at least one interesting thing about God, myself, my wife, a friend, and the universe.”
My sponsor (who is a zesty blend of smart, wise, curious, and quirky) shot back a reply to my report and affirmation with these (scientific??) facts:
“The Earth is not flat. The Universe is flat. The Universe started hot, as it grows old it grows colder.”
So, given my A.D.D. mind, I was off the races trying to find out if what he said about the universe is true. I did what enquiring minds always do these days; I googled the question. Here is what I learned at the website https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_of_the_universe (accessed 09-20-2021). Scientists are still debating the issue. One of the things that both scientists and theologians do in order to hedge their gets is to say, “It is a matter of debate.” And, of course, many things are, aren’t they?
So, if I understood what I read, here is the bottom line: It has been demonstrated that the universe has what appears to be an almost negligible curvature. So, we could hold that the universe is essentially flat.
However, if the universe is huge, it may be that the small curvature indicates that the universe is curved. I’m not sure that I understand all this, but I am definitely intrigued.
Years ago, I used to drive through Kansas on my way to see my brother who lived in Colorado. I thought Kansas was entirely flat. I may not have been a member of The Flat Earth Society (FES), but I was for sure a member of The Flat Kansas Society. Kansas was a flat state to be gotten through—all flat 424.15 miles of it on I-70.
Then, one year when my family and I were driving out west, I paid attention to Kansas. It was time to harvest the wheat, and farmers on combines were out in force. Suddenly, I saw the beauty of Kansas. And I also saw that it was not really as flat as I had thought.
Sometimes, my life seems pretty flat. I get up. I have my coffee. I work a little. I play chess a lot. I eat a lot. I go to the bathroom a lot. I go back to bed.
But the truth is that even though every life may appear to be flat, it is not so. It is important to pay attention to the little curvature in our lives. Otherwise, we might miss out on a great many responsibilities and pleasures. Nobody needs to be a drama king or queen in order to have a rich life.
I love the way in which Eugene Petersen translates (or, perhaps better, interprets) Romans 12:1-2 in The Message.
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
God didn’t make you flat, so don’t live a flat life today! Live curvaceously!
“It’s Not About You”
A friend of mine, a former student, is struggling mightily with doubts about his salvation. He is wondering if these are lies from the evil one, designed to keep him from serving God. Here was my reply to his email.
“My Dearest Young Friend,
You have come to the right person. I have struggled with these kinds of doubts all my life. I turned 70 on April 10. I can tell you, with no fear of being wrong, that I know personally at least one person who struggles with these kinds of lies at the ripe old age of 70.
And you called the thoughts you’re thinking by their rightful name. THEY ARE LIES! But even calling them the right name doesn’t automatically make them go away.
I wonder if you and I are putting too much emphasis on our faith, rather than on the One who is Faithful. It isn’t our faith that saves us. It’s Jesus who does that. In my better moments, I realize that truth. I just need more “better moments”!
Jesus came, and lived, and died, and rose again precisely because we couldn’t save ourselves. If we couldn’t when we were sinners (and we couldn’t!), what makes us think that we can save ourselves once we’re saved. We can’t. Every part of our salvation and our sanctification are about Jesus much more than they are about us.
Whenever the devil shows up with his lies, I am training myself to tell him to take it up with Jesus—if he dares. The devil often whispers or shouts, “You ain’t such a much! If there were a grand jury convened to indict you for following Christ, there wouldn’t be enough evidence to even indict you, much less to convict you.”
And I agree with the devil at that point. I really am not such a much, and (at best) I stumble in the general direction of Jesus, like a drunken man stumbling toward his house. No, I’m not particularly holy. I struggle with gluttony, lust, pride, laziness, envy, jealousy, anger, rebelliousness, doing what I shouldn’t so that I don’t have to do what I should. You name it; I struggle with it.
I wonder if these thoughts might actually serve some useful purpose for the Kingdom of God. Perhaps the Holy Spirit could use these satanic delusions to drive us back to Jesus. Also, since so many people struggle with their own sense of significance (or rather, with their sense of insignificance), it might be good for us to recognize that we struggle too. Nobody is quite as irritatingly useless to struggling people as a person who thinks they’ve got their act together.
But the bottom line is this: The Christian life is not about you or me. It is about Christ. And we should and will be eternally grateful for this.
Do keep in touch. Keep serving Jesus as best you can. You are a gifted person. Use those gifts for the glory of God and the benefit of others, but don’t worry too much about whether you are glorifying God or benefiting others.
Warm Regards”
“Repent, But Don’t Repeat!”
My wife gave me a wonderful phrase today: “Repent, but don’t repeat!”
I forget the precise context. It was quite likely some big or little thing that I had done wrong. That context might well be the source of my memory relapse. Sometimes, I find that I don’t remember because I don’t want to remember.
The Bible and the God it reveals wants people to repent. For example, 2 Peter 3:9 refers to the patience of God while God is waiting for that very thing. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” The Greek verb that is translated “is patient” in this verse is in the present tense. The present tense in Greek often conveys ongoing or continual action. In this case, God is waiting ongoingly for us to repent. This verse is found in a passage that speaks of the ultimate judgment of planet earth and all those on it. Yet it portrays a God who is waiting with bated breath for us to come to our senses.
But notice also that repentance is not simply feeling sorry or saying you’re sorry. Repentance also involves a change in how we live—our way of life. The prophet Ezekiel, for example, is very emphatic. “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (33:11)
Here is a quote that I think sums it up nicely: “When Jesus said “Repent,” He was talking about a change of heart toward sin, the world, and God; an inner change that gives rise to new ways of living that exalt Christ and give evidence of the truth of the gospel.” (https://www.journal-advocate.com/2015/09/24/jesus-says-repent-and-believe/, accessed 09-13-2021)
Repent, but don’t repeat! It isn’t merely a good slogan. It contains at least two crucial aspects of being a follower of Jesus Christ.
“Spiritual Training Age”
To ask a very personal question, what is your training age?
I am seventy years old and still playing slow-pitch softball. However, even though it is a good thing (maybe) to be still playing, that doesn’t mean I’m playing well.
So, I’ve decided to actually concentrate and learn to play well—or, at least, better. I am beginning with conditioning exercises.
I watched a brief video online just now at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAOs91KGpYQ (accessed 09-10-2021), and plan to do the exercises today, and for many more todays. I hope they help.
But whether the exercises help me to play softball better or not, I was intrigued with an expression that the young trainer used: “training age”. A person’s training age is not how long he or she has been playing a sport, but how long that person has been actually training for the sport. In softball, I am not even a toddler in terms of training age. This is not a particularly flattering way of being young.
This training age expression invites me to think about more than softball. What is my training age in addiction recovery? What about my marriage training age and my friendship training age?
And then there is my training age in Christian discipleship. The question to ask is not “How long have I been a Christian?” Rather, the question I need to ask (but often don’t) is “How long have I been training in following Jesus Christ?”
Søren Kierkegaard wrote a book entitled Training in Christianity. In it he said that Jesus called followers, not admirers. One crucial aspect of the difference between admiring and following is our training. Admirers don’t follow or train. They just spectate. Discipleship is not a spectator sport.
I heard of an interviewer who asked a job applicant a crucial question: “Do you really have twenty years of experience, of just a year’s experience repeated nineteen times?” Perhaps I should ask the same question about my Christian discipleship.
“Three Excellent Questions about What I Want”
I listened this morning to two excellent sermons by Andy Stanley. They are the first two messages in the series, “How to Get What You Really Want.”
Stanley points out some real obvious truths that are not all that obvious when I want something. One of those not-so-obvious truths is that most of our regrets come about because we got what we wanted. I know this only too well. So, probably, do you.
Andy concludes his second message of this series by giving us three excellent questions to ask. In my own words, here they are:
- What do I really want?
- What is dragging me away from what I really want?
- How long am I going to let this continue to happen?
Now, before I get a lot of angry comments from my loyal readers, Andy Stanley is not talking about the health-and-prosperity-name-it-and-claim-it “gospel”. He is talking about what we really would want if we knew what was good for us. Stanley makes it crystal clear that he doesn’t naturally know what we really want. And our superficial desires are killing us and others.
These are three excellent questions, and I’ve been asking them repeatedly today. These questions have kept me from eating too much, talking too much (and saying things I wish I hadn’t), and playing too much chess. The questions helped me to buckle down and work on some projects I really wanted to do, but that I didn’t want to do.
One of those tasks was writing and publishing this post. I heartily recommend these questions for your consideration and action.
“The Sweetest Dream that Labor Knows”
“There was never a sound beside the wood but one,
And that was my long scythe whispering to the ground.
What was it it whispered? I know not well myself;
Perhaps it was something about the heat of the sun,
Something perhaps, about the lack of sound—
And that was why it whispered and did not speak.
It was not dream of the gift of idle hours,
Or easy gold at the hand of fay or elf:
Anything more than the truth would have seemed too weak
To the earnest love that laid the swale in rows,
Not without feeble-pointed spikes of flowers
(Pale orchises), and scared a bright green snake.
The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.
My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make.” (Robert Frost, “Mowing”)
On this Labor Day, I have been thinking about work. I haven’t been doing a lot of work, just thinking about it.
I think it was Studs Terkel who said that work is an act of violence. Sometimes that is so. However, Robert Frost has a different take on work. I don’t know precisely what the next to the last line of this poem means. Often, Frost’s poems mean more than they say. But I suspect that the poet is saying that the actual doing of the work is the thing that is sweet.
Now, I grew up on a farm. In fact, I have sometimes used a handheld scythe to mow hay next to the fence where it wasn’t safe to use the tractor and power mower. It was hard, sweaty, muscle-cramping work. So was much of the work on the farm.
However, once in a while, I felt a great satisfaction in work accomplished. The work I did on our own farm was not for pay. Dad felt that providing me with a house, food, and clothing was pay enough. He was right. But sometimes, that pleasure of finishing a task—or even being in the midst of it—was payment in and of itself.
I still feel that way sometimes. Sharon needed some help with washing the windows a while ago, and also some help getting the curtains back up. There was pleasure in doing so. I feel a similar pleasure when I write. Writing is work, but it is good work.
To take pleasure in work is not always an easy thing to do. But there is pleasure to be taken. And we should also take pleasure in appreciating the hard work of others. The pleasure of work is no substitute for adequate pay, but it is a nice perk.
“Regrets: The Good, the Bad, and the Just Plain Ugly”
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.” (Philippians 3:12-16, English Standard Version)
Paul was a person who had a past. Specifically, he had murdered Christians. He later became on, and often mentioned his persecution of the early church. Yes, Paul had a few regrets. But based on the Scripture that leads off this post, I would say that, even though he had regrets, Paul was determined not to let those regrets have him.
I struggle with regrets all the time. So, in addition to rereading this passage from Philippians, I decided to do a bit of online “research”. My first stop was a popularly written, helpful article in Psychology Today (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201205/the-psychology-regret, accessed 09-05-2021).
Interestingly, the author of this article pointed out that regrets can be good. As a recovering addict, I was especially struck by the following sentence, under the positive functions of regret: “Regret is a major reason why addicts get into recovery.” Yes indeed!
However, the article also points out that regret can be very bad. They can destroy us emotionally. One guy, who almost always played the same number in the lottery, did not do so one day. That was the day his usual number was the winner. He ended up with so much regret that he took his own life.
Most of us are probably not suicidal in our regrets, but our regrets can seriously compromise our ability to live in and to enjoy the present. If you know someone who is filled with regret, you know someone who is not any fun to be around. Regrets make a person uglier than they need to be.
Part of the tag line for Andy Stanley’s “Your Move” podcasts is that he wants to help us “make better decisions and live with fewer regrets.” That is a wonderful goal!
So, here is my goal for this and every day: I am going to make good decisions today, so that I am not birthing new regrets for tomorrow. Can’t do anything about the past, except learn from it. But I can, by God’s grace, do a lot about the present and the future.
No regrets!
“On Reading Larger Chunks of Scripture”
I like the YouVersion app on my phone a lot. I particularly use it to listen to Scripture while I’m walking the dog or doing other things. I also like their verse-of-the-day. However, sometimes I long for some context for their verse (or few verses, in some cases).
Now, in defense of the good folks who administer the app, they do give you the option of reading the whole chapter in which their verse/s occur. So, this is not really such a serious matter. People are busy. It is better to read and meditate upon a single verse or a few verses of scripture, rather than to do nothing. I get that.
Still, there are times when I especially need some context for the verse/s for the day. For example, today’s verse is:
“That is why the LORD says,
‘Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.’” (Joel 2:12, New Living Translation)
“That is why” leads off verse 12 in this translation. It provokes the question “What is why?”
The preceding verses in Joel 2 speak of the desolation and destruction that an army is about to bring on Judah and Jerusalem. Scholars debate whether this is a literal locust plague or a metaphor for an invasion of a foreign army. In any case, the most shocking thing for God’s people is the name of the general who is leading the invasion: It is their own God, the LORD, Yahweh!
And yet, there is hope for God’s people. There is still time to make peace with their God.
At least two observations come out of reading Joel 2:12 in its larger context. First, God does, in fact, punish his own people. This is a wonderful antidote for getting cocky about having God on our side or being on God’s side ourselves. And we are all prone to this. There are no exceptions! Liberals and conservatives, Democrats and Republicans, men and women—you fill in the blank. Before we are too sure that Joel 2:1-11 applies to “those people” (whoever they are), we had better take a long look in the mirror.
Secondly, God does not want to destroy us or even punish us. Instead, God wants us to turn back to God. This is not simply a matter of behavior modification, although it certainly involves that. Notice that God inspires Joel to call people to heart-repentance. In fact, giving God our hearts precedes weeping and fasting.
And one final comment about Joel 2:12, as well as a general strategy for reading the Bible: While Joel 2:12 is good as a stand-alone, it is even better when it marches alongside the other verses. This is true of the entire Bible.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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