Getting where you need to go:

Something To Think About Getting where you need to go, 7/2

When we last were together, I told you about my friends from Indonesia who ended up in Palawan, when they wanted to go to Palau.  The first is an island in the nation of Philippines.  The second is an independent nation, over 1,000 miles away. In order to protect both the innocent and guilty, I need to be careful what I share.  But let's see what we can learn about getting to the right place.   As far as I know, until sometime after my friends got off the plane in Palawan, they thought they were headed to right place.  I imagine that when they came down the jet-way, they wondered why there was no one there to meet them.  I'm not sure how long it took for them to realize that there was no one there to greet them, because they weren't really there.  I do know that that realization was an important one.  On the other end, my friends in Palau were concerned because the delegation from Indonesia hadn't arrived.  My Palauan friends--they are marvelous hosts--had gone to the airport in the middle of the night to meet their Indonesian brothers and sisters.  They stayed until the last passengers exited the aircraft.  At that point they knew something was terribly wrong.  They knew their friends weren't where they were supposed to be.  They had no idea where they were.  And, they had no way to get in touch with them.  It would have been about this time that the wandering Indonesians figured out they were in the wrong place.  On the Palauan end, someone who had passed geography realized what might have happened. Knowing you are in the wrong place and/or headed to the wrong place is an incredibly important realization.  Only when that realization comes will one be motivated to seek a solution.  As I said yesterday, I'm sure Palawan is a lovely place.  I can see how a group of weary travelers could just settle down there and say, "This is good.  We'll just stay here."  In the world of spiritual reality people do that all the time.  In Jesus metaphor about the road to life and the way to death, it is the road that leads to destruction that is most comfortable. In my friends' case, after they found out they were in the wrong place, coming to a solution was difficult.  Airlines are responsible to deliver people to the places stamped on the ticket.  From the airline's perspective, these people were in the right place.  In the spiritual realm the Bible gives ample warning that living in the default mode will deliver one to a place where no one wants to be (see the link at the bottom of this page).  People find themselves separated from God for eternity not because there is no warning, but because they ignore the warnings that are there.  Read Romans 1-3 for more on this. Finally, flying twenty-two people over a thousand miles is an expensive proposition.  I don't know who paid.  I do know that there was a lot of conversation, at the highest levels, about what could be done.  Eventually, an agreement was reached that enabled the happy result shown in the picture below, the delegation from the Evangelical Church of Indonesia in front of the Palauan Capitol.  In the spiritual realm we read about this  gracious transaction:    “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4–6, NLT)    Don't end up in the wrong place! It's STTA. You can find out about how to get where you really want to be here.

Something To Think About Knowing where your going, 7/1

Palawan looks like a lovely place.  Unfortunately it wasn't where my friends wanted to go.  One can easily see how the mistake could be made, especially when you factor in different languages, accents and long distance communication, but the fact is Palawan and Palau are over a thousand miles apart.   Palawan--where my friends didn't want to go--is an island in the nation of Philippines.  Palau is one of the smallest counties in the world, but an independent nation.  The picture on the right is of a resort in Palawan.  The one below is of the Rock Islands, a lovely marine preserve in Palau (I was privileged to visit there week ago.). The Palauan Evangelical Church celebrated its 85th anniversary last week.  In keeping with the great commission, they are working on a partnership with The Evangelical Church in Indonesia, GIDI, to reach out to one of the unreached people groups on the Island of Papua.  I was privileged to be in Palau, last week for the celebration.  Some colleagues of mine have worked very hard on this mission partnership.  The church in Palau, my friends, and all of we guests were anxiously looking forward to the arrival of the the GIDI delegates from Indonesia.  We heard that they had departed from their home on the Island of Papua.  It was reported that they were in the airport in Manila, but then, from our perspective, they just kind of vanished. It turns out that when they bought their airline tickets, through an agent in Jakarta, they said "Palau" the travel agent thought they said "Palawan."  When the agent said "Pawlawan," they thought she was saying "Palau."  Everyone thought they were going to the right place, until they got there. More tomorrow, but for now let's see what we can learn from my new friends' experience. The near disastrous experience of the GIDI delegates was the result of an innocent mistake.  Satan, with complete lack of innocence, is the master of the "bait and switch."  Because of our falleness (SeeRomans 3:23 &Ephesians 2:1-3), we are apt to fall for his false advertising.  Just consider some of these statements from the Bible: "There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death." (Proverbs 14:12) “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.  For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."  (Matthew 7:13-14)  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name performmany [n]miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."  (Matthew 7:21-23) In future STTAs I'll say some more about getting to the right place, right now you find out more at the link at the bottom of this email. Almost, isn't good enough.   Make sure you end up in the right place. It's STTA. Representatives of GIDI, the Palauan Evangelical Church, and Liebenzell Mission sign the cooperative agreement. Find out more about CBC at our website, or in a recent newsletter. God's Story in His Own Words. our Easter message that presents the flow of Divine Revelation from "In the beginning," to the final "Amen." You can find out about how to get where you really want to be here.

Honoring Dad & Dad Being Honorable

Proverbs 17:6 says, the "glory of sons is their fathers."  The default condition is for children, especially boys to be proud of their fathers.  Dads, it is like we begin with a head start; our kids will look up to us until they have a reason not to.  I'll propose a simple exercise to demonstrate this.  Just listen to little kids talk about their dads.  There is a reason we tell, "My dad can beat your dad up" jokes.  It is because most little kids, in fact, believe that their dad can whip his weight in tigers with one hand tied behind his back. 
We usually attribute the change that comes to youngsters as they grow up to the kids, themselves, and our culture.  Again, a bit of observation will confirm that many/most of those four-year-olds who bragged on dad, by the time they become fourteen, are much less impressed.  Fathers, when we blame forces outside of ourselves for this fall in "polling numbers" are we taking the easy way out?  I fear we are. 

A friend of mine told me one time about a ministry in which he was involved.  Part of the meeting-plan of this ministry, involved food.  When my friend was put in charge of planning the gatherings he was given a sum of money--more than enough to purchase what was needed for a meeting's worth of snacks.  My friend was told, this was the last time he would be given any money.  He needed to make sure that he maintained a positive cash flow.  Guys, I think that is like our situation.  God has so wired little guys that they tend to look up to their dads.  Let's protect that capital.
When we ignore, lie to, make unreasonable demands on, and/or model inconsistent behaviors before our children we allow our paternal nest-egg to be diminished.  Far too often the reason the four-year-old, who thinks "there is no one like my dad," becomes the fourteen-year-old, who thinks "there is no one as lame as my dad," is because we convince them.  We waste our capital.

Fathers of youngsters, start now.  Hold on to that "The Man" position.  Sure, you aren't the strongest, fastest, smartest, or funniest, but you are the best dad your child has.  Maximize that privileged position.

Dad, if the shine has worn off of your "Best Dad" medal, don't despair.  There is hope.  Begin now to rebuild that platform.  Start by sitting down and asking your child to forgive you.  Hard, but it is the best way to start.

It's STTA.

Something To Think About Alignment, 6/9

Having the wheels properly aligned on anything that rolls--from cars that tend to dive for the ditch, to trailers (like the picture) that wear our tires on one side, to grocery carts that go "whappity, whappity, whappity"-- is incredibly important.   A friend of mine just invested a pretty good chunk of money in getting the front end of his car lined up.  It's money well-spent.  The wheel needs to be going the same direction as the rest of the vehicle.  Any deviation will produce excessive wear, or worse, disaster. Doing wheel alignment on an automobile is a specialty thing.  It takes the right equipment, and the right technician to use it. Yesterday we honored a batch of graduates at CBC.  It's one thing to get graduates to line up.  It's a far more difficult task to get a graduate in line.  Unlike servicing an automobile, there are no computer assisted people-alignment units, and the task is not done by a specialist.  While there are counselors, coaches, and people like me, who seek to give guidance, in the human realm it is an amateur who is wielding the wrench.  Each of us has to make the adjustment on himself.  And especially for people like graduates, who are going on to something new (and isn't really true about all of us?), that means we are getting oriented to something we've never seen before. Sounds impossible!? It would be, except. God in his word has given us the default settings.  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind." "Love your neighbor as yourself." Seek opportunity to do good, and do those good deeds in such a way that God will be honored, rather than self puffed up. Etc.. When you buy a new car, the manufacturer doesn't know whether you will drive it on the long straight roads of Kansas, the pot-hole labyrinth that makes up many cities, or the curvy mountain roads that abound in my region.  The engineers that designed the car have concluded that this particular alignment is best for this particular vehicle.  Our God,who made us, knows far more about what makes us run straight than the best heads in Detroit do about Fords, Chevies, or Chryslers.  When God recalls one of His products, it is not because of any mistake on His part.  Follow His spec.s Run straight! It's STTA.   Find out more about CBC at our website, or in a recent newsletter. God's Story in His Own Words. our Easter message that presents the flow of Divine Revelation from "In the beginning," to the final "Amen." You can find out the extent of God's investment in us here.

Something To Think About Thank you, 6/6

Seventy years ago my uncle, Sergeant Hugh A. Merrell, of the 12th InfantryRegiment, 4th Infantry Division came ashore on Utah Beach, Normandy France.  Before leaving England a future president addressed my Uncle and his comrades.  I don't know if my uncle ever saw him, but  the success of the landing on Utah Beach owed much to the son a former president, General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. who famously declared, after discovering that the troops had landed about a mile South of their intended target, "We'll start the war from right here." I don't know, I'd like to think Uncle Hugh Allen was near enough that he could have heard Capt. Kaye.  Kaye was reading his New Testament, when one of the soldiers said, "If what you're reading is any good, how about sharing it with us?" Kaye did.  He read from John 14, "Let not your heart be troubled . . ." Uncle Hugh Allen was likely involved in the "Hedgerow war," as the troops literally slogged through a patchwork of lowland fields surrounded by massive, ancient hedgerows, when his baby brother, my dad, Audley N. (Doc) Merrell enlisted.  Some of those who came ashore with my uncle, fought along side my dad about half a year later.  The middle brother, Uncle Mc, Horton  McNeely, had already been in Olive Drab for a year-and-a-half.  He was taken prisoner of war about the time my dad was being deployed.  He emerged with Tuberculosis, and failing eyesight that soon led to total blindness.  It is almost certain that Uncle Mc(arm behind back) and my Dad (smiling) entered the European Theater of Operations across the Beach their brother had helped secure.  If they had known, and been able, they likely could have gotten to their brother's grave in an hour or two.  Until a year ago, when my brother, some of his family, and I visited Uncle Hugh Allen's grave, that was as near as any family had ever been. One history of the Normandy Campaign records,  "On 6 July, General Collins threw in the 4th Division, on a front mainly west of the Carentan-Periers highway. A 500-yard advance brought the 4th Division up to the first of three enemy MLR's [major lines of resistance]."  I assume that it was in this offensive that Sergeant Hugh A. Merrell died.  Less than a week later, General Roosevelt died from a heart attack.  He, Uncle Hugh Allen, and 9,385 others, are buried in the Normandy American Cemetery above Omaha Beach.  Another 1,557, who died, but whose remains were not recovered, are also memorialized there. To those who gave so much, THANK YOU. It's STTA.

Saying What I Mean:

Jesus and His half-brother James both spoke of saying "Yes," and meaning yes, and saying "No." and meaning no (Matthew 5:37 &James 5:12).  I was just listening to the news.  A great deal of what fills such broadcasts would be eliminated if more of our leaders followed this admonition.  Much of political reporting and commentary consists of, "This is what I said, but this is what I meant." or, "It is important to hear what ____ didn't say."  
It would be easy at this point to descend into a rant about politicians and their ways, but, since neither I nor most of my readers are running for office, that would just give us an opportunity to pat ourselves on the back for being better than them.  Rather I need to ask myself about my reputation in regard to the truth.  My devotion to truth-telling ought to be such that, without a handbook for decoding purposely dense language or the need to reinforce my statement with oaths, I would be believed.  People who hear me say, "Yes." ought to be able to conclude that I mean yes, and likewise with my "No."
In case this idea catches on among the political-types, I suggest filling the dead air with some good news stories.

It's STTA.

Trying to do right:

Several guys are meeting together on Monday mornings listening to Eric Metaxas's book Seven Men and the Secret of Their Success, and then discussing it.
The last two sessions have been on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  We haven't so much talked about the German Theologian/pastor, as we have discussed the world in which he lived--the time during and between the World Wars in Germany--what it meant to live for Christ then and there, and what we can learn from that.
Some of our thoughts are convicting.  For instance, just as the underlying antisemitism of Bonhoeffer's day allowed the Nazi propaganda to take root in his world, there are widespread prejudices in our world that can lead to further harm.
Am I part of the problem or am I, by the words I speak and the life I live, pointing to a solution?
Bonhoeffer came to believe, in particular after his time at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, that what one believes must lead to real-life action, and that one's worship is inadequate unless it is matched by appropriate life-change.  It was great to listen to a truck driver, a cop, an insurance adjuster, a small business owner, a missionary in training, an engineer, and a couple of preachers ask themselves and one another, "What are the issues that face us in our world and time?" and, "What do we do about them?"
Many of us were in good churches yesterday.  We heard truth from God's word proclaimed.  This morning I heard a preacher who died before I was born ask, "Now, what are you going to do about it?

Lead on, guys!

It's STTA.