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Month: January 2012

What shall I do?

For a long time I have been wrestling with the lack of social awareness among professed Christians. There is an imbalance between the words spoken as “evangelistic” and the actions of justice and righteousness. This morning I was again reminded about this. And, I was rebuked by Yahweh. As I go to my meaningless job and realize that people have none; I am rebuked. As I sit in my comfortable, warm home and know that thousands sleep on the streets; I am rebuked. As I complain about not having something to eat while millions are starving; I am rebuked.
Yes, I give money to organizations that do the work. But, what am I doing? I, who have been blessed with the education, experience and training to actually make a difference in the lives of those who are in need. I am rebuked.

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Back home

Well, the road-trip is over. 2,412 miles pulling a U-Haul trailer with a Toyota Corolla. That car is definitely not meant for that application, but it made it. I would like to offer cudos to the U-Haul folks. The original installer left the safety chains a bit low so they dragged on the ground. By the end of day 2 both were broken. I called the roadside assistance folks from a hotel in Amarillo, TX. The person I spoke with was very helpful. Within an hour a local U-Haul tech showed up in the parking lot and replaced both chains. Thanx, folks.
During my time away I had a lot of time for reading and reflection. One thing that came my way was another chapter of Spiritual Classics. This one was by Alan Paton, a South African clergyman. He wrote of the liberating reassurances in the Gospel. He noted that Jesus said that we are salt and light. “Things  might be dark but they were to  be the light of the world.” I started to think about this and realized that there have been many words spoken and ink spilled on the topic of ‘being light.’ How does light work? What are the characteristics of someone who is light? Christ is the light of the world, and we are called to be partner luminaries. But, what of the dark? Not too many people discuss this. The darkness is the place that we all live. Yes, we bring light so that the darkness can be pushed back. But, the world is a dark and hostile place. We try to make it more comfortable, but, let’s face it, we can’t tame it. It is wild and foreboding. There is danger. There are all sorts of nasties: weather, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, etc. There is hatred, intolerance, war, poverty, violence of all kinds, greed, murders…you get my point. So, we ask, what has God done about it? God, the omnipotent? God, the omniscient? God, the omnipresent? Has God tamed the seemingly untameable? Is God capable? No. God has made us salt and light. When we ask, “God, when will you do something”? The Divine response is, “I was wondering the same of you.” Paton wrote, “God moves in his own mysterious ways, but a great deal of the time he moves through us.” We are light. But it is God who directs the beam. And, let’s not forget that the light is the foreign element in this world. Darkness is the natural condition. But, the reign of God will overcome it.

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On the road again…

It’s Friday. For many in the west Friday is a day of preparation. Preparation to kick back and enjoy the weekend. Songs that raise this day of the week to near holiday status have been sung by the working weary for ages. For me, it’s another day. Not because I have to work weekends. But, all of the days just kind of blur together. However, this Friday is a tad different. I will be flying to San Diego to help my daughter move. Now, going to southern California, where it’s forecast to be in the low 60’s sounds great to someone living where it’s currently about 17 degrees with a forecast high of about 21. Gotta luv winter…not.
Anyway, I will be away for several days traveling. If I can find a spot where there’s wifi I will try to get to this blog and update. But, if not, I will be back sometime next week.
To any who happen to actually visit here, God’s blessings on you!

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President Obama rejects Keystone pipeline

Here is a link to Sojourners. There are several articles/alerts/blogs at this link that can be viewed. http://www.sojo.net/search/apachesolr_search/keystone%20pipeline
I have to applaud the president for the courageous move. To say no to the oil industry, especially during economic slowdowns, takes guts. There are more reasons than can be counted as to why this is a good thing. You can read about them at the above link.
Please know that this issue is not dead. Congress will try to circumvent the president. Please take time to contact your representative and senators. Ask them to support the president on this. We cannot continue to mortgage our children’s and grand-children’s future on what appears to be present expediency.

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Another slow day at the old homestead

Yesterday I got to go see my cardiologist. Heart attacks are no fun. He didn’t say much. I think he was having a rough day. One thing about having heart issues like this is that I have slowed down. I don’t move quite so fast because things that made me run around like an idiot just aren’t all that important. I have, so far, lost almost 30 lbs. That’s a good thing. I walk an hour each day, (at least I try). ;o)
I guess I’m doing all that I can right now. Part of the reason for that is that by all rights I should have died on Nov. 3. My LAD, the main artery supplying blood to my left ventricle was 100% blocked. They call that one the “widow maker.” Well, my wife is not a widow…yet. God, for whatever reason, saw fit to let me hang out on this rock for a little while longer. So, I figure I should do my part.

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Martin, a Modern Prophetic Voice

I just spent a few minutes checking out The King Center’s archive page. All I can say is “Wow”! They have presented over a million documents that reference Dr. King, his work and his life. The site is extremely well-done and very intuitive. I thank the folks at The King Center for their hard work. Really, I’m amazed! I believe that Dr. King was the foremost prophetic voice of the last century. We would do well to listen to and heed his words.
Thanks to Dr. Allan Bevere for post this link at his blog. Please, check it out. The trip will be well worth it.

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God: To be or not to be…Is that even the question?

The past couple of days I’ve spent some time reading the blogs of folks who identify themselves as atheists. It’s been fun. These folks have some really good points that, apparently, aren’t being addressed by theists of any flavor. One of the recurring complaints is “I don’t think I can accept that without explanation or evidence.” I completely understand and respect this position. For people to question and investigate things is inherently human. (Not cat-like curiosity.) I am one of those Christ-followers who embrace the scientific community. Do I think that science knows, or can know, all of the answers to all of the questions that all of the people on this rock can ask? No, not really. On the other hand, do I think that the Bible or any person who searches and studies its contents can know this either? Still, no. One of the respondents to a blog I checked out identified himself as a physicist. He wrote, “In physics and mathematics, special circumstances hold at singularities.  Within classical big bang cosmology (which is regarded as incomplete by essentially all experts, even with the addition of semiclassical inflationary models), the Universe began with a singularity.” He then suggested with these special circumstances it’s possible that the Universe was causeless. I really hope that he’s not correct. I, like a good share of the rest of humanity, would like to think that we, as well as the Universe, have some reason, or cause, to be here taking up space. So, please, scientific community; keep looking!
The reason I can encourage those who seek is that I am not threatened by this. And, I don’t think that the God I follow does, either. I believe that this God has gifted humankind with a mind that questions and seeks. This mind is creative and imaginative, just like the One who imagined it.
In response to those who demand explanation or evidence. Sorry, can’t help you. And, to be honest, I don’t feel that I have to prove a thing. If I am truly to follow Christ, I must, with him, state, “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
Truthfully, I don’t see any reason to engage the discussions put forth by atheists. I really don’t think that discussion is even possible when there appears to be irreconcilable differences. They want proof, all I can offer is experience. Like one blind person in the Gospel narrative I can say, “I know that once I was blind, but now I see.” No one can share the blindness I experienced, so they cannot possibly understand what I now see. Please, I hope that no one thinks that because I don’t care to debate these issues I don’t care for those who would debate. I do. These are people who have meaning and worth. Their opinions are important, but they are only opinions. I cannot prove that God is a loving, caring Being who lives outside, yet inside of our physical universe. (Please, don’t make me try to say that again.) Nor, can they prove to me that there cannot possibly be any such Being. In the meantime? I suppose we can agree to disagree and get on with life. For some of us, that may be much longer, (shorter?), than we think.

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George Macdonald and a new kid on the block

It’s saturday morning. This week, as I’ve written in my journal, has been full of stuff that has made my brain hurt. So many thoughts and musings have been doing the macarana inside my head. It’s been exhilarating and a bit frustrating at the same time.
One of the exhilarating moments came as I read a small piece by 19th century Scottish author and minister George Macdonald. He is one who C. S. Lewis stated had a great influence on his own conversion and literary direction. In the piece Macdonald commented on Mark 8;1-21. The encounter described was after Jesus had fed 4,000 and had a run-in with some Pharisees. On a boat ride, Jesus made a comment about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. The disciples, ever on top of things, assumed that Jesus was upset because they had not brought bread on the trip. Jesus responded with a rather heated reminder of the feeding of the multitudes, not once, but twice. He finished with, “Do you still not understand?”
While many folks look at this and think that Jesus was upset because they didn’t realize that if he could multiply food for thousands, he was capable of taking care of the needs of 13 people. But, Macdonald took a slightly different angle on this. He wrote that the miracles of the feeding revealed God’s own compassion. The stories were not to reveal Jesus’ power, nor to confirm his role as a great prophet. It wasn’t even to confirm Jesus as the Son of God. It was to show that “God cared for His children, and could, did, and would provide for their necessities.” The miracles were an experiential lesson that the disciples needed to study and learn from.
One thing that I noted was that, if Macdonald’s take is viable, and I think it is, then what should the response of Christ’s followers be today? If Jesus chose to feed people to reveal God’s care and provision that is driven by God’s own character and compassion, should we not, in God’s name, do likewise? Feed the poor and hungry; clothe the naked; support the widows and orphans; comfort the sick and down & out…yeah, I think so.
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Also, today I’d like to encourage anyone who may stop by here to check out a new blog at http://morvensblog.wordpress.com/
Morven Baker is a counselor in Ashland, Oh. She is also married to one of my professors from ATS. I checked it out, and she is not blogging because she is the wife of an Old Testament scholar. She is doing this to help give voice to, well, let’s hear her words:
“I am a counselor who works with women.  For a long while now I have wanted to have a safe place to post well researched articles or educational links, as well as my own personal thoughts, that I felt might be helpful for my clients, the brave women who have survived abuse as children and/or adults, the real heroines of the stories.   Perhaps this place might be helpful for my friends, family and colleagues who really care about what I do and are my constant cheerleaders.  I also wanted a  place where readers, if there ever are any, can share their responses and know that their thoughts and feelings are respected and valued.”
 Welcome, Morven!

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It sounds good on paper, but….

I have been following Brian McLaren’s blog for quite some time. I first got turned on to him in a class at seminary. One of the professors wanted to show us some of the emergent church’s views, so he picked McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity. His intent was to give us an idea of the near heresies that were out in the community that we would need to prepare ourselves to ward off. Little did he know that McLaren resonated with me. I’ve got to be clear. I do not agree with everything that McLaren writes. However, there is a lot of refreshment in them thar pages. There is also quite a bit of food for thought.
Today McLaren had a link to a post by George W. Sarris titled, Jacob I Loved – Esau I Hated. It is an interesting look at election in the Bible. Sarris posits that those whom scripture states are created for wrath, or are for ‘common’ rather than ‘noble’ use, (Rom. 9:21), are not being dismissed to eternal torture, but are not chosen for God’s purposes at that time. He wrote, “Paul is not referring to election to salvation.  Rather, he is referring to God’s election to service of those He has chosen to be His instruments.” Now, I like this idea. I’m not one of those who is looking forward to any soul being lost for eternity. The God I read about doesn’t fit that description. But, there is a lot of history behind the traditional view of this, and similar, texts.
I am going to take quite a bit of time to reflect on this. Because, if this can be shown to be a viable understanding of these texts, it will change the way many people view the Reign of God on this planet.
Read Sarris’ post and let me know what you think.

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Occupy this thought…

I was reading Brian McLaren’s blog this A.M.
He posted a link to another blog post entitled, “http://joeboydblog.com/2012/01/05/a-personal-confession-re-occupy-movement/
I found the perspective Joe Boyd refreshing and not a little bit convicting. While I agree with some of the objectives of the Occupy Movement in the U.S., our lifestyle in general comments loudly to the rest of the world. It seems like we are saying, “More! Give us more!” while much of the world is crying out, “Just a little! We want just a little!”
I know that I am working toward simplifying my life for the express purpose of releasing more for me to give. I would encourage others who read this, or Boyd’s post to consider doing likewise.

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