Psalm 38

Reading Psalm 38.

I notice he did not mention being perfect. He mentions desiring to follow God. "Psalm 38:9 O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you."

I seek the Lord. I love God. I want to do right. "Psalm 38:15 But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer?"

David is saying he seeks God. This seems to be enough. God forgives sin. He loves those of us who seek him. God is so merciful. And he loves it when we know that about him and have faith in his forgiveness.

This is a time in all of our lives when circumstances seem to overwhelm us. We see enemies attacking us, doing us evil for no reason. They return evil for our good. (Maybe we are not perfect. Maybe we might have provoked some of this. But we do not deserve this.) God will be our protector and shield.

David cries out to God. "Psalm 38:21-22 Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!"

This is how David concludes this psalm. We trust God answered. Let us cry out too, expecting mercy. David was far from perfect, neither are we. But God saw him as a man after his own heart. We are too when we seek God in faith.

Psalm 36

Psalms 36:1-12 GNB Sin speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; they reject God and do not have reverence for him. (2) Because they think so highly of themselves, they think that God will not discover their sin and condemn it. (3) Their speech is wicked and full of lies; they no longer do what is wise and good. (4) They make evil plans as they lie in bed; nothing they do is good, and they never reject anything evil.

(5) LORD, your constant love reaches the heavens; your faithfulness extends to the skies. (6) Your righteousness is towering like the mountains; your justice is like the depths of the sea. People and animals are in your care. (7) How precious, O God, is your constant love! We find protection under the shadow of your wings. (8) We feast on the abundant food you provide; you let us drink from the river of your goodness. (9) You are the source of all life, and because of your light we see the light. (10) Continue to love those who know you and to do good to those who are righteous.

(11) Do not let proud people attack me or the wicked make me run away. (12) See where evil people have fallen. There they lie, unable to rise.

The sinful imagine sinful things to do. It is better to chose to imagine God's loving kindness, his goodness. That's what I get from this. When I am thinking sinfully I imagine sinful things. It is much better to put our thoughts on God. Can we find more excitement in meditating on God than on meditating on mischief, sin, evil? I like my fantasies. But at times I do enjoy my time with God. I do try to work on it, be consciously before God.

The psalmist starts by condemning the imagination of the wicked who plan evil, speak lies. They never reject anything that is evil.

Rather we should plan how to love God better. Better to imagine God and his glory.

This psalm has two obvious parts. First condemning evil, then extolling the greatness of God. Well then a third section of intercession, asking God to protect him from evil men. Right now I confess and profess and ask all three. Help me not to have evil imaginings. Second thank you and bless you God for how great you are. I confess that right now. Thirdly I ask God to protect me from men who are trying defame and ruin me. That's a real thing for me right now.

Strange new position to be in

Saturday night I got hit on by a woman. She was not too bad looking either. (Sorry DW) DW was there to watch the second half so she can confirm it, in case it seems as improbable to you as it does to me. Again as I said, after DW came over and I introduced her, she kept right on chatting me up (she was pretty drunk). I'd say she was pretty good at it.

I got a perfect spot to watch a football game and I really did not want to move. In any other case I would have trust me. Introducing my wife after she came back from getting a coke did not help. Finally I left to watch outside. I left at the end of the quarter. But DW likes to stay in the a/c. So I left her there. I'm told that she had no shame. She continued to praise me to my wife. That was a strange situation.

DW has cautioned me several times to watch myself if I am going to go to public places by myself. I need to watch for aggressive women. I have gone on St. Arnold's pub crawls. There was a woman a few years ago who asked to sit at my table. I said no. I was reading and need no companionship. At the time I really did not give it much thought. I did not see it as hitting on me. Now I am unsure. Tonight I plan to go to a bar where the Rice coach's show will be broadcast live. I am going to go to a bowling fund raiser this Saturday. I sit by myself and mind my own business. Now I have my kindle instead of a paper book. Having women hitting on me is a very new think for me.

Yet because of my very poor social skills I feel pretty immune. I know, that is when I must really be on my guard. Yet when I was younger this never happened. Besides I have never liked aggressive women, I always preferred to be the aggressor. Yet since I am so bad at it, ham handed you might say, I was always pretty safe. So my lack of social understanding of women made me pretty safe. Today on the other hand, I respect the power of hormones. Hormones rule. There will be attractions. So I had better watch myself. It's weird though. It's weird to think that some woman might find me attractive. Very weird.

Anger coming from fear

I saw yesterday (again) my raging anger. It can flash pretty hot. But my anger always stems from fear. I am a fearful person. Put into a stressful situation my first response is anger.

I am reading Jonah right now. I can relate that situation to the thoughts of chapter 2. You may wonder how. I am going to try to explain. I'd say Jonah starts out angry. He does not want to help the Ninevites, those people who were treating his people so badly, so evilly. He is angry at God, as we shall see later in the story. His anger shows itself in fear. He feared God so he tried to escape from God's presence. He knew he actually could not escape from God but he tried to anyway. (I think we do that.)

When in the boat fleeing he was picked as the man who was the cause of the storm. He did not deny it. So, in this situation at least, he did not fear men. But when asked to tell about himself (Jonah 1:9) to their many questions (they were panicked) he answered simply 1) I am a Hebrew. and 2) I fear the Lord God who made the sea and the dry land. So he knew that God was ruler everywhere, not just in Judah and Samaria.

Then Jonah was put in a large fish. Whale? Somehow he was surviving. It sounds like an organic cave. No light. Jonah seems to have repented of his anger. He remembers God's goodness. God has saved him from death in the sea. He couldn't really have expected that when he was thrown into the sea. Rather than all of them perishing only he was expected to die. The rest were saved by his brave decision. Yet Jonah did not die. God saved him too.

He says while he is sinking he remembered God. This prayer in chapter 2 seems confused as well you might imagine. God heard his prayer and saved him from out of the ocean. I hope I have enough sense to pray to God in the midst of stressful situations. After all these years of walking with God I do not think I do. That's a terrible thing to have to admit. Jonah prayed as he was drowning. I admire him for it. I think many people in life threatening situations do not pray to God and therefore are not saved when God would dearly like to save them if only they would ask. One might be tempted to be angry at God about this. Yet God is also merciful. It's not a rule. God can and does save without being asked. But God desires a relationship with us. Part of that is asking God. We acknowledge he is God and we are not. We need his help. We should ask with thanksgiving.

In his prayer Jonah vows to sacrifice to God with a thankful heart, not angry anymore. He has repented. That is when God has the fish put him out on dry land. Verse 2:4 concludes "Salvation is from the Lord." Yes it is. Don't you forget it.

I think at the beginning of his prayer Jonah is still angry but as he works through his feelings before God he repents. He realizes he wants to see God;s holy temple again. The temple is the physical representation of God in the world. Jonah loves God. God has saved him so that he can later do just that, worship at the temple. But first ...

3 John

I never noticed this before but 3 John was written to a man named Gaius but the purpose was to criticize if not condemn a man who was the local leader of a church who would not allow fellowship with other Christians.

He appointed himself sole arbiter of what was right and proper. He did not want other input. Specifically he rejected the pastoral authority of John himself.

Now John was all about fellowship with other Christians. And as Christians we need the encouragement and fellowship of one another. "Brothers, let us love one another." And "He who does not love his brother does not know God." This man who would not love and accept other Christians was not loving his brother and did not know God, in the view of John.

Surely this is a corrective for today. A man who is leading a fellowship should never allow himself to think he does not need the help of others. And he should never be so insecure as to not allow his church members to go elsewhere to receive wholesome teaching and preaching. In the great fellowship of the universal church we need one another. We need to stay in communication. There will be differences that are annoying at times. But nevertheless we must strive to stay in fellowship, in communication with all Christians, no matter how different their styles of worship and the terms they use to describe belief systems.

This applies to church bodies but also to individuals. It is so easy to avoid Christians from other traditions because the differences make us uncomfortable. It is important to accentuate the commonalities and only discuss the differences if it can be done in a friendly manner. Discuss ministry and not theology. Let us hear about the fruits in each other's ministries.

Reading 1 John

I am always confused when reading 1 John, if I am honest with myself and read it slowly and carefully. Are those dialectics that John uses? I cannot quite get dialectics either. Maybe you are not supposed to.

Reading John always makes me uncomfortable. How can one read that to know one is saved one must be perfect, be righteous, be sinless and not be uncomfortable. Who is sinless? Who is perfect?

I know John addresses all that. If you have sin you have an advocate Jesus Christ, the righteous. That I can stand on, as on firm ground. That makes me comfortable.

One spot caught my eye. Verses 3:12-13 Why did Cain kill Abel? Simply because Cain's deeds were evil and Abel's were righteous. "So do not marvel, my brothers, when the world hates you.

I'd like to think if you do good the world will love me. But no the world is really not like that. Take John's word for it. Mostly people in the world will be indifferent to you, because as a Christian, you are not of this world. But some will openly hate you. Think of you experience. Do not be surprised. Do not try to appease them. That is one's first reaction, to try to talk them out of it or make a concession. No do not try to appease them. It shows that you are in the right and they are feeling guilty. Maybe God can reach them through your goodness.

My first reaction is to think "No they won't hate me because I do not do good, I do not do righteous deeds." But if you walk with God and have fellowship with other Christians you will be righteous (most of the time) and the world will notice. They may pretend not to, but they will. And some will react hatefully.

Do not be surprised. Do not marvel. Be wise, do not let them hurt you. But do not appease them either. Let God confront them. Perhaps they will repent and accept Jesus as their savior.

Personal best - Greatest Sport Announcers Ever

A radio station asked the question, who are the three best sports announcers in your opinion. Theirs were personal guys from their formative years. Before they said that that's is where I was going too.

For me the greatest announcer I ever heard was Vin Scully, long time Dodger baseball announcer.

But my personal best is Gene Elston long time Houston baseball announcer who also did some other gigs before landing in Houston. His understated yet poignant style has influenced how I watch sports to this day. Despite his lack of emotionalism if you got on late to listen a few seconds would tell you whether the Houston team was ahead or behind. Good plays were admired whether they were for or against the home nine. He always had something left to enhance really great or unusual plays. As seriously as he spoke he always had fun. It was a game.

But youth did have other outstanding announcers. I loved Mann/Casper who did University of Houston basketball for many years. Art Mann and I forget Casper's first name. They were lovable homers. Elston always tried to play it even so when Gene Peterson came to announce Houston Rocket basketball as a wild homer I was taken aback. But I got used to it. Peterson had other good qualities. But I never liked his homerism. I wonder if others who first pro announcer experience was Gene Elston might have felt the same.

Football announcers: Ron Franklin. He did Houston Oilers for a while but has also done Longhorns, Rice Owls, and Houston Cougars. Someone might remember his name. He had a nice smooth voice and made the games fun.

Oh in looking up Ron Franklin I noticed another one - Jerry Trupiano. "Troop" came from St. Louis to announcer the new Houston Aeros hockey team, the first one back in the 70's that was a apart of the upstart WHA that stole a few players from NHL. Hockey. Gordie Howe and his two sons playing together. I did not know much about hockey but I loved it. Trupiano for me painted a great radio word picture. I learned all my hockey expressions from Trupiano. He was aware of his influence and tried to do it right. To this day I can still tell you some of the Aero lines. I remember picturing long shots by defensemen at the point and "goal!" Trupiano has found his final home as a baseball announcer in Boston. But for me he will always be a hockey announcer.

Habakkuk 1

I read Habakkuk 1. Verse 2 stands out to me. I feel this verse so strongly. "I cry out to thee 'violence!'" Do I cry violence about the awful situation in Egypt? (for example) Do I cry out to God for help? Do I wonder why God does not respond? Never mind about what congress does or the president does. They cannot really do much. Do I cry out to you God? Now God can really do something. But he seems to hold back.

I know you mourn God over the many faithful Christians being martyred in Egypt right today. And it's not the only place in the world where Christians are being killed. (And God mourns over all religious persecution even if it Moslem on Hindu or even Christian on Jew, for example.) This is just the one that is in the front page news right now. I know you are sad about the many beautiful churches being destroyed in Egypt, some with people in them as they burn. And there are many who are having to flee to become homeless. I am called to be like my master Jesus. Jesus mourns. I should mourn too. That is not natural for me. I work at mourning. But it is not natural for me. I do not mourn with the compassion that God does. DW is much more like Jesus in this. She sees news of all this and is appalled. I cry to God "violence!" God do something!

Verse 4 also hits me hard. The law is ignored. I think we can see that going on today. Though I do not think we are extra special. Still we as a culture are getting selfish and lawless. The verse continues, Justice is never upheld. The wicked surround the righteous and justice comes out perverted. This is so well expressed. It can apply today as it did in Habakkuk's day.

Lord I cry out to you about our country. The description is so good. It is not so much the judge's fault. They really have little control of what is happening. We pervert the laws. We do not act honestly. Justice is impossible when everyone is corrupt. There are not enough laws to keep everything fair when everyone is trying to cheat.

Lord you know. Lord only you know how to administer justice rightly, righteously. God only you. God I cry out for justice in this land. God I ask that you give our leaders wisdom and understanding and the desire to actually do justly and love mercy. God help us to be teachable, to be subject to honest rules. Help us to be law abiding.

The rest of it the chapter goes into the judgment God will bring on the people because they are not righteous and did violence on their neighbor. God could bring that judgment on us too. But it will likely be in a way that we can never predict.

Jacob strives with God Genesis 32

"An atheist does not find God for the same reason a thief does not find a policeman."

Genesis 32 Jacob strives with God. Some would say the man he fought with was Jesus. Jacob calls the place Peniel. Peniel means "face of God".

Jacob sent everyone across the river first. This is a defensive measure. So he spent the night alone on the far side of the river. He was scared of Esau. In his life he was never alone. He was always surrounded by his family, servants, and possessions. But now he is alone. He spends the night alone. God uses this opportunity to confront Jacob.

Jacob has prayed to God for protection. This is a good first step. But then he does everything humanly possible to prepare for the meeting with Esau. Jacob is all prepared. But first God wanted to do some breaking in Jacob. (pun intended, hehe)

Jacob's name was changed to Israel. He goes from usurper, supplanter to "he who strives with God" (or perhaps "God strives"). God is saying the old Jacob is in the past. Now Jacob has a true relationship with God. It is still in process. But it has been deepened.

Striving is something we all should do with God. And it may break us. Most of us need a little breaking.

new post

I have not done a blog in a while. I have been remiss about quiet times.

Reading in Genesis, specifically Genesis 26. The commentator, John Harris, thinks a theme we can take out of this is how God gets his will done on the earth. And a corollary, how much of our life is preordained?

Abraham obeyed God. But God chose Abraham before he obeyed. God chose him. What would have happened if Abraham had not obeyed? Or does this question have any meaning?

I am like the commentator. This is what inspired me to type this blog. The commentator remembered as a small child asking God to guide him in trivial choices, like whether to choose vanilla or chocolate ice cream. In doing this he thought he was pleasing God. I remember doing that too. I was a young child going to Sunday School. Neither of my parents were believers. So I had no one to ask. I was going on my childlike understanding of what I was being taught in Sunday School. I remember a well thought out curriculum, sitting cross legged on the floor of a small room with an adult teacher who was very well meaning. My mental picture is of a dark room, sitting in a circle. We had four page brochures of Bible stories. There were color drawings, like comic books.

Anyway something I learned got me to thinking about God's will. Perhaps it was just such a story as that of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I remember as a boy of 9 or 10 asking God whose house I should go to first when leaving the house in the morning to go play. I was often the first up amongst several children my own age who lived nearby. My mother might have fed me breakfast, I'm not sure. But I wanted to do what God wanted me to do. I wanted to please God, the same way a child that age wants to please his parents. I would ask God to speak to me, then take the first thought that came into my mind as the answer. Within reason of course. As adults when we are faced with a difficult decision do we still sometimes want to do the same thing, get an east answer spoken in our ear by God?

But this is a childish way of seeing our relationship with God.

Mark 10:40

"For he who is not against us is for us."

Seems like Jesus is saying, "Don't be so quick to judge people as Christians or not." Be gracious. Take people's confessions at face value. It is not ours to judge.

The disciples were too quick to decide the intentions of people. We cannot know people's hearts, not really. There may be a time to correct people. But do not be too quick. The disciples just reacted. Jesus said, "If they are acting like they are part of us, even if you do not know them." They can be a part of another group.

Mark 9 - Healing demon possessed son

Reading this all of a sudden ideas came into my mind. I believe it was God's inspiration, thank you God!

So I will try to share some of it. There is no way I can cover it all or even do it justice.

Desperation is all around Jesus yet he remains calm. Jesus has just gone up on the mountain with Peter, James, and John and talking to Moses and Elijah. Now they come down to the crowds. Normal life. He calls them unbelieving. They are prideful and sinful as well. I can identify. But in the midst of desperation Jesus remains calm. And he holds back the healing until the right moment. He wants this to teach. He wants people, especially the father, to get all he should from this. He waits until the father is desperate, then he heals. "Lord I believe, help me in my unbelief!"

Jesus comes down and asks what is happening. It is not the disciples who respond but the father. The father is in control. With perhaps a little satisfaction he reports that he has asked, requested, this translation says "told" his disciples to cast it out and they could not. Perhaps the dad is feeling a little vindicated. He had never been able to anything to help his boy, now this great healer was stumped too. Or at least his disciples were stumped. The disciples may have held back because they felt confused and like failures.

But Jesus does not blame his disciples. Or perhaps not them solely. He cries, "Oh unbelieving generation!" Couldn't God say that about our generation? Probably all generations. He has the boy brought to him. He does not go to him. When the demon sees Jesus he manifests himself. He is obviously scared now. In other cases Jesus reacts to this behavior by immediately casting it out. But here Jesus remains calm. Almost ignoring the boy he addresses his father. "How long has this been happening to him?" It sounds like a doctor's question. "How long young man, have you been having these symptoms?" The father speaks again, this time a little less confidently. The boy has tried to kill himself many times. But his father has watched him and kept him alive all these years. They have done what they could, all that was humanly possible. They treated the symptoms, you might say, but never got to the root of the problem.

The father concludes, "if you can do anything?" Jesus responds perhaps sternly, "All things are possible for God!" This puts it in a better light. The father understand at least mentally all things are possible for God. Those of who walk with God know this is true in the theoretical. We know this is true. But we have doubt when it comes to specifics that apply directly to us. We know God parted the sea. God saved Jonah from a whale. God made the whole universe. But when it comes to a little healing we doubt.

I think God responds to the desperate. How willing are we to be desperate before God. I know I do not do it often, often enough. Some of Jesus' parables about prayer speak of desperation. The man desperately needs bread so he pounds on his neighbor's door even though it is after midnight. He does not give up until he gets a response. This is a parable about prayer to God. God waits until we express our need. Being desperate is a good thing. It puts our relationship with God in it's proper light.

So the father's cry is a cry of desperation. "Lord I believe! Help me in my unbelief!!" Jesus responds by commanding the demon to leave. To all others around the boy looks dead. But but Jesus reaches over and lifts him to his feet. I imagine his muscles are sore. He is dazed. But the implication is now he is normal. He is healed!

This story concludes with later when the disciples privately ask about it. Jesus answer has confounded people since the beginning. "This cannot come out by anything but prayer." The NASB. Some variations add, "and fasting." Does this addition help or add to the confusion? The disciples were confused about why this demon did not come for them. They had just been sent out and had success with casting out demons then. Why did it not work this time? Was it the lack of faith of the father? When Jesus says "prayer" does he mean pray harder? Didn't the disciples pray? Or did they rely on their own strength somehow forgetting only God can heal. Our faith might move God to act but it is not our faith alone that can heal. Adding the word fasting implies that they did not pray hard enough or long enough. Fasting is an addition step of discipline. But adding the expression "and fasting" changes the meaning and perhaps distorts it from Jesus original intent. I do not know.

"This cannot come out by anything but prayer" leave me feeling helpless. My response would probably be, "I thought I did pray." The answer, "This cannot come out by anything but prayer and fasting." tells me I did not do enough. I did not work hard enough at it. I need to work on my disciplines. I think they are different. What do you think?

Mark 8 - In LA

Quickly, got to go.

Jesus feed the 4,000, an amazing sign. In the next sentence the Pharisees ask for a sign. Didn't they see the last one? It is irony that Jesus quickly and firmly refuses to produce on command. He produces for need. God still does that today. But Jesus could have said, "look what I just did? Didn't you see that?" He doesn't. Why?

Walking around an interesting section. It is filled with older houses. Yet these houses are fairly well kept up. Maybe because they are so much more valuable than the same houses would be in Houston. The house that DD3 rents with a family was built in the 50's. The dad proudly answers that. I think he does not see that as old. In Houston that is old and would not have been said proudly. A Houstonian would not gladly live in a house built that long ago.

Thinking like that I think LA is an older city than Houston. One might think of LA as a new city. Some parts of it must be. But a lot of greater LA is from the 50's or older. Houston houses are on average much newer. In parts of town with older houses Houston is doing a lot of tearing down and rebuilding. I do not see any of that in the section of greater LA that I have been in.

morning walk

DW suggested that I not play golf today but walk. So at 5:00 AM I got up and ate breakfast. Then promptly at 6 I set out. I had my large side carry bag with camera little money and cell phone. I took a magazine to read. On the trip I finished two articles in my archaeology magazine. There are photos on Facebook.

Can I make this into a coherent travelog? I pray I can. I decided to head over to the newly discovered (by foot) Harrisburg area. I am not even sure where that is but I know the area with the lettered street name is part of it. The extreme western part. So I headed up Lockwood and passed Canal then turned east. I passed Burr which I explored a few weeks ago. I basically used the north south streets between Canal and Navigation. Maybe in was Harrisburg and Navigation. I ended up almost to Wayside but not quite. I was gone close to three hours.

The weather was pretty mild. The humidity was not high. I did bring a towel and used it a lot. But I was not a sweaty as I usually am after a round of golf.

The first two streets going north and south in this area are Allen and Brady. There is a "C" street further east, but not next to it. Then other streets end in "wood". Norwood I remember because of some pictures I was inspired to take. I could look on a map something like Edgewood and at least one other "wood". I realized later Allen and Brady are not necessarily alphabetic streets. The Allen brothers established Houston and Brady's Landing was well known. So Allen and Brady were the names of early settlers.

Heading north south you run into Sherman, the Harrisburg hike/bike trail and Avenues I and J. If you continue north past Navigation to look at the ship channel as I did you also sometimes find Avenue L. It has been taken up by warehouses and businesses up close to the waterway. But it still exists as a one block street in at least one place. Navigation then must be the old Avenue K back in the day. I remember from driving around Canal Street is also renamed for one of the lettered streets. I don't remember which.

Next to the ship channel up here are lots of big piles of sand and rock. There are lots of old entrances to this area, Southern Stone (?) Further east I ran into a business with lots of cement mixers ready to roll and some mixers off their trucks. Many look broken not likely to be repaired. This was Cemex I believe.

There are lots of old houses, some in bad repair, some in pretty good shape. And there are some houses newly built on old sites. At the eastern end of Harrisburg, where the new rail line is ending some new condos have been built. A big sign advertises condos from the 160's. Some businesses are still going but there are lots of for sale signs on very large areas with big buildings and lots of paved space. They are pretty carefully fenced and locked with prominent "keep out" signs. I saw one residential property near all this with big no trespassing signs and next to it a welcome sign.

Quite a few people had signs on their houses saying "Martinez Family" or "Gomez Family" Sometimes it was on their mailbox. There are a lot of tall stately trees, obviously planted long before the present owners were born. Some are in areas otherwise not populated. But they are friendly monuments.

When you walk in Houston and you see something that looks like a hill you mark it. There is such a hill, well rather a depression as you pass Avenue J going on Brady street. You have to walk down to Avenue J and then walk back up on the other side. I know this "hill" may be only 5-6 feet high, yet for Houston this is quite a contour. This is fairly close to the ship channel, Buffalo Bayou. Could this be a former path of the bayou years ago or a tributary now filled in? Anyway I found it interesting as it is unusual.

I was amazed enough to take out my camera when I saw two century plants in bloom at Norwood and Sherman. These blooms were twenty feet tall. Very spectacular. Behind one I got the picture of a very tall palm, fifty feet high maybe. That palm has to be very old, perhaps older than any of us. It has weathered quite a few storms and freezes.

Well I have to mark the fruit and nut tree. I found a few citrus still on trees, along with the new fruit for this year. I saw an apple tree maybe not quite ripe. The apples were small and green. There were not many. I checked this year's citrus crop. I did not see any trees full of fruit. Maybe this will not be such a good year? Last week in Round Top I ran into a bunch of ripe grape vines. The fruit this year are in bunches, not single like I usually see. I picked a lot of grapes. Well some grapes. So today I ran into several big patches of grapes. Usually the grapes left are too high to reach and they are getting past peak picking time. Grapes are on the group and getting shriveled on the vine. But I did see one vine where a great harvest can be made, it was east on Harrisburg on the fence of a for sale business. They can be crushed for juice. They are really not sweet enough to eat.

Psalm 23

Psalms 23:1-6 CEV (A psalm by David.) You, LORD, are my shepherd. I will never be in need. (2) You let me rest in fields of green grass. You lead me to streams of peaceful water, (3) and you refresh my life. You are true to your name, and you lead me along the right paths. (4) I may walk through valleys as dark as death, but I won't be afraid. You are with me, and your shepherd's rod makes me feel safe. (5) You treat me to a feast, while my enemies watch. You honor me as your guest, and you fill my cup until it overflows. (6) Your kindness and love will always be with me each day of my life, and I will live forever in your house, LORD.

Trust in the Lord with every part of your life and enjoy the adventure of faith. So says the commentator on this psalm.

We are homeward bound.

When things get tough, do not fear. Do not fear the evil that surrounds you. That is so true today. Remember you are homeward bound.

Often in hindsight we can see God's hand. When we are the midst of the conflict we often don't. We have to trust.

But God has given you the victory (5). This famous psalm bears reading carefully. Take the verses as promises for you life today. Remember God has promised us a home in heaven. He has promised us a feast. That often occurs here too. Let us be grateful for all his provision. But remember we are homeward bound.

Psalms 23:1-6 ASV A Psalm of David. Yahweh is my shepherd; I shall not want. (2) He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters. (3) He restoreth my soul: He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. (4) Yea, thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. (5) Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou hast anointed my head with oil; My cup runneth over. (6) Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah for ever.

Cross Currents

All this last weekend my wife and I were at a healing retreat. It's a bit different perhaps. It's a personal healing retreat. I went because I figured my wife would like it and I'd get a weekend in the country. I did get my weekend in the country. I also did get prayed for.

After the fact DW admits she did not want to go but enjoyed in immensely. Hmmm. So much for communication. I trust in heaven communication will be better. That is something I eagerly look forward to - communication.

Why is it when one gets together to pray and look at besetting sins we always stress sexual sin? People shared openly so that those there for prayer would know they were not alone. Perhaps there is an important answer. Sexual sins do not get spoken of. We are very embarrassed. I am not as embarrassed by my anger, my envy, my greediness, my gluttony. Now I am embarrassed by those things but just not as much.

OK, away from that. I mostly brought it up because the Sunday reading at the 5 PM service I attended was on Galatians 5. I thought of the weekend with the verses and the sermon that used this chapter as its basis. Galatians 5:1 Paul states, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; Therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." The preacher spent some time on what freedom was and was not, at least in the context of Paul's letter. Freedom is NOT licentiousness. Why not?

Perhaps I was seeing a contrast between Paul's attitude and the attitude of the author of the conference materials. Would AC say that one must be healed before one can be free? What would Paul say about the modern trend in some circles to seek after spiritual healing? Would he find it helpful? Paul says in 5:1 "It was for freedom that Christ set us free! Therefore keep standing firm! Paul says Christ has set us free. He is speaking to Christians who have determined to give their lives to God and walk as disciples.

The lesson read in church skips 2-15 and goes on to verse 16. So when he says you are free, he is at least first speaking of being free of the Jewish law. Verses 2-15 expands on this. The lesson read in church skips this and goes on the part about walking in the spirit and it's opposite walking in the flesh.

To Paul's mind walking in the law is close to walking in the flesh. We may not see it that way but to Paul is was very clear. A modern take is to think about creating our own laws, like laws against drinking, smoking, playing cards, going to movies, dancing, etc. These laws are often well meaning to keep us from falling into sin. But they are akin to the laws the Jews created to keep themselves holy before the Lord. Paul was very concerned about our heart attitude.

To Paul these laws were shackles, shackles that kept you from living in your freedom. However for Paul freedom was definitely not freedom to do whatever you like. I suppose the difference is mainly in the heart. Paul says "Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh!" I see that as in the same vein as Jesus' exhortation culminating in John 15:5 "I am the true vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit. And apart from me you can do nothing." I think walking in the Spirit is directly linked to abiding in me (Jesus).

Paul tells them they are free. Verses 2-15 is something of an aside, working in the specific situation that he finds the Galatians, tempted to follow the Jewish law. The law seems easier for them and also for us to. Freedom is hard, its scary. We are afraid of what we are capable of if we are free to do as we like. We wish rules to make life easier.

Paul takes a different tack. Paul proclaims them free. They are free to walk in the Spirit of God. Also free to abide in Jesus. Paul is well aware of their reaction to this. So he explains what it means to walk in the flesh and what it means to walk in the Spirit. He encourages them to walk in the Spirit. Nevertheless he wants them to know that they are free. Christ Jesus set them free. If God sets you free you are free indeed!

excuses excuses

I ran into another man recently who said (repeatedly) that he no longer went to church, has not for about three years and dared me to prove that the Bible is true.

Now he did not say he would go back to church if I could prove it. But he did juxtapose those two things implying that his doubts about the Bible had caused doubts in his faith. Now no one can really prove the Bible true. As I commented as you study Biblical Greek you find there are other extra factors that confuse things even more. ONE MUST ACCEPT GOD ON FAITH.

I think the bottom line is you must accept the claims of Jesus to be Son of God and fully man, that he came to earth died for our sins on the cross and then God raised him from the dead in three days.

But by this man's own admission he did once believe and did attend church. This whole doubt story is a smoke screen. He simply does not want to change his behavior. He understands (somewhat rightly) that he cannot continue in the behavior that he is doing if he honestly wants to be a true Christian.

Someone once aptly said, he has been inoculated to Christianity. Now he knows the claims, even knows the truth of the claims, but he can resist because he likes life as it is. The pearl of great price that a man hid and sold all he owned so he could buy, this man has found too expensive. He knows its worth but still can refuse to buy it. So he uses this excuse that the Bible cannot be proven to be true. In this he is absolutely right. I think you come to faith first and then God reveals all.

He then throws in things about science. This morning he posed a question. What if another planet was discovered with people worshiping a different god? That's a lot of ifs. This is a conditional based on an untrue premise.

Based on experience and faith, there is sufficient reason to have faith in the cross and resurrection of Jesus for anyone who wished lay down his life. But if one does not want to give his life he can find reasons, superficially good reasons, to say he cannot believe. But it is all a crock, a pretense, a smoke screen.

Mark 1

John and Jesus both came to preach Good News of a coming kingdom. They came to a world fractured by war. The Jordan River was a boundary between Rome's empire and the enemy. As such is was an uneasy place. Yet people came out to be baptized. This is where John baptized many people.

Both Jesus and John preached about the advent of a new world. John came to announce the savior. Jesus was the savior. As savior he would announce the coming kingdom that he would rule. There would be a new world, new rules. Yet it did not really happen. Instead we come into the kingdom one by one, not as a group. The whole nation of Israel did not repent and accept her savior. They rejected and killed him.

This reminds me to pray today for places that have strife. We pray that the kingdom of God will come there. Just as Jesus came to bring the kingdom to Israel. Jesus does come to these places calling people to repentance and peace. Yet still today most people reject his advances. Yet still today people come into the kingdom one person at a time.

I can think of a few places where there is strife. Syria and Congo (Zaire) come to mind. I am sure there are others. Let us pray for souls to repent and accept Jesus and join a fellowship of believers. And let us pray for peace.

Let us pray or workers in those wartime places.

Isaiah 3

Isaiah 3 speaks of God's judgment. First God speaks of capricious rulers. This brings a sort of judgment all its own. Isaiah lists people types: warrior, judge, elder, honorable man, artisan but if those who lead are not fair and cannot be relied upon then you are always insecure no matter how personally capable you are. Next God seems to be speaking of a lack of leadership, people desperately trying to find someone to lead them. Having a cloak is sufficient qualification for leadership. But people refuse to lead. This seems to be a sort of judgment from God as well. Perhaps people really refuse to be led, making anyone of any ability unwilling to take on such a thankless task.

Then there is a section where God describes how the rich abuse the poor and powerless. I always ask myself if I am fair and righteous in my business dealings? I try to be. But I'm never sure.

Then women are denounced. The young women (daughters) proudly strut their stuff for all to see. They use cheap jewelry to attract attention. Isaiah gives a long list of the types of ornamentation the women wear. Almost all of it seems to make noise as the women move. This shows a further effort to get attention. But God says judgment will come. Instead of well set hair they will have a plucked out scalp. OUCH! Instead of a beautiful belt they will wear a rope. Instead of fine clothes they will wear sackcloth. This makes me picture slavery, servitude. Also a judgment to them the young men will die in battle, even the strong men. So the women will be left alone, with no one to marry and give them children.

The survivors will be left to beg for a man. They will accept anyone who will call himself husband, even if he refuses to support them. These women, rather than be cursed with spinsterhood will be willing to live in their own place and get their own food if a man will call himself her husband. They are willing to share this man with other women. It is implied that most men do not find this arrangement satisfactory. They do not wish the responsibility and find it hard enough to survive. So probably many of these women do not find a husband under any condition.

All this is a judgment from God for the people's sin. It describes a commentary on the situation that Isaiah sees around him. He sees it through the eyes of God and shares it with those who will listen. And he writes it down for posterity.

Psalm 18

Psalm 18 is a great psalm to read slowly, meditate. Accept the promises and the challenges. Read it over.

18:6 seems to imply that God has a heavenly throne. Revelation expands on that. God is in the violent forces of nature. Is the earthquake a response to God's anger. Then we have a word picture of God riding on a cherub. I think flying chariot.

A book I have recently read is called "He Shall Thunder from the Sky". Perhaps that is an allusion to 18:13. The God who get the rocks to moving is a God who is very close indeed. He is very involved in his world. He starts in his temple (on earth or in heaven). Then he gets busy. I wonder if the author experienced an awful earthquake. It reminded him of God's awesome power. The earthquake is a response to a small ripple of God's anger. The breath from his nose can cause a great earthquake (18:15).

Then God shows his involvement with his people. God is described as a redeemer, a deliverer. I am reminded of how much God wants to be involved in our lives. When we are in trouble he wants us to cry out to him. "He rescued me because he delighted in me." (18:19)

Verse 20 is a promise. Is it for me? Am I qualified? Am I righteous or clean enough? Thank God I do have a redeemer in Jesus Christ who has made me righteous. Verses 20 and 24 are bookends enclosing a promise and a challenge. Can I walk blameless before him? Can I live righteously? I have been made clean by God's mercy. And God expects us to strive to live a life worthy of our calling.

Keep reading Psalm 18. It bears reading slowly and rereading. There is good stuff here.

Acts 5

This is the story of Ananias and Sapphira. We probably all know it and shudder because we secretly identify with their actions (and motivations). We suspect we have tried to claim ourselves to be "all in", to be 100% committed to Jesus while we know in out hearts we are holding back some. We may not actually lie like this married couple did. Yet we feel we are not being totally honest. And we wonder what God is thinking about us.

So this story scares us. A man I used to know would like to argue religion and would take the position in arguments that the Bible is not inerrant but is the creation of wily men. About this story he once stated that what really happened was that Peter killed them both, executed them if you will, and then had them buried. This seems very far fetched but it answers the question of why they died so suddenly. His version certainly does not make one feel better.

But it is very amazing "coincidence" that they just happen to have massive heart attacks after being confronted with their lie. Panic must have ensued in their hearts. In some strange way they feared God, hence their willingness to give some money and join the group but somehow they thought they could hide their deceitfulness from God. I hope we do not do that. As Peter told Sapphira, it is better to be open with God. You cannot fool him. But you can trust him.

When I am not totally committed I admit my weakness to God. Why try to fool God? One should trust God to be just and merciful. I also admit my weakness to men who need to know. I pray for God to make up for what I lack.

We sing a new song in our church called "Furious". In the song God's love is described with several adjectives and one of them is furious. Of course there are the more usual adjectives too. The Spanish translation perhaps more literally means "fierce". I like that.

What does it mean that God's love is furious? I think the point is to create dissonance in our minds, to point out that God's love is different than our love. We do not think of our love for our wife or family as furious, do we? God is a passionate God, extremely passionate. His love is holy too. We do well to remember God's love is amazing and vigorous. It is real. When we think of love we think of hearts, flowers, peace, the color red. God's love is that but it's much more too. Can we handle God's love being called furious?

Two other examples of God's furious love are seen in Aachan's sin (Joshua 7) and Uzzah's presumption to touch the ark (2 Samuel 6:6-7). Aachan, like Ananias, thought he could hide his deceitfulness from God. God is loving but he is also holy. He is God. We are made in his image but God is more. We should never take God for granted. When we do take him for granted he will surprise us.

Acts 4

About 5,000 men came to faith from Peter's speech (Acts 4:4). I would maintain that not just the healing caused them to believe. That brought the crowd to listen. No, it was the fact of Jesus' resurrection being confirmed and explained by one of his followers. That was the sign, the big sign, Jesus predicted when he said, "Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days." Jesus was referring to his body.

All of those in the crowd had heard of the resurrection. All of them knew someone who knew someone who saw Jesus alive. Roman executions were very public and fairly frequent. They all knew people did not survive Roman executions. The Romans were very efficient. Jesus resurrection was the sign everyone knew about. Peter explained what it meant. And he explained what they could do about it (3:19). Peter was eloquent but that is not why they responded.

Peter was equally bold in front of the temple leaders (4:8). Peter proclaims Jesus is the only name in which salvation comes (4:12). Wow. That is the gospel in a nutshell. Peter did not need a lot of theologians to explain it to him. He was truly filled with the perfect wisdom of the Holy Spirit (4:8).

The Jesus leaders felt it was not expedient to anything to Peter and John right then. Perhaps there was even division among them. Some of them may have been secret believers. But there must never have been sufficient numbers to carry the day. Later the Sanhedrin would be successful in stamping out the new movement in Jerusalem. They would kick all believers in Jesus as Messiah out of the temple.

Acts 3

Peter and John are going to the temple to pray at prayer time. It sounds like they are becoming observant religious Jews. I wonder if they are wearing traditional religious attire much like today's observant Jews do. The beggar speaks to them. They feel compassion for the beggar who asked for money.

They are living communally with other believers by faith. So they had no spending money. All the money in the community was used to buy essentials for the group. We read earlier that the group was growing. They had no spare money. But what they did have was faith in Jesus Christ their ascended Lord. They had seen him heal lame men before. So they called on Jesus, used his name, to heal the lame man. Peter, impetuous as always, grabs the man by the arm and yanks him up. He uses a maneuver he had used many times while fishing, to pull him to his feet. I imagine a strong pull, almost rough.

But as the man is pulled up his legs are strengthened and he is able to stand and walk without help. Just minutes before he had been carried by friends or family to this place. He was not able to move without help. It is possible that the very act of pulling him up did the trick. Perhaps he had not actually tried out his legs in a long long time. Perhaps he could have stood on his own but not known it. Perhaps. However Acts 3 tells us his feet and ankles we strengthened (7) and late in Peter's sermon (16). He is not wobbling around either. When he realizes he can stand on his own he gives a big leap. He is enthusiastic, eager to be free to move on his own. He walks, jumps around, and praises God.

The former beggar now follows Peter and John through the temple. Now when Peter sees they have attracted a crowd he decides to witness. Something so wonder as God's mercy on this man should not be hidden. It is appropriate to give credit to the one who is able to heal. That is certainly not Peter. God gets the glory

Peter then takes the time to glorify Jesus Christ who is risen from the dead. He blames them for his death but then excuses them because they did not know what they were doing. He explains that they can still be his followers even now. They do not scoff. The rumors about a man being raised from the dead surely have passed around. People may wonder but there are many who claim to have seen Jesus alive. As Paul said, this did not happen in a dark corner somewhere. Just as they were offered the gift of salvation so are we, even after we have rejected Jesus, we can still repent and accept him as savior and Lord.

Hebrews 6

Hebrews 6:4-6 is a tough saying. We are likely to dismiss it and go on. What if we struggle with it for a minute?

Heb 6:4-6 But what about people who turn away after they have already seen the light and have received the gift from heaven and have shared in the Holy Spirit? What about those who turn away after they have received the good message of God and the powers of the future world? There is no way to bring them back. What they are doing is the same as nailing the Son of God to a cross and insulting him in public! CEV

The Greek starts with a preposition that means "it is impossible that". At minimum one must realize how serious God is and how important it is that we do not fall away. The writer warns the readers to not decide to quit the church, go back to old beliefs without considering the consequences. The writer often contrasts Jesus' new revelation with the older Jewish revelation. This new revelation of God is much greater, much stronger, much closer to God. And it is not a good thing to give it up, as is implied the people this is written to are considering.

But what about what he writes here? Is it true that once one falls away, repents of being a Christian there is no way back? The Greek uses the word "tasted" twice. Once we have tasted God, can we give it up? Certainly there is only one salvation, only one crucifixion. Jesus will not do it again. It is once and done. But wasn't that one time sufficient, even if we fall away and attempt to come back again?

Perhaps he is speaking about us. How hard will it be for us to repent a second time after rejecting it once? It will take a lot more humility than most people have. The first time took humility but we can tell ourselves we did not know any better. But now we did. We did taste how good God was. And we rejected it for a bowl of porridge. Are we going to be able to fully and honestly repent again? It will be much harder for us a second time. Perhaps that is one way to look at it. But are we being honest with the text?

I think one thing is true. If we decide to fall away to try other things, to sin a lot with the idea of coming back later, one may never get back. That is too risky. Certainly we have been tempted to do some sin: have sex with some person casually, steal money from a business or the government, live a lie with the idea that later God will have to forgive us and we'll be good. There are lots of reasons not to do that but one reason is we may get permanently trapped or we may die while still fallen away. Would God's forgiveness still apply while we are in flagrant sin? The writer here leaves some room for doubt. And I think we should struggle with it, if we are serious about being a disciple of Jesus.

The writer goes on to say those of us who have tasted God but then go on to produce bad fruit, what will God say about that? But after warning them, the writer then encourages them that the works they have done in God's name will be remembered by God. He encourages them to be steadfast, not lazy.

He concludes the chapter by reminded them of the revelation to Abraham and then beginning to show that Jesus is a priest of the order of Melchizedek, whom Abraham acknowledged as an agent of God. That he will continue into the seventh chapter.

picking dewberries

Sunday - Barbara and I picked three cups of dewberries at our regular spot off Leeland. We disturbed a homeless guy's "home". He had accumulated lots of aluminum cans hidden in a waste area very near downtown. He wanted to walk his bicycle up a path where Barbara was picking. I asked him why. He said, "None of your business." I soon saw why he said that. I soon saw what his business was. Good luck to him.

I followed directions on the recipe and made a very good looking dewberry pie.

Saturday - A Jehovah's Witness came to the house around 11 AM. I was in the midst of chopping but nothing was pressing. So I went out on the front porch and talked to her for a while. I enjoyed preaching, teaching and exhorting her. I do sincerely hope God will speak to her heart about her error.

Recycling

Recycling has gotten to be an obsession with me. I feel good about recycling. I feel excited about it. Why do I feel so excited? Right now my major effort is recycling citrus fruit that otherwise would not be picked. It is still going on, despite the fact that citrus is already blooming and budding for this fall's crop. Some trees still have last year's crop on the trees. This fruit will eventually shrivel up and drop off if not picked. Amazingly most of that fruit on the trees is still good. Citrus stays ripe in the trees for months. I know of many grapefruit still in trees. There are oranges too but orange trees are taller. I cannot reach most of the remaining fruit.

There are also plenty of sour oranges. People largely do not pick this stuff. Kids probably pick them to throw at one another. I am working on ways to use the sour oranges. You cannot eat them. They make your mouth pucker they are so sour. But orange pies are excellent. They take some effort though. I have also developed an orange aide that is not half bad. But it's an acquired taste. One third juice, two thirds water and add 1/4 cup of saccharine for sweetener. Not too sweet and dietetic for me. There is also sour orange marmalade. It tastes pretty much like regular marmalade.

As I go to my car I see other evidences of recycling, leaves and grass from bags left for trash, soil washed out of yards and into the gutter on the side of roads. Getting that soil is pretty hard work. Soil is heavy. A man walking by saw me shoveling soil into a container last week and just shook his head. Yeah I'm crazy.

As I walk for exercise I find some fairly interesting things to reuse. I am pretty obsessed.

In the home we accumulate a lot of stuff. When I am straightening up I find a lot of things that have not been used for years. I either think of some way to use them, place them in a box to take to Goodwill, or toss them. I imagine Goodwill tosses a lot of this stuff without trying to sell it. But that is there problem. I do not give them broken things, just unusual ones. Things that would take imagination. Yet I believe there is someone out there who would pay a little for it. But I admit these things would be hard to move.

I am constantly looking at the food we have in the freezer and pantry to see how to use things long forgotten. If they are still remotely edible I will think of a recipe to use them in. Sometimes I have a great time combining seasoning where we have two containers of the same thing. I love doing that too. We also have lots of little body lotions and body washes. This morning I tried to combine some of those. I know the scents are different. The girls will howl. But these lotions are long forgotten. They were not going to use them anyway. I might use them, just to get rid of them.

In a broader sense jail ministry is about trying to recycle people. That is not as easy. The results are not as readily apparent. So one has to enjoy the process. Helping at the retirement home is similar I suppose. These people are often forgotten by others. And they need visiting in any way possible. People need "recycling" in a sense, we all do. In this context recycling means discovering or enhancing someone's talents and virtues. They are there. God knows it. They are not getting used as much as they could be. Be at peace with that.

I am going through Hebrews right now (Chapter 2 and 3). I've been missing my daily Bible readings lately. Salvation is like recycling to me as I have expanded the meaning of the word. Jesus has redeemed us. His redemption is big. The writer says we (they) will regret having walked away from so great a glory. Jesus is both high priest and victim. He suffered, he was tempted. He redeemed suffering. He overcame temptation. There is recycling in there.

Last night we read and meditated on Isaiah 43:1-2 which starts, "Fear not for I have redeemed you." God did a recycling project on the Israelites. He took them from the Chaldees and chose them. He saved and redeemed them out of Egypt. The second verse says when you are over your head in water, when you go through fire God will be with you. You will not drown or be burned. God will save you. It is a promise first for the Israelites but do we take this to be a promise for us as well? I think we do. I know I do. God is always with us. He is in the process of using and reusing us. Perhaps that is why I like recycling so much. I think it is a model of how God takes us, broken as we are and finds a use for us. I find that so exciting.

The poor you will have with you always ...

Jesus said, "The poor you will have with you always, but you will not always have me." What does this mean? This seems a hard saying to some. Does Jesus imply that we should give to him first? Or does he imply the poor are not important? Surely not that.

Are we offended by this statement? This occurs in Bethany, near Jerusalem. Mark and Matthew parallel this story with it occuring in the house of Simon the leper. John remembers it in Lazarus' house. These differences do not bother me as they used to. People's memories are faulty. I am the worst at that, as my family is quick to remind me. But that does not disqualify the major ideas of this story.

Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 15:11. The context in Deuteronomy is the Sabbatical year. Any fellow Jew that was sold into slavery must be released in the 7th year. And one must not be hard hearted, calculating when the time will be up and deciding not to help someone because debts must be forgiven soon. No, one must be generous, open-hearted when it comes to helping a fellow Jew. So Deuteronomy concludes, "The poor will be with you always." Implied in this is that you must freely open your hand to help.

It is not the same to take money from rich people and redistribute it to the poor. This is not what God tells us in Deuteronomy. God tells us to help the poor. But too many people misinterpret this to mean government entitlements. This lets us out of helping the poor. I gave at the office, so to speak. But it does not.

The government is basically buying votes. An despite the billions redistributed we still have the poor with us. There are still those who need our help, if we only look around. The personal touch is so important. God is saying we need to be compassionate. The personal touch often helps people to find a way out. Unfortunately the government approach ruins people's initiative.

Jesus is not saying not to help the poor. What is he saying? Well firstly he is rebuking those criticizing the woman, using a false disingenuous reason. They do not care about the poor. They hope to dip into the treasury themselves.

But secondly he is saying helping the poor is not our only occupation. We are also to bless Jesus, to thank God often with sacrifice. It is important to spend money on God as well. In Jesus' time many people gave to his ministry. It is good to do that. Today it is also good to give to the ministry of those who are telling others about God, both to churches and to missionaries, and to para-church organizations.

Jesus says "You will not have me with you always." Yes, he is now in heaven. We can no longer see him. Yet he is with us, through the Holy Spirit. He is present to us. And giving to his agents who are in ministry is a good thing. To me it is part of Jesus admonition to give to him, while you have him. We have him. It is good and right to give to his ministry.

Joshua 3-4

Last Saturday there was a large 10k fun run starting at Tranquility Park, near city hall. Some wondered why it started so late. It is because we preceded and led off the Rodeo Parade, a very big tradition in Houston. The parade traditionally starts at 10 AM. The rodeo parade reminds us of our roots as a farming and ranching hub. There are lots of otherwise city folk who spend the week before on horseback coming into Houston on "trail rides". Then they camp in parks around Houston the night before and participate in the parade on Saturday. As we finished the race we saw them still coming down Memorial Drive.

The race started at 9:10 AM but the 10k portion of the race had over 9,000 people so it took at least 30 minutes to get everyone through the starting gate.

The 5k portion had thousands more and it took quite a while for us to get over the starting mark. Just think if it had been over 2 million people, like the number of people who crossed the Jordan one day over 3,000 years ago. Joshua was the leader of this large group of people. The people crossed on dry land. The "ford" was bigger than the starting gate of a 10k race but still fairly small, I guess, when you consider how many people had to get across. It took a long time for everyone to cross over. They crossed before Joshua and before God, and before the Ark of the Covenant which was held by priests in the middle of the river until all had passed over.

After they all passed over and while the priests were still in the riverbed God told Joshua to send men back, one from each tribe to go back to the river to each get a large stone out of the river bed. Each man got one large stone. They carried them to the place when the new nation was to camp for the night. They used these rocks to make a memorial to what had happened that day. When in the future people had a hard time believing that anyone could have crossed the Jordan here (on dry land) they could point to the pile of rocks. They passed over in the harvest season, the time when the Jordan would be at flood stage. This was the time of year when the Jordan was strongest. Someone could point to these smooth stones, obviously coming from a river bottom and say, "Here is proof!"

We are sometimes tempted to think that people in earlier times were more gullible, more superstitious than they are now. But not really. There is no reason to think so. People have always trusted their experience. If in their experience a thing was unlikely, even impossible, they are not going to readily believe you when you say it once did happen. Crossing the Jordan was miraculous. If you did not see it with your own eyes, you are not likely to believe it happened. No matter how much you trust the person's testimony, you are still going to doubt. So the stones were set up to help people believe. So God had Joshua put up a memorial.

Psalm 8

Today's psalm (song) is psalm 8. This is a commentary on Genesis 1, the creation. "What is man that you should be mindful of him?"

The Celebration service at SJD is about to end. I will miss it. Yet I suspect it has run its course. It is a failed and failing service if you look at the numbers. And yet there are a few mature wonderful people who consider it their regular service and love it very much. But with less that 25 regular attendees we, the choir and musicians sometimes out number the congregation. I will miss my fellow worship leaders. But I suspect my relationship to SJD, as little as it has become, will dwindle to nothing now. Life moves on.

I bring that up because one of Celebration's favorite anthems based on Psalm 8. I did not realize how close it is:

"When I gaze into the night sky and see the work of your fingers.

The moon and stars suspended in space.

Oh what is man that you should be mindful of him.

You have made man in glory and honor and have made him a little lower than the angel.

You have put him in charge of all creation.

The beasts of the field.

The birds of the air.

The fish of the sea.

Yet what is man that you should be mindful of him.

Oh Lord our God, little children praise you perfectly.

And so should we."

Well pretty close to that.

God made an amazing big universe. We are such a little part of it. So little. Sometimes we marvel at it. Man knows more about it now than David did so long ago. Yet the more we know the more mind boggling it all is. Why did God do it? If we do not believe that God created it where does that leave us? It just is? It just happened? Big Bang Theory tells us there was a time when it was not. How did it all happen? Surely there has to be some kind of divine mover? Like I said it is all mind boggling.

Joshua analogy

I am always blessed that the Bible contains examples that have modern analogies. Take Joshua. Joshua followed a great iconic charismatic leader. We see lots of examples in business of this. Joshua represents something fairly common in business. He took over for the accepted founder.

Moses had his weak times early on and at first no one accepted him. But when he died he was revered as a multi-talented genius. Joshua is his protege. He has been helping Moses since he was a youth. He is Moses hand picked successor. He is also God's hand picked successor. But now, in the book of Joshua, he is on his own to guide a mobile nation into battles and then settling the new land. His role is a continuation of what Moses was doing but also something new. The world is changing around him.

In businesses the second generation of leadership, following after the successful founder, often has trouble continuing the vision. Often the most successful second CEO takes the company in a new direction. But many hand picked successors try to maintain the company as it is. As the world changes this usually stymies growth. At best the successor can only keep the same size and manage the asset that the founder created.

A good example is Apple Computer and founder Steve Jobs. Finally Jobs is out for good. He died of cancer, not terribly old. He is finally gone. His hand picked successor is doing a pretty good job. He is trying to keep up the visionary ways that allows Apple to stay ahead in the fast changing technological industry. But the new leaders just do not have Job's special vision. They are working to maintain. But in technology old products and methods are quickly replaced. Maintaining is not going to work. So far Apple is still successful. But it is different now.

Disney Pictures is a good example of a company trying to maintain the assets that the founder created. No one has had the vision of Walt Disney. There have been some successes yet the successors to Walt Disney mostly maintain the assets he created profitably. Disney himself started the procedure used to milk the blockbuster movies by re-releasing them every so often. The theme parks get renewed with new attractions. But really the leaders of Disney are maintaining what the founder created many years ago.

It is hard to follow the successful founder. Joshua is trying to do that. He tries to build on what Moses did. He tries to use his same techniques. But he also creates new things on his own, building on the foundation that Moses left. Of course Joshua is also following God and God speaks to him and gives him favor, as long as he stays obedient. That part makes it different than the business leader analogy. Still I get the impression that Joshua follows God as best he can, still he thinks of Yahweh as Moses' God. He is in the shadow of Moses for a long time. But in his old age he becomes a faithful beacon that those after him try to emulate. Unfortunately they begin to forget how and lose their zeal.

short post Joshua 1

Joshua was commanded to meditate on the book of the law (that Moses wrote). Joshua 1:8. We, in contrast, meditate on God, clearly seen in Jesus, who is God come as a human being. That in a nutshell is the difference in the covenants. The Israelites had a set of laws. That is how they served God. We see Jesus, identify with him and model our lives on his life.

We have a law of love if you will. But we also aspire to righteousness, as Jesus did. Jesus knew no sin. He never sinned. We will never be able to claim that but we aspire to righteousness. But the righteousness we aspire to is a righteousness of the heart, not only of actions. So only God can truly judge how righteous we are. Only God knows our hearts.

Matthew 9 - second question

The disciples of John came up to Jesus and asked him why his disciples did not fast. This seemed unusual to them. Would it seem unusual to us today? I don't think so really. But they said the Pharisees fasted and John's disciples fasted (a lot). So why did Jesus disciples act differently and not fast?

Why do you think they did not fast?

Jesus responded with a word picture. He said his disciples could not possible fast while the bridegroom was with them. He called his disciples attendants. Literally the Greek calls them "sons of the bridegroom". This reminds us of a Jewish wedding, that could go on for days. The attendants are eating and drinking and rejoicing. It would be rude. It would be wrong to fast during a wedding feast.

Today we do not regularly fast. Maybe some fast during Lent, but it is not very serious. Fasting is meant to draw us closer to God. But Jesus is saying "How can anyone get any closer to God than they are when they are with me. After all I am God in the flesh and they are living and eating with me."

Jesus follows up with two analogies. First he states no one would ever patch an old garment, or cloth with a new piece of fabric. When the new piece shrinks the whole thing will be ruined. Next he reminds them that new wine would never be poured into an old wineskin. If one did the one wineskin would burst destroying the wine, and the wineskin. No new wine in new wineskins and both are preserved. His audience would be nodding their heads knowingly. This would be practical knowledge.

What is Jesus saying here? He is saying the old covenant and the new covenant cannot be mixed. The Pharisees and the disciples of John are under the old covenant. Jesus represents the new covenant. This must somehow refer to the question about fasting. You can conjecture but it must somehow be connected. It is part of the same story, the same response to the question. How does two illustrations about the covenant refer to a question about fasting?

I think, among other things Jesus is saying fasting is associated with the old covenant. Jesus was gone for only a few days. But now he is back. He may not be here eating and drinking with us anymore but he is here in the Spirit. We have no need of a way of getting closer to God. We can get as close to God as our faith allows. Often our faith is weak and we feel a need for things to help us. But we really do not need things like sacrifice and fasting. Jesus tore the curtain dividing us out of the Holy of Holies. We can approach the throne of God because of Jesus' intercession for us. We are righteous because Jesus makes and calls us righteous.

I desire compassion and not sacrifice

Yeah this is a translation of Matthew 9:13. Jesus is quoting Hosea. Compassion is often translated mercy. But I like compassion. It is an emotion. Mercy seems more like an action to me.

I was preparing a message and I was struck by this. Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees who prized sacrifice and minimized mercy, it seems. Obviously this was written by Matthew because Jesus was speaking to us too. I identify with the Pharisees because I can see that I much prefer sacrifice to mercy or compassion. I am defining sacrifice broadly. The Pharisees would have too. Not just animal sacrifice but giving money to the temple, giving alms, fasting, celebrating all the Jewish high holy days. Yet they did it without compassion.

Jesus said, "God desires mercy, not sacrifice." It is easier for me to sacrifice: money, time, talent (such as it is) rather than feel compassion or loving towards those less well off than me. Why is this bad? Bottom line, because God is a compassionate God. All my sacrifice does not glorify God if it does not include compassion, mercy. All Jesus' healing were done because he felt compassion for someone who had a need, not because he felt an obligation. He did not do good to make himself feel holy.

Lord help me, Lord help all of us to feel compassion for our fellow man. Good works do not make us righteous. Only Jesus can make his righteous through his work on the cross. So our works are done in grateful response. Remember his amazing love for us and reflect it back on those around us. We can be compassionate on all people, not just people we might consider less fortunate.

Genesis 14

Chapter 14 is different than those around it. It looks historical rather than personal. God's name is different, translated "the Most High God". There are lots of personal names and place names. Kings and cities. We know that the army Abram used to defeat the kings numbered 318.

Despite the leaders being called kings I picture small numbers on each side. These kings likely ruled city states not nations as we might imagine.

This is the chapter where Abram comes out of the hills to rescue his nephew Lot after a big battle goes bad for the king of the place where Lot lived. Lot lived in Sodom. He and his possessions were part of the spoils of war.

It does not appear that Abram and king of Sodom got along well. The king is too proud to give any thanks for his people and things being rescued. Abram on his part is unwilling to show favor as well. He refuses to take any reward, just his nephew and his things.

But Abram has great respect for the priest-king Melchizedek. This man appears out of nowhere, he was not a party to the war. He is the ruler of another city state called Salem, which means peace. Abram, as a token of respect, gives a tenth of his winnings to the man likely in honor of the Most High God. Melchizedek is the priest of this Most High God. This must be the same God that Abram obeys. How he comes to be a priest we do not know. It is all very mysterious.

In the previous chapter we read how Lot came to be near Sodom, with his flocks. But now in this chapter he has moved into the city. Retired perhaps. He is likely a prominent citizen, likely because of his wealth. But Sodom is an evil city. Lot has most likely compromised his values to live among such evil people. We hope we are not compromising our values as we live in an increasingly evil culture.

Melchizedek is mentioned again in Hebrews. He is likened to Jesus. Jesus is called a priest after the model of Melchizedek. Abram sacrifices to the God of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is timeless, just like Jesus, who existed always. I think these are the only two places that Melchizedek is mentioned. The author of Hebrews was inspired to use his as an archetype, a forerunner of Jesus, our God and savior. Jesus is both ruler and priest, just like Melchizedek.

What is Truth?

I am going to paraphrase excerpts of a recent sermon by Rev. Matthew Fenlon. These are from notes and may not be exactly what he said.

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If truth exists, where can we find it? We find it in the Bible.

John Stott – Truth is most clearly seen when it is held up against our depravity.

John 8:31-32 Jesus told the people who had faith in him, "If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples. (32) You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

another translation: "If you abide in my word you will be my disciples."

A story Fitzsimmons Allison told on himself – after a hurricane he rushed to see if the records were OK. He went to a supply closet and got locked in without power. He could have been locked there for days. Try as he might, he pushed and pushed. Finally he found that the door opened to the inside. All he had to do was pull, not push. It was easy. It is a picture of all of us trapped in our own sinfulness, depending on ourselves, trying to be in control. It took him to stop trying before he realized the truth. He pulled the door, it opened and he was free.

We do not have to try to figure it out. Jesus has acknowledged everything. After the trial Pilate remarked, “What is truth?” Freedom is not something we can engineer. It is something that happens to us. When we have no other option and we finally give up. After that we will be free.

good story

Well last night I fed my animal trap some chicken bones. Today I was rewarded with a possum. It is a little baby. It was asleep when I came out to get the trap. I cannot bring myself to kill them so I take them over to the ship channel/bayou under Lockwood Drive. On one side is a crushed concrete yard. On the other is a small woodeda area extending down to the bayou. I let them out on that side.

OK. When I took the side road down to the bayou I was in for a shock. There was a Houston police car parked in the middle of the dirt under the bridge. Was the policeman hiding down there? He looked peacefully composed. He turned out to be small young Hispanic man. Very nice looking. Maybe the reason he was down there was because there was also a seemingly empty mail truck down there. It was parked sideways parallel to the bayou and right next to it. It was close to falling in. Perhaps he was waiting for some kind of backup.

Anyone I wanted to dispose of this possum and did not know what else to do with it. So I stopped, turned off the engine and got out of my car. I slowly approached the police car. He already had his window down. He asked me, "What can I do for you?" I said, "You are in my spot!" Then I asked him what he would think if I dropped a possum here. He thought that was funny. Among other things he asked me how many possums I had. Anyway he said it was no problem. I then mentioned that in some states it was illegal to do this. He said, "Not in Texas."

So I quickly got the possum moving along up the bank to his new home. As I returned to the car the policeman approached. He had some kind of hand held computer. He must have looked at some kind of guide. He told me that next time I catch a possum I should call Animal Control and see if they would come and pick it up. That seems like a good idea to at least try. These things should either be killed or found a better place than the one I have for them. Next time I will give the Houston bureaucracy a try.

Missionary - Muslim and Christianity

I have been struggling to find something new and interesting to blog on. Both Islam and Christianity are profoundly missionary religions. Thus there has been extreme conflict over the years. In this book I am reading, a fairly old book, they mention a conference held in Chambesy, Switzerland in 1976 on "the subject of mutual experience in mission". There was sharp frankness at this conference. It goes without saying that if each side was true to their beliefs there could be no agreement and even no compromise. There wasn't. I understand many Muslim speakers called for or demanded a moratorium on Christian mission in Islamic areas. Of course this was unacceptable to Christians with a missionary zeal.

From both sides there can be no agreement to simply coexist. To do so would be to deny the basic belief of your faith.

I would add parenthetically, the book does not mention it, that repression of those who do convert, on both sides, is totally wrong. A person should have the right to believe as he wants and to change his beliefs if he wants.

Secondly this man Kenneth Cragg in his book Call of the Minaret speaks of the poor morality of using hospitals and feeding programs to attempt to convert people since you are approaching them at their most vulnerable and weakest. I'd really never thought of that and those participating in this kind of service evangelism certainly never see it this way. They are demonstrating their God's mercy and compassion by serving a people in need. Surely it is right and important to explain to them why they are there and tell them of God's love for them? This is why Muslim countries have tried to reject Christian Missionary Hospitals in their midst. But those Christians who started them saw there was a need, it was not being met by the local culture and came in to take advantage of the situation to introduce the Christian God to the locals. If done correctly aid administered whether a person converts or not, I see little to criticize. Of course if you are simply making "rice Christians" then it is all wrong and one wonders about the honesty of the conversions themselves.

Embarrassing God

I was thinking: It is not easy to embarrass God. We spend a lot of effort being embarrassed for God. It is an idle pursuit.

Instead we do well to explain God, to proclaim the Good News of God's salvation for all mankind. God has prepared a way for all men to be saved.

Isaiah 35:1-10 speaks of a highway God builds above the fray. It's a poetical image. I love it as an image of salvation God prepares for us to walk in.

Some feel they do not need saving. Some think it is beneath them. Some do not want to contemplate a lifestyle change. Perhaps they do not want to give up some wicked thing, they know it is wicked, but they like it. (As if God could be embarrassed by it.)

Gd has prepared a highway for us to walk on. The righteous, the redeemed, the ransomed of the Lord, they will walk on it.

I hear we did not walk off the cliff last night. But we are putting off the inevitable. Perhaps the Mayas were not far off. *smile*