The Racket of a Fallen World

This world is not a peaceful place.

People who come to my little community here in the Alleghany Highlands often comment about how quiet it is.  Others who visit here complain about how quiet it is. A couple of weeks ago, about an hour away, a guy claiming that God told him to do it, and by some reports yelling "Allahu Akbar," stabbed two people.  Just the other day a young man from right here in my town, suited up in body armor, got his guns and went to the Dam that creates one of the prettiest lakes in the world.  He had heard from God as well.  He was calling the faithful to join him in protecting the dam.  "ISIS was going to blow it up." My little place on God's earth might not be as loud as your place, and the racket this fallen world makes might not rise to the level that its groans become audible as frequently, but"the whole creation" is involved. We can't hide from sin and its consequences.  But, we can be victorious over it.  After speaking with great eloquence about just how broken this world is, the Apostle Paul kicks his rhetoric into over-drive.   “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31–39, NASB95) It's STTA. The question is, "Are you in Christ?"  Find out more at this site.  It's a message we all need.

Instead of dropping in for dinner, have dinner . . .

It's a bird it's a plane. No it's a pepperoni:

I just read about the latest pizza delivery option a short way south of here.  Actually it will be a while before Kiwis can have a drone deliver a pizza to their door-step, but if Domino's plans work out,it won't be long. The video shows the "Domicopter" being  tested in England, but since delivery by drone is legal in New Zealand, residents of the down-under nation could be getting pie from the sky, by spring of 2017. Be watching for the comics have a great time with this. Out of all the things that the world needs, just how high on the list does pizza delivery by a remotely controlled aircraft rise?  The best and brightest are working on new ways to deliver what the even better and brighter tell us we need less of, anyhow.  Meanwhile, I know folk who want to take the live-giving Good-news about Jesus Christ to the nations, and they are stuck for lack of resources. I have some friends who live and minister in New Zealand.  If they get their supper from this alien looking device, I hope they take a video, but more importantly, I hope they invite some neighbors in for the Italian air-raid, and share with them the bread of life. It's STTA. The delivery system is via old-fashioned words, but at this site, you'll find a message we all need.

Maturity

Maturity:

One of the chief signs of those who think they are mature is they think they have it all figured out. The sign of those who are is they know they don't. It's STTA.

Deadlines, Seen and Unseen

Deadlines:

I'm up against a deadline.  That's nothing new.  I spent most of my life as the pastor of a small church.  Sunday is always coming.  This one is a bit different, though.  While the deadline is real and missing it will have consequences, those consequences are less immediate than the preacher showing up Sunday morning with nothing to say.  Actually the real deadline is still ten days off--a lifetime for a guy who worked week-to-week for most of his life.  However, if I'm going to meet that deadline in a week and a half I have to meet a self-imposed one today. Several proverbs--or maybe they are cliche's; you decide-- compete for attention in my mind.   "You have to aim for perfection in order to achieve an acceptable result."  I learned that from a guy who never strove for perfection at any time in his good-enoughlife.  Still, the aphorism has some merit. "The perfect is the enemy of the good."  Some of those perfection-strivers burn so much time getting point A just right, that they never get to B or C, and A by itself just won't cut it. "Keep the big picture in mind." "Little things matter." Back when one of the biggest questions I asked myself, week in and week out, was, "What am I going to preach on Sunday?"  I had to learn that my task was not to preach the best sermon I could, but to prepare the best sermon I could with the resources, including time, that I have.  Now that I'm in this retirement, or second career, phase of life I'm accutely aware that we all face an unseen deadline.  The Bible makes clear that "it is appointed unto men once to die" (Hebrews 9:27), but God doesn't enter the date on Google Calendar for us.  I've watched enough people die to know that likely that deadline will be preceded by other smaller cutoff points.  I remember when I told my mom she couldn't drive anymore, and when we knew that dad couldn't be trusted to get from point A to B. The Psalm writer prayed, "LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered" (Psalm 39:4, NLT).  If you read the rest of David's musings you will see that he prayed at a time of great turmoil.  He feared for his life.  Unlike David's, my life is pretty good, but, as surely as Sunday is coming, so is the end. It's STTA. At this site, you'll find some resources to help you prepare for that most important deadline, and live with real purpose until then

Is My Salute Clear?

Salute:

It's one of the most iconic, not to mention ironic, pictures of modern history.  Eighty years ago Jesse Owens, American track athlete, competed with distinction in Berlin, Germany.  The Nazis, under the leadership of Adolph Hitler had already begun their persecution of Jews, Roma, and other "undesirables."    According to Hitler's theories of Aryan racial superiority Jesse Owens shouldn't have won, but he did.   That is not to say that the problems of wrong racial views only existed on the other side of the Atlantic.  When Owens returned to the USA, though a hero, he still found it impossible to use many "Whites Only" facilities.  Though he had taken his place on the top of the medal podium he could not take a seat in the front of the bus.  The fact that he had risen to the top of his athletic discipline, did not keep him from being forced to travel up on the freight elevator, rather than out front with the White folk. When you consider the pressure in Berlin, and the lack of support back home, Owens' demeanor on the medal stand is remarkable.  It is rightly dubbed "The Salute Heard Around the World." I'll never have the opportunity to stand on an Olympic podium, but every day I am watched.  What my life says about my Lord is always important.  Is my salute clear?  (1 Thessalonians 1:6-10)  It's STTA.

Happy Anniversary, Kathy,

I Am Blessed:

Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?       She is more precious than rubies.     Her husband can trust her,       and she will greatly enrich his life.  (Proverbs 31:10–11, NLT) I have been so enriched for forty-four years.  Thanks Kathy. It's STTA.

WORTH IT

Worth the Effort:

All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.  (1 Corinthians 9:25, NLT). It's STTA.

Already?!

Already:

No, this isn't a political rant, and let me say, right up front, that I have no hard facts to support my opinion,  Here it is, though: It seems downright un-American for kids to be in school with this much summer left. Here is something we ought to do. early or not; pray for the youngsters and their teachers, who have already been back to work for a while now, and for other staff who work year round.  Ask the Lord to give ability to the many home-school parents as well.  Children are precious.  They are a gift from God. Lord, for these young people who are starting back to school, public, private, and home, and for those who teach them, and in other ways work to give them a good education, we ask Your blessing.  Keep them safe.  May the students learn well and learn to live well.  May those who administer, serve, and teach have the wisdom, skill, and compassion they need.  For those who teach youngsters about You, that army of mostly volunteers, we ask for special ability.  We have not learned knowledge or wisdom until we learn to fear You, Lord.  We especially pray that as youngsters learn to read, use computers, do math, and remember important lessons from the past, that they will have opportunity to learn that which will last for Eternity. Amen. And when you drive to work in the morning watch out for the kids.  They might forget to watch out for you. It’s STTA.

It's Still a Jail

Pretty Jails:

I'm privileged to periodically minister at the regional jail in my town.  I remember when it was built.  It replaced an old facility that had housed prisoners who had failed to get away on horses rather than cars.  Since the new facility looked so much nicer than the old one, and cost tax-payers so much to build, there were lots of comments about the "country club prison."  While it is a modern facility, it is bottom-line a jail.  The court puts you in, and you can't get out until they let you out. That is the essence of prison.  No matter how nice it may be it is designed to keep the prisoner in. In his book, Transforming Culture, A Challenge for Christian Mission, Sherwood Lingenfelter, talks about the prison of culture.  Sometimes those prisons are very nice, like the "Palace of the Secret Garden," where he 19th Century King of Korea lived.  "Because of his extremely high status, custom declared that the king could not leave the palace grounds; he was in fact a prisoner in his palace. . . . He enjoyed the most beautifully furnished, heated, and decorated living quarters in Korea. He had household servants to care for every need. He enjoyed a beautiful garden and pond where the finest scholars, poets, and artists in Korea came to do their work. The only catch: he was a political prisoner."  (Kindle Locations 219-222)  Josh Harris speaks of an even more perverse prison.  A noble named Edward led a revolt against his older brother Raynald, who was commonly called "Crassus," Latin for fat.  Edward built a room around his brother, with a door that a normal person could easily pass through.  Raynald was told he could leave whenever he wanted, but Edward made sure that his brother, with the uncontrolled appetite, had all the rich food he wanted.  Years later, Raynald, faithfully guarded by his own lust, died, having never left his prison. I know some people who were once in jail, who now live free and productive lives.  Sure someone opened their cell and let them out, and the court gave them a paper indicating that their debt to society was paid, but that is not the key to their ongoing freedom.  They remain free because they are changed.  Only the Gospel of Christ has the ability to free us from the jails of culture and lust.  If you listen carefully you can hear the keys jangling. It’s STTA. The link above will take you to an archive of things to think about.  This one will take you to one that I add to less often.  It tends to be a bit more serious. You can read about the liberating Good News  here.

Warriors, Old & Young

Warriors, Old & Young:

I just left breakfast.  Several of my preacher buddies and I get together every week to just talk.   Part of our conversation this morning had to do with old "war stories."  I'm the oldest in the group.  I asked another pastor from my era to tell about a conflict he had lived through several decades ago.  I'm glad my friend made it through with his integrity intact.  I have been blessed by his survival.  Had he not made it through that crisis, I'm confident that he would have gone on to another ministry in another place, but my life would have been much poorer without his friendship for these years. The breakfast conversation continued as I rode home with the youngest member of our group.  What place does experience have in enabling us to lead people?  I'd like to think, it is worthwhile, but it's not the gold-standard.  After fifty years of doing something some folk don't have half a century of experience; they have one year of involvement repeated forty-nine times.  We live in changing times.  In times of transition the young and nimble, with their cutting-edge skills, may be better able to lead than the old and experienced who possess a knowledge of that which is now long past.   One of the big components of wisdom is knowing what to keep, how long to keep it, what to dump, and when to dump it.  Wise and Stodgy, Experienced, and Irrelevant all live in the same neighborhood. Lord, help me and my young friend, as well as those in between, to know the difference.   It’s STTA.     The link above will take you to an archive of things to think about.  This one will take you to one that I add to less often.  It tends to be a bit more serious. You can read about the life-changing Good News  here.