Change is Coming, But from Where to Where?

It has been about two weeks since I shared anything to think about with you. The subject of this STTA is the reason. Few of us who have hung around for any length of time think that we can live our lives in stasis, "a state or condition in which things do not change, move, or progress" (Merriam-Webster). Besides that I've seen enough science fiction TV and movies to know that stasis is not a good state. Generally, though, we live with the illusion that the change in our lives will be manageable. I'm growing old, but at a rate slow enough that I can adjust day-by-day. My health changes, but with modern medicine I treat this, take a pill for that, and still muddle ahead. Children leave home, parents die, friends change jobs, but normally these changes are like tweaks--the bulk of our lives stay the same; the differences are not all encompassing. Sure we see in the news that there are people whose whole lives are disrupted--the refugees, the victims of horrible tragedies, or those who face maladies for which we, even with all our technology, have no solution. Those are other people, though, they exist in some realm that is extra-ordinary. The change that comes to we regular folk is handed out in palatable doses. It's packaged with easy hand-holds. It comes to us in such a way that at the end of the day we can say, "I've got this." No I don't, and I doubt you do either. I don't want to appear to put myself in the group of people, like those I mentioned above, who are dealing with change that comes so hard and fast, that it produces blackout G-force. Over the past month, though, I have seen and experienced change to an extent I know, not just theoretically, but experientially, that there is no throttle in my hand that I can use to control the ride. I'm like one of those early test-pilots. Strap in, Let her fly, grit my teeth, and hope for the best. There are several factors that have made the changes in my life of late register higher on the Change-force Meter than any time in recent memory. I was already involved in preparation for making a change when my change was changed. Here I was buying plane tickets, trying to get things buttoned down back home, thinking ahead about returning to a place of service several thousand miles from home, when--hard-right, accellerating all the while--my "orders" were changed. I was already involed in a life-adjustments--setting up housekeeping in another country and culture for four months, serving the Lord, being a missionary. These provided enough stretching that I was able to feel a bit noble. I mean, me being retired and everything. Then the change I was already comfortable with changed. Is that in the employee manual? The change that came barreling down on Kathy and me came for an ugly reason. It's because my friend is sick. He is one of those servants experiencing needle-pegging plan-revision. The new change threw me into a realm where I knew I didn't have control. Not only did I not know the lines for the new play, I found out rather quickly that the script was still being written, and the audience was already restless waiting for the curtain to rise. Don't get me wrong. I'm not looking for sypathy. Perhaps I'm just passing the tenth story on a twenty-story plunge, but I'm doing OK. Maybe it's the adrenalin, but this aspect of walking with the Lord seems clearer to me. Trust is pushing aside self-suffiency. Yieldedness is taking over territory once claimed by two word descriptions that begin with "my." The illusion that I'm in the driver's seat is harder to maintain. While I don't necessarily like all of that, I do know that it is as it should be, at least most of the time, some of the time, OK, I'm still working on it. If you are curious and want to find out about the changes in my life, you can find out more here and here. I'll warn you upfront, as these kinds of things go it's really pretty boring, tame stuff. I guess, though, when you compare it to the way my life has mostly been--pretty predictable--it is enough to get my attention, just like I hope this is enough to give you . . .   STTA. Find out about how the Son of God redeems our past, gives purpose in the present, and hope for the future, here.

Culture, Change, and a Corner of My Garage

Something to Think About My Ability to Change, or the Lack Thereof:

My wife and I recently returned from four months of ministry in the lovely nation of Palau.  Palauans are very friendly and accomodating.  Since their economy is based on tourism they are well trained in putting up with foreigners and our strange ways.  English is the second language there.  Virtually everyone speaks it, at least some, so one of the greatest cultural barriers is quite low.  Still it was clear to Kathy and me that we are different. Since coming back to our house here on Carpenter Drive I've been working on a project.  I've been converting just over thirty-two square feet of my garage into an office.  Some walls, insulation, a ceiling, an old desk, shelves made out of boards from an old deck, and a piece of carpet for the floor, will make my little space into a place to study.  Before the first board was cut or the first nail driven, the concept of a mini-office had taken place in my mind.  I'm about finished with bringing that thought into the realm of length, breadth, and depth--reality. Kathy and I weren't out of touch while we were gone.  Still, since arriving back in the USA I have been impressed with scale of change going on, or being attempted, around me.  Trevin Wax does a good job of summarizing what is going on, and the consequences involved, in this article.)  Those of us who live for a while realize that one doesn't have to go anywhere to experience the change of culture, even culture shock.  In particular now that the world is digitized, the way people act, talk, what they do, especially how they see the world changes with far greater speed than a jetliner can achieve.  Especially if, like me, one is of a conservative (I use the word in a nonpolitical way) bent he feels that change greatly. So, what do these thoughts on culture have to do with the corner of the building where I park my car? Just this: I have at my disposal a certain amount of resources.  I possess a measure of ability in building things.  I own the garage, free and clear, so I don't need anyone's permission to change it from one purpose to another.  When we are dealing with human beings and our place in the world that is not so.  Here is a basic point that will sound crazy, maybe shocking, to some:  l don't own myself.   I certainly have no inherent right to change, or attempt to change my world to conform to a picture I create in my mind.  I am a steward of my little part of the cosmos, not a sovereign.  I can cut an eight foot 2x4 and make it six feet long.  I can rip it on my table-saw and make two 2x2s.  I can mold the material to my vision.  When it comes to matters of humanity, however--who I am, why I'm here, and where I'm going--I can't change the fundamental realities.  To try is simply wrong.   It’s STTA. If you didn't already, I encourage you to read that article by Trevin Wax. Read here to find out about God's purpose for us all.

Change:

Something To Think About God-directed Change:

I’m finishing up a semester of teaching God’s word to some sharp young people in another part of the world.  You can syllabize, student-learning-outcome-ate, give out grades and award college credit, but that isn’t really what it is about.  The word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than the two-edged sword the Roman legions used to conquer the world.  It gets down inside us.  You can’t hide from it.  (Hebrews 4:12)  God’s word will not fail to accomplish what He desires.  It will “succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11, ESV).  Though I believe God wants my students to pass, that is not the bottom-line.  God intends His word to change us.  It is His desire for this word to penetrate the defenses that we put up.  We ought to yield to it.  God intends that His word change us.  If I go to the Word of God and come away the same, God’s word has not failed; I have failed to yield, obey, or submit to the discipline of the word. The Book of 1 Thessalonians is biographical sketch of a group of people changed by the truth of the Bible.  They “turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven” (1 Th 1:9–10).  The Apostle Paul’s time in Thessalonica was brief, but he was convinced it wasn’t in vain (2:1).  The Thessalonian believers received the word Paul and his companions shared as it truly was, the Word of God (2:13).  The progress they had made gave the Apostle hope that they would continue to build upon what they had already begun (3:12, 4:2, 4:10, & 2 Thess 1:3).  Paul’s series of one-liners with which he finished the book are clearly the words of a teacher who fully expected his students to apply what they were learning, resulting in changed lives. As I finish this semester, I can identify with the Apostle Paul.  Thanks students, for realizing this is more than a class about a 1900 year old book.  We are studying the Word of God. What about you?  Have you allowed the Word of God to change you?  It’s STTA.

The Gospel Changes Us and Our World

Something To Think About The Change the Gospel Brings:

What a powerful story is in and behind the little book of Philemon. Only three decades had passed since Jesus death and resurrection.  Philemon was one of the rapidly expanding body of believers in Christ.  He lived in Colosse, well over a thousand miles from Jerusalem, yet the Good News about Jesus Christ had already spread throughout his region, and beyond.  Perhaps Philemon came to know the Lord through contact with the Apostle Paul in nearby Ephesus.  His dedication was such that his home was a meeting place for the church in Colosse.  He was a man of good reputation.  I would like for an observer with Paul’s credentials to say about me, “I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you brother” (1:7).  That was Paul’s assessment of his friend Philemon. It is clear that the message of Christ, had changed Philemon.  What may not be as clear is that the Gospel was bringing changes to this man’s life that would change his community, and indeed the Good News was having impact that would long outlive Philemon. I encourage you to read the little letter from Paul to Philemon.  It won’t take long; it is less than 500 words.  Yet in this touching note from one Christian to another, we can see a marked change in world view.  There is a story, behind The Letter of Paul to Philemon, that is implied.  Onesimus was a slave in Philemon’s household.  Slavery was an accepted part of Roman society.  Onesimus ran away, perhaps stealing from his master as he escaped.  The run-away came into contact with the Apostle Paul, who pointed him to Jesus.  Legally, Paul was obligated to send Onesimus back to his master, where the consequences could be harsh.  Some take Paul to task.  “Why didn’t he start a refuge for run-away slaves instead of sending Onesimus back?”  Read the letter, Paul did not mount a frontal assault on slavery, yet “the fuller implication of Paul’s teaching here is that the Christian faith is incompatible with the ownership of slaves.  While not attacking the institution of slavery as such, therefore, the letter does bring us into an atmosphere in which the institution of slavery could only wilt and die.”*  Sadly it took way too long, but in those places where the Gospel has had free reign, slavery has become abhorrent. The Gospel--the good news that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, for us, and thus made forgiveness and new life possible--not only changes people, it changes the world. What is the Lord doing through me to change my world? It’s STTA. * Carson, D. A.; Carson, D. A.; Moo, Douglas  J.; Moo, Douglas  J. (2009-05-26). An Introduction to the New Testament (Kindle Locations 14476-14480). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

On my anniversary, I'm thankful for that which is dependable.

Something To Think About, That which is solid:

My life has been remarkably stable--"boring," some would say.  I was privileged to serve as pastor of Covington Bible Church for all of my career.  I live in the same house where my bride and I settled some forty-two years ago.  On one side I've even had the same neighbors all that time.  As is inevitable, down here on this earth, though, change has accelerated, recently.  My job has changed.  I signed up for medicare.  I have a new knee.  The gradual changes that come with hanging around for sixty-five years have accumulated to the point that they can't be ignored.  More and more I find myself thinking of a loved-one or friend and remind myself that they are no longer with us.   Granted the scientists who did the study neglected to considersome information from outside the system, but, still, the observation they made is accurate.  If left to itself the world is running down (here).  Don't go out and buy extra blankets though, at the present rate of decline the lights will stay on for a long time.  Still the study is a macro illustration of what I observe in the micro of my life.  Change is inevitable.  Left to itself this momentum of mutation is not taking us in a positive direction. Warning: hard turn here, but I'm still on course: This morning while my lovely wife was out walking, I fixed breakfast.  When she returned we enjoyed the meal together.  We've been sharing breakfasts and life for forty-three years.  Next to my relationship with the Lord being married to Kathy is one of few steady states in my life.  As the pace of change surges I find it more important than ever to hold on to that which is reliable. I look around in my world and see that folk are abandoning what is secure.  They plant their feet firmly on a board that is surfing the latest big wave.  Just over the horizon is a tsunami ready to consume the current breaker as if it were but the ripple from a stone tossed into the surf.  As I see change in me and in my world, I am wonderfully thankful that there is that which doesn't change.  I'm grateful to my Lord, but today I say, "Thank you, Kathy.  Your love has been solid in the midst of the shifting reality of life." For the rest of you . . . It's STTA. You can find out more about the one completely solid relationship here.

STTA from 3/16/2015, Change

(In the flurry of activity after our transition weekend, 3/15, I never got around to posting this.  I post it now because it will help the next STTA make sense.)

My wife are were just blessed by wonderful weekend.
My Sixty-fifth birthday worked out to be the Sunday on which we finalized a pastoral leadership transition that has been underway for some time.  I stepped into the pulpit yesterday as co-pastor of Covington Bible Church.  I was the lead pastor of CBC for forty-one years.  It's really all I've ever done.  Since July of 2014 I've been in what I called the "Co-mode."  When I stepped down from the platform, yesterday, it was as associate pastor, now working under the leadership of Pastor Doug Williams.  Family gathered to recognize the occasion, and our church and friends were over the top with their kindness toward us.
My first task in my new role is a stint as adjunct instructor at Pacific Islands University.  In a more profound way than usual, "Today is the first day of the rest of my life.  It will be filled with packing, getting a car fixed, and other mundane tasks.
A lot has changed and is changing.  I'm going to take a break from Something to Think About.  If I had a staff, I'd have them send out "Best of STTA" for the next couple of weeks.  I don't have a staff, so, if you are really looking for STTA, you'll just have to do a search in your email archives, or use the link in the sign-off line to go to the blog-site where old STTAs go when they retire.  :)
I'll let you know where this goes.  Right now I have Somethings to Think About.

It's STTA

MASKS

Something To Think About, Masks:

I don't know, maybe it's just the view from where I sit, but it appears to me that dressing up in a costume and wearing a mask has gotten bigger among adults than it used to be.  It might be an accompaniment to the move away from Trick-or-Treat and toward events like Trunk-or-Treat.  To get into the spirit of the events, lots of adults assume the role of somebody or something else.   I don't remember stores selling adult costumes back in the day.  I've noticed ads for them a couple of times lately. Whether the number of adults "dressing up as" is really more than it used to be or not, it is clear that a lot of we grown-ups are working really hard every day to not let others know who we really are.  That's not all together bad.  An employee who is angry at his boss probably ought to keep that hidden until he gets it settled.  Otherwise she/he will have to assume a new role--unemployed.  And please take note that I'm only saying this might be a good idea for a short time.  Ultimately the answer is not to cover your anger but to deal with it and become not angry. I've worn masks.  It's hard work.  Every day, every moment, one must make sure that the masquerade is properly adjusted.  You tend to not look folk in the eye, because then they are looking in yours.  You can't disguise what shines--or fails to shine--out from these windows to the soul.  Since the getup I've adopted isn't really me I have to put out a lot of effort.  I can't really live life.  I end up being like an actor assuming the role of a character who is living life.  It'll wear you out. Some folk have the mistaken notion that Christianity is just a new role, a new way of appearing, a smiling mask in a frowning world.  Here is the good news from the Bible.    “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  (2 Corinthians 5:17, NASB95)   It's not a way of acting.  Christianity is new life that begins on the inside at the very core of my being.  As you help your kids or grandkids "dress up" this week, maybe as you yourself assume another role to help others have fun, ask yourself, beneath it all, who am I.  That is the level where Jesus Christ wants to meet you and change you.  Find out more below. It's Something To Think About. Here is a site where you can find out about Jesus Christ and His plan for you.  You'll find several opportunities to explore.  If we can help you, let us know. We would love for you to make the Live Nativity a part of your Christmas Season.  It is a very family friendly activity. Click the picture for more information.   November 17-24, CBC will be a drop-off point for Operation Christmas Child  shoe box-gifts.  covingtonbiblechurch.com -

Super Bowl Ads, Telling Us About Ourselves

SOMETHING  TO THINK ABOUT Especially when the game isn't that good people's attention turns to the Super Bowl ads.  The commercials always attract considerable discussion and even controversy.  The spots and the public's reaction to them provide an indicator as to where the edges are in our culture.  Often the ad-makers want their product to be edgy, yet they in  know that being too far over the line can turn customers against their product, rather than draw them in.  One problem is, as a friend of mine used to say, we don't have "a public."  We have "publics." You'd think the VW take off on a Wonderful Life would be safe 2014 Volkswagen Game Day Commercial: Wings enough.  Not so quick.  All the engineers who earn their wings, in der werbespot (commercial), are white guys.  Somebody lost his wings on that one, or at least spent the night on the sofa. Innuendo is the language of advertising--imply don't say.  Personally, though my wife loves Reese's Cups, I wasn't too fond of the candy company's ad.  It seemed to imply that introducing a third party into a sexual relationship is a good thing.  It looks like the edge is further from the center than it used to be Audi 2014 Big Game Commercial - Doberhuahua The Doberhuahua won't catch on as a pet, but the concept that one shouldn't have to compromise--to put it in the words of some older ads, that "We should have it our way," because "We deserve it."--is, in the world of promotions, a given.  It is settled.  "Settling" is out. Coke is one of the most wide-spread trademarks in the world.  I Coca-Cola - It's Beautiful - Official :60 thought them having a variety of people sing "America" in eight languages was cool.  Others not so much.  Jim Denison does a good job exploring some of the implications.  Basically, it seems there are some who say, "It's our song.  If you can't sing it in English (We invented that language, didn't we?) leave it alone.  Some edges aren't clearly defined. OFFICIAL Chrysler and Bob Dylan Super Bowl Commercial 2014 - America's Import   Chrysler wants to move one of those boundaries.  Speaking the clearest English I've ever heard from him, Bob Dylan is prepared to leave beer brewing to the Germans and watch making to the Swiss, but calling for a pride-in-craft that has been lacking for too long in our nation, he declares: "We will build your cars."  It's a theme Chrysler has been on for a while.  It's an attempt to move the line.  I hope they succeed.   It's an illustration of the truth that what is, is not necessarily what will be. Speaking of change:  I noticed as I looked at these ads, that before I could watch the ad, I had to watch an ad for the ad.  :) In case any of this upsets you, watch this.  I love it. MetLife : National Anthem - Peanuts Super Bowl Commercial 2014 It's STTA.