Obedience That Comes From Faith

A piano is a complex musical instrument, made up of many components that fit and work together to make music. Oh, but wait... the piano itself can't do anything without the musician at its keyboard.

In the New Testament the church is called the body of Christ. In Ephesians chapter two Paul describes the church as God's building. And we are living stones.

I'm wondering if this image of a piano might be one some relate to a bit better. Christ is the head of the body, and the Chief Corner Stone, and the Piano Player. The reason the image of the piano appeals to me is that I more readily see how necessary each chord is to the whole, but how each is useless without the others. That each are in tune, not only with the note that they play, but with each other. For there is the relative tone, and the absolute tone. For instance, Concert A is 440 Mhz - it also referred to as perfect pitch. All the other strings are tuned to that . . . in relation to that. Each not is a certain number of mhz up ↑ or down ↓

Hmmm... in that case perhaps Christ is Concert A, and God is the one at the piano... and the work of God on this earth is the song that is played.

Regardless, there is the fact that each needs the other. There is the fact that God tunes, and connects us, as each of us respond to his work in our lives. Just as the potter forms the pot, so the musician tunes each string.

The obedience part is not only the fact that each is tuned and ready, but each sings the sound that it was created to sing, without being in charge of the whole work.

The whole idea of a plan being ours from beginning to end... is what I'm letting go of. I obey, and do as God has for me to do each day, and my satisfaction is in the fact that I've been obedient to Him.

My brother-In-Law, David has been given the task of being in a hospital bed yet again. To regret that he isn't off doing something else is indeed understandable. And perhaps that is because we are all meant to have a purpose beyond simply surviving from day to day. An inner, Godly drive . . . but in the meantime, David getting up off that bed is partly David's task, and partly God's.... God's part at this point seems to be the greater of the two, but isn't it always?

Lead Role In The Cage

In a moment I will ask you to listen to a song by Pink Floyd. But first let me set the stage for the poetry that emerges from my own heart, mind and soul, so that you can share with me that same heart, that same moment, as though we were both sitting together, in a quiet room, exploring the depths of our hurting hearts.

In Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here"

The song starts out as most do, but there is a perhaps not so subtle change from most songs, its not obvious at first, but as the song continues we realize that what we heard at first is a crude copy of the real thing.

How is that?

Well, the opening is repeated, but this time the full sound of a live acoustic guitar is heard playing along with it.

We realize that the opening sounds like it was coming from a the speaker of a cell phone

The other image that will spring to mind is one that came to me when I heard that an original band member had left the rock group due to mental break down of some sort.

In a jam session, one or two band members play some original music they've played on their own. The other band members join in with their instruments, and add in harmonies. There's the lead guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, pan flute, all playing creating a song that would have no other way of coming into existence. The emerging song is one that came from the group. The magical feeling of this is seldom duplicated in the world's most of us live in. Lyrics are usually the last to arrive in such a method, but they too come from this collective genius.

I see a member of the band that was left behind, missing the one that has left.

He's in his hotel room, after a concert that left the audience wanting more,

and he's playing a recording of his former band mate playing his guitar, on his cell phone of course!

...and he picks up his guitar, and plays with his friend that he misses so dearly. Knowing there's "music" that the two of them could be creating, that simply will never be, because of the one missing.

Now, right click on this link, and choose "open in new tab"

Click on play and listen.

"Wish You Were Here"

Then, if you would humor me a little longer, click play again, and skip back over to this page here, and read the lyrics below while listening the second time.

"Wish You Were Here"

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,

Blue skies from pain.

Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?

A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?

Hot ashes for trees?

Hot air for a cool breeze?

Cold comfort for change?

And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.

We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,

Running over the same old ground.

What have you found? The same old fears.

Wish you were here. 

I think the most significant line in the whole lyric is,

And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

"A walk on part in the war..."

"a walk on part" is an allusion to a stage play... and the play is entitled "The War" in a play there is a star, a villain, and various supporting characters their names are usually on the Marquis outside the theater, and featured in the ad's you'd see on TV. A walk on part is one played by some un-named person. Their presence is vital, but only in the sense that they are one of many. It is the "many" that are vital. But without "each one" there is no "many"

*we see here the image of the jam session's magic, and the tragedy of the missing band member.

"The War" we could easily replace with "The Cause" or "The Fight" ... I think he is alluding to why the band started in the first place. It's the youthful desire to make a difference instead of just going with the flow, and letting it all slide.


"A lead role in the cage..."

Here we see the allusion of the stage continued, but now the production is "The Cage" and the fellow is now the star of the show. The Cage conjures up what? If we think of an animal caged up in a Zoo... we see that they are given things in that cage that imitate their natural environment, and all of their needs are supplied... food, water, shelter, heat. The four basic elements we all need to survive. Safety is also inherent. But there are one or two things missing. Vital things. Purpose, and freedom. One's jailer is the one who put us in the cage. The way we got into the cage is by responding to the allure of the one who's objective was to cage us.

Are you the one who has been deceived into thinking that your part in "The War" is insignificant? Did the one who caged you tell you there is no eternal supply of power? Did the deceiver belittle your purpose hidden in Christ? Did the one who caged you convinc you to start thinking of yourself... instead of the family you are a part of?


THE WAR is the battle of the ages, between God and enemy of our souls who is down for the count. His only weapon is deception, his only goal is to take as many of us with him as he can! He convinces us it's hopeless... and the more of us he convinces, the more of us fall prey, and find ourselves in a cage.

Don't give up! Don't give in!

Time for another song!

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

 

CLICK HERE FOR YOUTUBE Video 

It's nothing new, all of us have been there done that at some point in our lives. My prayer is for you that "[you] may come to [your] senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will."


2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (KJV)

2 Timothy 2:24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (ESV)

2 Timothy 2:22-26 Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God's servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil's trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands. (The Message)

That's me...

I am so at peace... and yet in the quiet time of inactivity... I tend to get uptight... thinking that there is something I should yet be doing...

My life gets more and more ridiculous as this latest series takes shape, and draws to its peak.

I ultimately feel that all the grip I ever had on the things that most also aspire to, what all of us tend to strive for, alludes me.

Once upon a time I made mention in a journal that God is my only obstacle. Frustrated so by my own efforts to become me, I was on the verge of ever trying to make it happen. So shaped and formed by the Hollywood image of what a hero is... what being significant means...

Yet a few conversations of late have made me feel that feeling of the Holy Spirit flowing through me, taking me from one scripture to the other to the other . . . leading myself, and whomever he's brought my way through a journey of knowledge and encouragement, and knowing our creator.

I'm here, Lord, and you are there. . . none of this means anything to me . . . but all that you have given me to look after... Cheryl, Ashton... Jamie, Sarah, Nicholas, Cherish . . . Timothy . . . I ask that you release me, that you continue to work within me, and within my life to set me free, empower me to do your will, and walk in the steps and path you have laid before me.

Amen

Examining a Vision Statement

The Vision:

To be a vibrant family of Spirit filled believers making an impact on our world with Christ’s message of hope.


The Plan:

1. Equipping people in spiritual formation to live like Jesus
1. John 15:¹² "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you. 
2. Encouraging people to develop authentic & accountable relationships
1. I keep thinking of this book I've just started reading, "So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore" on page 39
• John:  Accountability is not for those who struggle, Jake, it’s for those who succeed.
• Jake:   But aren’t we accountable to each other?
• John:  Where did you get that idea?
• Jake:   It’s in the Bible, isn’t it?
• John:  Can you show me where?
• John reached down and pulled a Bible off the booth seat next to him and tossed it on the table.
2. And then I think of verses like,
1. 1 Corinthians 2:¹⁵ The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ¹⁶ "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
• Paul makes this point a little clearer in chapter 4:³ . . . I do not even judge myself. ⁴ For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
2. Romans 14:⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
1. passing judgement then is in reference to condemning and final judgment
2. John 12:47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
3. James 5:¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working... ¹⁹ My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, ²⁰let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
3. Engaging people to the missional activity of furthering God’s kingdom.
1. John 15:¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷ These these things I command you, so that you will love one another.

So the term, "to live like Jesus" is vague, and/or brief. Is it as simple as what Jesus commands his disciples to do in John 15? Or is it a complicated set of criteria, where we examine each other externally to see if we are living up to that standard? Where we look for where our brother or sister in Christ is messing up and we exhort and/or confront them about it.

Or are we to do as James saying in chapter 5 there. We confess OUR sins to one another. 


But then there's the part in 5:19 "... but if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back"


There's a difference between the brother whom we encounter who is making a full confession of Christ, and of following Christ, and the brother who wanders away into error taken captive by some temptation.

I'll leave off for today with another quote from, "So You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore" on page 44

• John: “Because real body life isn’t built on accountability. It’s built on love. We’re to encourage each other in the journey without conforming people to the standard we think they need.” 
• Jake:  “That sounds like relativism, John!”
• John: “It’s not, it simply respects the process God uses to bring people into truth. I’m not talking about different things being true, for different people but about people discovering that truth in different time frames. If we hold people accountable, they will never learn to live in love. We’ll reward those who are better at putting on a front and miss those who are in the real struggle of learning to live in Jesus.”
• Jake: “I can’t even imagine sharing that kind of journey with others.” 
• John: “It’s the best, Jake! It opens the door for people to be authentic and known exactly for who they are. It encourages them with drawing near to Jesus, not trying to fix everybody with our answers for the universe.”

I also have rattling around in my brain the AA thing, "Attraction not promotion"

Taking Chances

Cribbage, and life...

In Cribbage  you choose the cards that will first of all give you the most points. If you have a choice between cards, you choose the one's that can  be enhanced, or failing that, the one's which would  yield the greatest points if the right up turned card shows up.

. . . but if you choose the cards that would give you a hi-score IF the right upturned card shows up . . . you've got (52 - 12 = 40) a 1 in 40 chance that the card you want will show up.

I wonder how many of us play life by the odds rather than by what's actually there? We go beyond "If only..." and move right past it to... "when this happens, then I'll do this this and this..." and we forget all about the fact that we've just built all our hopes on an "if" a mere chance in who knows how many possibilities.

Picture Jesus

 The picture I'd love to have is one of Jesus going about his father's business. I'd see his humility, the love in his eyes, the strength in his arms, and gentleness in his touch, and maybe a glimpse of his listening heart, both to those around him, and his "Father which art in heaven" ... or what about the one after the business had been done? That'd be a tough one to see.

In support of Faith

The solution to both lives depicted in the paragraphs to follow is to read, listen, and hear the Word of God and obey it.

• ^{Luke 11:28} But he said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"

There is a fellow I know who struggles with sin in his life. He struggles with the constant temptation to step over the edge and into sin. He avoids certain situations so that he will not fall into sin. His particular fear is that he'll commit adultery. He wondered out loud to me one day, as he stared at a young lady we saw as we drove down the road, "why do I still find my mind going to where it shouldn't... I shouldn't have these thoughts about her..." On the outside of it his desire seems good. But to me its merely distracted from the true trouble. Of course he's right. Unrighteous thoughts toward a passer by isn't a good thing. But should we be living our lives by such emotion? "I shouldn't" ?

Now, contrast this with the person who smugly believes and states that they are a Christian. They do not engage in regular fellowship with other believers, they don't read their bible, nor do they even know what the Bible says. They don't pray anymore than to cry out to God in each crisis. They celebrate his birth, by giving each other presents at Christmas time, they celebrate his death and resurrection by hiding chocolate eggs for their children to find, they celebrate Thanks Giving by stuffing themselves with Turkey and/or Ham and potatoes.

Fragile Tools, Disloyal Dogs and less than perfect pots

Today I lent my Swiss army Victorinox knife to a passenger so that he could use the flat head screw driver accessory to tighten his water bottle harness to his bike, for fear it might otherwise fall off whilst his bike sits on my bus bike rack. As he worked, he mumbled something about hoping he didn't break my tool, and I immediately replied, "any tool that breaks while yer using it is like a dog that runs away from you all the time!”Keep running" I'd say, "no dog worth having that wants to run away” How does God deal with us when we break under pressure, or run hiding from a task?

• Proverbs 17:3 the crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.

Because we have our own, God given, free will, we have a part in who we are, and who we have become. A person submitted to God, puts their lives in his hands. Just how that happens is what living the Christian life is all about! But lets take a look at the image here in my mind.

• A potter will make a pot on the spinning wheel, and finish it with glaze and a trip to a furnace so hot that its called a "Kiln" is it to judge the pot, prove the pot or to complete the pot?

• In the case of a human potter it’s a case of completing the pot, and proving it

• If the pot is only dried, and not fired, it can be reclaimed! I remember doing this in high school with all of my goof ups! If the pot didn’t turn out the way I wanted it, or I made a big mistake, I tossed it into this water tight trash can filled with water and other goof ups. It dissolves, and settles to the bottom. The water is then drained off, and excess water is expelled, pressed, etc and eventually you have a new lump of clay, and a re-newed opportunity to make your pottery

In pottery the process of casting it on that spinning wheel begins long before it starts spinning. The clay must be found, originally, and the right clay has to be found. The potter would know the before and after colour from past experience, some dry and after being fired turn different colours. The clay also has to be kneaded by pressing and folding and turning it so as to get all the air bubbles out of it. Air bubbles in the walls of the pot will cause it to explode in the extreme heat of the Kiln"

Even after all that, he must pitch it into the middle of the wheel and carefully centre it, and begin to work; the walls must be just the right thickness, the height to wall thickness ratio has to be just right, the final steps are drying, trimming and glazing. This is the part I usually goofed up! The glazes do not look anything like they do BEFORE firing as after. After all is done, the pot is ready for the kiln. In the very end it’s been made exactly for the right purpose! A bowl, a vase, water jar, and the artisan is seen and praised! The created work receives no glory for being so beautiful, or useful!

The same process is true for a well made tool, and believe it or not a well bred and raised, and trained dog!

In our own hands we cannot succeed, in the master's hands HE succeeds in the purposes he has grabbed a hold of us to perform! And every task HE brings us to we need not fear cuz it’s what he made us for!

Now to move out of the imagery, we are not an inanimate tool or pot, with no will of our own. We were made higher than a mere animal, however wonderful a dog may be, it isn’t anything like a son or daughter! When we are in Christ, we are children of God.

We are his workmanship!

• Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

• 2 Timothy 3: 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

• Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed

Galatians 6:1-5

Galatians 6

•  ¹BRETHREN, IF any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsive to and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself, lest you should be tempted also.
•     ²Bear (endure, carry) one another's burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it].
•     ³For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another's load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.
•     ⁴But let every person carefully scrutinize and examine and test his own conduct and his own work. He can then have the personal satisfaction and joy of doing something commendable [in itself alone] without [resorting to] boastful comparison with his neighbor.
•     ⁵For every person will have to bear (be equal to understanding and calmly receive) his own [little] load [of oppressive faults].

Its been in pursuit of better health that I have seen one good development in myself, and its there in verse 4. I allowed myself to get fat and out of shape, because of comparing myself to others. In comparing myself to others I got discouraged because of those I felt were in better shape, or more talented than me, and I encouraged myself by comparing myself to those that were in worse shape than me, and didn't have the same talents as me.

At this point I have to think of my own personal best, and work toward improving that. I use "norms" to understand where I'm at. This is in the area of my health. But what is the "norm" in spiritual health?

In Ephesians we see that we are to be imitators of God, and that Christ Jesus himself is the one who came and lived a life that demonstrates this! Christ is whom we compare ourselves to, and whom we aspire to become like.

What's more encouraging is that we have the Holy Spirit as our coach to guide us in this process of becoming like him.

amen...

Paper Airplanes

• 1 Corinthians 2:¹⁴ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. ¹⁵ The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ¹⁶ "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

For Christmas my daughter and her husband gave my son a special present. One that he goes to every morning since they gave it to him. Its 365 miniature paper airplanes, one for each day of the year!

Sufficiently inspired I decided that I could make some special planes of my own, and set to make some! Now, of course, since I know next to little or nothing about the aerodynamics of flight my planes looked just  great, but flew no place! They left my launching fingers and promptly plopped onto the ground!

That's what made me think of these verses in 1 Corinthians. There's the natural realm, it would seem, and no spiritual realm. To my five senses the world is only as they sense it. What I can touch, taste, hear, see, and smell is the natural world around me. The laws of physics, and all scientific knowledge is a discover of that world, and God truly ordained the study of Science, not to exclude God, but to Glorify God, and to acknowledge all the wonders of his creation. Science can be traced back to the early days recorded in the first few chapters of Genesis when God gave man the task of naming all the animals. He brought each living thing to Adam to see what he would name them. Wonderful thing is we have scientist still who find new species of life!

But there is a spiritual realm! And that realm is not other than the natural one, it is the realm that all other realms are contained. The bible describes it as the Kingdom of God. The bible defines that world, and the only way to comprehend it, to understand it is by way of the revelation of the Holy Spirit of God indwelling in each of us who have come to believe in Jesus Christ as our savior and Lord!

Romans 1:21... describes the opposite of that effect,

• ²¹For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

This is a description of when mankind abandons the worship of God through Science, to making the natural world around them their God.

When things don't go the way we expect, its time to admit that there's something we don't know, and in this case its someone we don't know. And knowledge begins with, acknowledging him, and crying out to him to save us.

Observations on Genesis . . . the first few chapters

Genesis 1,

The creation story is to me the beginning of a conversation between God and man.

Man's accountability began, his innocence ended. Man's wisdom for his plight? The wisdom he gained from eating that tree? Let's see,

* Adam and Eve hid themselves

  --> both with sewn together fig leaves and in the shrubbery when they heard God comin' awalkin'

* they tried to re-direct blame, deflecting?

* Cain killed Abel to deal with jealousy, and God's displeasure

* God's heart was broken, because man's violence. That is when the flood was imminent. Then he found Noah, and decided to slay all but his family, and the animals.

   --> it was because of violence "brotherly hatred" instead of "brotherly love"

God's solution, the remnant. Mercy!

Authenticity of the Bible. Its really true, as it is written, its the inspired word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16-18

Genesis 1... In the beginning God

• He started it all
• He continues it
• He is in control

Romans 1:21

Troubled Times

What exactly is the nature of my own 'unbelief'? In the past I've thought maybe God would protect us from all that ails the worldly, but I realize we are all just as vulnerable to cancer - for instance - as anyone is. I've been teaching this Sunday School class now for going on two years. One thing I keep going back to is that the time of testing is coming to us all, like a path we cannot climb out of, and the path leads to a furnace of fire, but there is a door into it, and a door out the other side . . . there's a time of testing, and that time will pass. And what comes out is not the same as what goes in. Raw goes in, and Gold comes out. And of this time of testing I say this, that it is our relationship with God NOW that will take us through that time of testing.

When my first marriage fell apart, I was so steeped in sin, so confused, and all along feeling like I was doing just fine. I was so far from where he has brought me to now. So much has been shed, and burned away, that I could not even begin to list them, and good riddance! I'm not perfect... having not yet passed from this life to the next . . . but it is always in hind sight that we see how Blind we've been.

I once told God, I'd go anywhere He'd call me to go, as long as He'd be there with me, and that has never changed. I just never imagined the trials He would call me to!

The nature of my 'unbelief' ? I don't believe in a trouble free life anymore. I don't believe that I'll some day be exempt from life's hard times. And when I am going through hard times, I need to more and more realize it has nothing to do with me somehow deserving it (as in punishment from God) and has more to do with the perfecting of my faith.

See 1 Peter chapter 1

Prayer

Reading my buddy Ken's journal today I was once again inspired about prayer. I realize that I've let seemingly unanswered prayer discourage me, and life itself discourage me from praying.

Today is Sunday, and I'll be singing for the first time up front with a small group of men. I'm one of the two tenor's. It's one of my desires ---> to bless others through singing and music.

Well, keep it short, eh? This is pretty short! Have a good day.

Diagnosis

On October 30, 2010 I went to the lab to have my quarterly blood work done, and I'd already made an appointment to see a new doctor who was closer to home. My reason for changing doctors was mostly because my original doctor was about an hour's drive away from my place, and add that to waiting in her office for an hour, even if I had an appointment, that was a pretty big chunk of day to have available - 3 hours!
I had some other periodic things to look after like having my prescriptions refilled, and I needed a physical for work, which needs being done once every three years, but I also had one big thing on my mind, and that big thing was me! I'd weighed myself on the home bathroom scale, and I was an enormous 280 lbs. I'd been holding out at 260 lbs for the last couple of years, and suddenly going up 20 lbs really scared me. I found myself trying to figure out a way to beg the doctor to help me lose weight. My last doctor told me to go out and buy a book on the south beach diet . . . which is full of recipes containing foods that are way out of my price range. "Let them eat cake" comes to mind!
Well, upon entering my new doctors office on the Tuesday following my lab work, he pulled up my chart, and there on the screen he said was evidence that I was now officially a diabetic. My previous doctor had been warning me about this, and expecting it as sure as sure, so it wasn't a big surprise to me. But on the other hand, the doctor seemed to be quite serious about the need to do something about it all, and promptly made an appointment for me to come in a couple of weeks later to see him and a nurse, who turned out to be a "Chronic Disease Management Coordinator" for my area here. But, I'm jumping ahead!
The following Friday Cheryl and I went out and during out grocery shopping I found one of my favorite little kind of journals. Its Black with Red Corners, and just lined paper on the inside. Its about 5 x 6 " per page. That would be November 5, 2010. That night, and the following day were the beginnings of my diabetic journal. My plan was/is simple, to keep track of  my daily battle with Diabetes, and my weight. My wife has been diabetic now for years, so the fear aspect of it was minimized for me, since I've seen for myself how manageable it is with diet and exercise. We'd also taken a course together on the topic at a local hospital, and learned all about blood glucose testing, etc. Since Cheryl had a test kit already I just started to use hers, so that when I went to see my nurse and doctor again, I'd have some data for them to examine, and speed things along with my treatment. I began to keep track of what I ate, my blood sugar data, and any exercise. By the time I got there for my next appointment, they could at least see my motivation for getting well, and I had some good questions for them to answer, and they gave me some unexpected information as far as what my goals should be.
I've been quite nervous about the regular exercise part of it for quite sometime now, and its mostly just neurosis, ie) fears not based in fact . . . perhaps I could be kind to myself and call it anxiety . . . regardless, I held off on the exercise part of it. As a bit of a bonus I've been able to see independent results for what impact diet has had on my diabetes without the exercise. And now that I've begun the exercise part of it now, so I'm able to see just how that bumps up the impact.
Ever since November 5, 2010 I've kept track of all of these things. At first I was testing 10 times a day, but I'm down to about 6 times per day now. And I'm only testing when I do something new. For instance, a new recipe or meal plan will generate a before and after test. And these past two days I've done a before/after workout testing.
The most thrilling part is that for the most part I've lost or held my weight everyday since. A couple of days ago I had a beer with dinner, and omgosh! I was 4 lbs heavier and my blood glucose was higher than its been for days! Most days I've been at about 6.6 mmols, but this day after the beer was 7.9! I was aghast!
I've also been doing some research into what restaurant food will do. That is to prepare ahead for the inevitable day when I am out of time in the morning getting out the door for work, and needing to go out to eat before I can get back home. So far Thai Chicken Salad at McDonald's, and a 6" Veggie with Cheese sub with 9 grain whole wheat from Subway are both good choices. But I do notice that the sodium content sends me into a weird kind of hyper feeling.
I found out from the wife that my starting weight was 280 lbs minus a 3 pound correction, equals 277 lbs. This morning I was at 264.5 lbs.
Well, that's all for now, take care anyone!

Salvation

Saved from what?

How important is it, I wonder, for us to realize our own sinfulness? 1 John 1:9 comes to mind.

• 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

When I'm typing up these thoughts I'm using a standard computer, with a screen, mouse, and keyboard. In order to begin typing I have to see where my cursor is. Without the cursor, I have no common beginning point with the computer. As I hit keys on the keyboard, the computer will interpret these key strokes based on where the cursor is. This is a simple illustration of where we're at with God. Acknowledging our sin is the beginning point of faith. Faith is living according to the word of God rather than according to our own  understanding. Our understanding can be from our minds, our emotions, or cravings. In order to live according to faith, we also need to realize we become new creations when we accept Christ, through faith.

• Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

This is the beginning of the path called the walk of faith. You heard the word of truth, and believed. That's your part. God's part is bringing the good news of the gospel to you, and when you respond by hearing and believing God continues the conversation by giving us the promised Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit becomes resident within us from this point. The guarantee is through the process of sanctification, where the Holy Spirit leads us into truth, the truth of God's word. Our response of obedience, yields the fruit of the spirit.

Phew! God Bless you today. If you have any questions, please submit them via comments, and then everyone will benefit from the question and the answer!

Faith

I'm thankful this morning for so many things. One that's brought me to my blog is my job. I was in a pastor's office when he helped me to see that the way out of my current dilemma was to pay attention to the need at hand. I had a wife, and two children, and no job to support us. That was about 20½ years ago. I sat down, and figured out how much money I needed to support them, broke it down to an hourly wage, and began looking for a job that paid at least that much. I applied for a position as a bus driver, based on the wage. It turned out I had an aptitude for the job as well, which came to light as I went through the hiring process.

At the time my idea of how I would fulfill the calling on my life was dramatically different than what it is now. And the idea of getting a job like bus driving seemed to be far from what God would have in mind for me. I thought I was headed for being a pastor of a church quite frankly. And yet at the same time I thought God's will for my life would be foreign, strange, and unexpected. I didn't realize that God's will for my life would be as simple as the bible says. Let's start with that verse about whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do with all your might.

• Ecclesiastes 9:9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. 11 Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. (ESV)

Wow! There's lots more there on this topic than I realized, God's so good! I often find if I go an look up a scripture that's only partially come to mind, that God has something more for me there than I initially realize! I think the "wife" here is figurative as well as literal. One's wife is what one is devoting one's self to. If you're unable to put your spouse first, don't have a spouse. And realize this from the start. But if you have a wife, devote yourself to her, meaning she has a high place in the day to day priorities of life, the first priority. Second only to God himself. Salomon's labeling of our lives as "vain" is intriguing! There is no work or toil in the grave . . . and then finally he lists the six basic pursuits, swift, strong, wise, riches, intelligence, or knowledge. And then notes that "time and chance" happen to them all. Those pursuits may be for happiness, or security, or for peace . . . I think the list refers back to the wife reference. Its a famous expression amoung the youth I've spoken to, "I'm not going to end up like..." and they have some person (usually their parents) whom they're not going to end up like. They have come up with the opposite of role model. They know what they DO NOT want to end up like. I call this living life according to a negative rather than a positive.

So to really boil it down to a simple statement, how 'bout "Apply yourself with your whole heart to the demands of the moment". What we perceive as a "demand" comes from within. And a demand can only come from who is in charge. What scares you the most, what causes you to stop whatever you are doing and listen, and obey. Its like you're walking along through the woods, looking for food cuz you're starving. . . when suddenly! a rifle shot, a bullet whizzing hissing hits the tree beside you and showers your face with splinters! You dive for the ground, no longer thinking of hunger! That's a demand! With that another couple of verses spring to mind, Matthew 6:33-34, and Proverbs 1:7

• Mt 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (ESV)
• Pr 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (ESV)

Jesus is the one speaking in Matthew 6 here. Its part of the "Sermon On The Mount."

God is the only one you need ever fear, all else is secondary. "His Kingdom" is one which acknowledges him as supreme. And HE IS supreme. To "seek" that is to acknowledge it, and to interpret all that happens in the light of that ultimate truth,

• Romans 1:²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

And there in vs 34 of Matthew 6 we see "the moment" don't worry about tomorrow, take care of today. Looking at "His Kingdom" would simply be defined as what? Let's go to Websters on-line and see what they have to say, I looked up "kingdom"

• "a politically organized community or major territorial unit having a monarchical form of government headed by a king or queen"

HIS kingdom would give us the mono- of monarch. Sole authority. Very foreign to us democracy types. We've steered away from having one person in charge. For what? To get away from corruption and abuse? Really? Yet God's word says that HE is in charge, it IS his kingdom! He's on the throne! Regardless of whatever else gives us cause to fear, our primary concern is God's opinion on matters at hand. The story of Robin Hood comes to mind. His allegiance is to the King Richard, and his rebellion against Prince John is due to Prince John's rebellion against King Richard. Note that Robin Hood cares for the needs of the helpless go read Matthew 25:31-46 for a tangent I'll resist for now! Robin Hood doesn't willingly martyr himself, who would care for the needy?


His Righteousness? Well if the one in charge has such a thing, we'd better make sure we know what that is! There is a differentiation being made here between His Righteousness and any other kind of righteousness, but first of all Jesus is telling us that we need it! There are two basic pursuits above all others. His Kingdom and His Righteousness. And the promise is that "all these things" will be added as well. That's a reference to all the things Jesus has just spoken about in the previous verses of Matthew chapter six.


So, what is His Righteousness?

• Matthew 22:36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."

I'll give you a clue, Jesus is "His Righteousness" through him we have forgiveness... that's where we all need to start. And that forgiveness comes through us acknowledging we have not lived according to the rule of God's authority - the term we know so well - sin.

• Romans 14:23 ". . . and everything that does not come from faith is sin."

Jesus is talking about living by faith. Faith begins, continues, and ends with those two things, "His Kingdom" and "His Righteousness".

May God hold your feet to your own flames

• Isaiah 50:4 The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. 5 The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back. 6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. 7 Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! 9 It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up. 10 Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God. 11 But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment.

•  Isaiah 50:11 ...set your fires, stir people up, blow on the flames, But don't expect me to just stand there and watch. I'll hold your feet to those flames. (The Message)

Quite often, if not always, my attempts to stir up trouble for others has backfired, and I end up being the one burnt!
And quite often, I pray it be more often, how often I am comforted while comforting others! My calling and passion is described there in verse 4,

• The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.

Our brothers lay at our feet as though dead

• "Perhaps no violence would be done this book [Revelation] or any other book in the Bible, if we did not know definitely the identity of the penmen. But we do know from John's own witness that he saw and heard the things which he wrote (Rev 22:8).He lived during the reign of Domitian, under whose firm rule the Christians were severely persecuted. He identifies himself with other of the suffering saints as their "brother and companion in tribulation" (Rev 1:9). He himself was sent in chains as a prisoner to the small and dreary island called Patmos, about twenty-five miles off the coast of Asian Minor, in the Aegean Sea. It was while he was there that God turned his bondage into a blessing. The Patmos of persecution became to John the open door for service. the chains of pagan Rome bound his body but they could not bind  his soul. Shut off from the rest of the world, he entered into a communion with his Lord he had never known before." (Lehman Strauss, Commentary on The Book of the Revelation, 1964)

 John's reaction to Christ's appearing to him there,

• Revelation 1:¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

This is the same John who spent three years with Jesus. John wrote five books of the New Testament. And his reaction to our risen Lord was utter humility. I know that Jesus is our friend, our companion, and intercessor before the father - standing before the Father on our behalf. But I must also take care to know also that he is this fearsome figure brought to us through the penmanship of John, son of Zebedee. There's something good, and emptying in  knowing this about Christ Jesus our Lord. Pride is something that comes and goes from my pallet like every other sin, but its the least likely to be immediately detected, and it's the most embarrassing one. We always see it in others, and others always see it in us.


What should my attitude be toward the one's that cross my path day to day? I am to be Christ to them. Is this the Christ they'll see? The one that causes them to fall down as though dead? 

• ^{Revelation 1:9} I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
  

That's more like it! May I bring the compassion of Jesus that reaches down to the one humbled by their circumstances and says, "Jesus is greater than OUR struggles, lets spend time together and talk it over"


Oh, God, my God, my lord and Father. Empower my life to serve you fearlessly, yet reverently continue to know the perspective of who I'm in the presence of! May I never lose sight of your sovereign majesty! May I never again take my seniority in the faith as an excuse to treat those yet to come in, or recently entered like crap! May I never be a cause for fear and loathing. Its so easy to get caught up, Lord, in the struggle to keep my own life afloat, while clutching all that is mine in mindless fear, thrashing at those around me like a madman telling them to back off what's mine! So many of my choices have led to a man such as me. I'm in debt, and that means my money is already spoken for. My time is not my own. I can't lend myself to your work, without it directly impacting my master the money lender. Heal me here Lord! I'm feeling so fat, so overweight and out of shape. I don't want to die just yet! I want to live on to bless you, and bless your people. I want this life I've led to not end up being in vane. I long to bless others, and give them a shoulder to lean on in their times of suffering. Heal me in this way, also, Lord. Let my next 47 years be one's more to your benefit than my own. Even so Lord Jesus, come, come take me home to be with you forever! Do with my life as you would. But put it firmly in your hands, Amen.

Walking in His Shoes

There was a time when my life had fallen apart and wasn’t yet laying in pieces but was still in mid air. The jagged shards of dreams shattered were shredding every aspect of my life. I was an emotional disaster area, and I began spending my emotional reserves. Soon I would run out, and would be in need of medication, counselling, and time off work. In the midst of that confused, dark cloud I was grasping for help, just to keep my head above water. I know in hindsight that I wasn’t yet ready to learn, nor be taught anything. I still had the world by the tail, and I was straining for vindication and to be avenged of all the wrongs being done to me. I was without stain, and had the notion that what was happening to me was part of what the bible speaks of when it speaks of persecution.

That may seem vague, and it’s deliberate. If you’ve gone through it, or you are going through it now, you’ll see yourself in that whirl wind of a first paragraph. Now let’s see if you can see yourself in the other guys shoes, those who were in a position to help me, who could only stand on the sidelines out of fear, and ignorance.

One such person, who shall remain nameless, is a friend of my older brother Andrew’s, and a sort of acquaintance of mine at the time. Let’s call him Freddy, no . . . that’s too happy a name. hmmm, let’s call him Arthur. Arthur and I first crossed paths in elementary school. I have vague memories of him bullying me. His father was a social worker, and later on when I was in Jr. High School (grades 7-9) we took in a foster child through Arthur’s father. Fast forward to me and what I described in the first paragraph. I was homeless, and had few options. My brother Andrew suggested I call up Arthur, who had just graduated from a seminary overseas, Scotland I think, and had acquired a master’s degree, maybe even a doctorate in Divinity. He’d been hired on as a professor at a local Christian University, and lived near where I needed to be. I called him. And his not so carefully thought out answer was,

“What did you ever do for me?”

He continued by pointing out that I’d had lots of time to befriend him previous to my time of need, but had not done so. If only I’d done that, then I’d have a place to stay. Was that Christian love? Was that what Christ meant when he said, “love one another” ?

He was the first of many who passed by on the other side – yes, I’m alluding to the parable of the Good Samaritan – So, I vowed that when I got out of the present mess, I would do for others what had not been done for me. I had an opportunity a couple of times now to be there for folks who didn’t deserve a hand, but got one anyways from me. I suffered both times. I guess that’s why Jesus included the terms of such loving manoeuvres, “lay down your life for others . . .” taking his example who laid down his life for us.

I learned through the years that overcoming one’s fears in order to love others isn’t as easy as it seems. Courage takes faith, and faith takes courage. It also takes knowing, and truly believing all this stuff we talk about in our bible studies, Sunday School classes, and Sunday morning sermons. And now when I find myself with paralysed hands unable to reach out and help, I find myself praying, “help me lord, help my un-belief!” Give me a faith so strong, and a willingness so full that I can reach out to them, counting on you, and not loving my own life, more than another’s.

So, that young man I'd turned to back about 12 - 15 years ago. His youth was his excuse? Of all the theory of theology, and correct splitting of hairs on scriptural context . . . the lesson's he'd learned added up to, "What have you ever done for me?" And I think that most of us who have been steeped in Christendom all of our lives have missed the point as well. That passage from Matthew 25 is so vividly in view for me once again.

• Matthew 25:³⁸ And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' ⁴⁰ And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'

Fear

I had yet another lesson in fear and anxiety this past week. It all gets summed up in the observation that even after all this time I still have trouble believing that God cares about the seemingly little things in life.

My wife and I planned out a 10th birthday party for our son. As we prepared each aspect I managed to doubt again and again. When she and I actually started fighting with one another over it all, that showed me how much stress we were both under.

We'd planned on taking four of our son's friends to a local bowling alley that we'd gone to many times as a family before. So, this past Wednesday I phoned up the place to make sure we had a reservation for 5 bowlers, and to work out exactly how much money it would all cost. We'd already invited 4 of 4 guests, and gotten confirmations they'd be coming. We'd already told our son the whole plan! And the bowling alley is closed for the day we'd planned on going!!! There aren't too many bowling allies around these days, so we scrambled to find another 5 pin place. In the process we came across a real dudd! It was everything you'd hope for in a strip club without the strippers, but the rest of the seediness was intact! Another place had a bad review on-line, and new management was cited as the reason. The landlord had taken over running the place, and didn't have a clue! Finally I remembered a place I'd passed by during my work hours, and drove over there. It turned out to be way better than our usual place, and is now our new usual place!

The whole party turned out awesome, and I was so blessed by the little things that God did to encourage us along the way.

Thank You, Lord!