Message to Evangelicals: Just Be Quiet:

Something To Think About, Just Be Quiet:

Maybe I'm like the guy who just bought a new Hot-mobile.  Before he mortgaged the  next seven years of his life for the new set of wheels, he hardly ever saw a Hot-mobile on the road.  Now every time he goes out he sees half a dozen.  Maybe it's just me, but it seems like I see a lot of posting on blogs and social media directed at Evangelicals and other conservative Christians that basically says, "Just keep quiet about the recent SCOTUS decision on Gay Marriage. Generally the writers of these pieces carefully skirt the question of where they stand on the issue.  At this point they are heeding their own request--they are keeping their mouths, both real and cyber, shut. The gist of their commentary goes something like this: "Evangelicals have done a really poor job teaching about what the Bible says about divorce, social-justice, racial-reconciliation, gluttony, caring for the environment, (the list goes on); so they have no credibility in speaking out with any objections to the rightness of radically redefining our culture's oldest institution--marriage."  If I discerned, in these rebukes against speaking up, a real attempt at a wholistic opposition to sin, I would be more interested in signing on.  I don't see that.  What I do see is a recognition that a group of people have been hurt--such recognition is commendable, but should not necessarily be the controlling issue--and a realization that continuing to maintain the standard the church has held for two millennia is a really non-trendy, uncool, old-school, won't-get-me-invited-to-the-fun-parties kind of position.  Since I'm an Evangelical, and I go on record as telling my fellow-believers to just be quiet, maybe I won't have to wrestle with the tough issues, and will get the invitation to the cool party. A three pack a day smoker may neutralize his friend's criticism of his habit by shaming him for his fondness for, and over-indulgence in, chocolate cake, but when we attend their funerals--one having arrived by means of lung cancer and the other via clogged arteries--we will observe that the truly loving thing for our chocolate loving friend to do would have been to admit his sin and confess his own fault, but to, go on and point out that his own admission in no way changes the destructive force of tobacco addiction.  The wise thing for both would be a plan to work on their problems together. Galatians 6:1 indicates that being one who is "spiritual" is a qualification for seeking to correct another.  We know from the rest of the New Testament that that does not mean "you who are perfect."     Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)    It's STTA.

The Absolute Rule of WHATEVER:

Something To Think About, WHATEVER:

Roger Olson uses a word near the end of his excellent commentary on today's American culture--"anomie,"  A simple definition I found for the word is: "lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group."  I tend to agree with Olson.  Some of our culture is already there; much of the rest appears to be following.  We are rejecting any norms that go beyond personal interests and desires, which leaves only personal interests and desires, and leads to the one standard that appears to be rising to absolute dominance in our public behavior and discourse--whatever.   Whatever your decisions and desires, whatever lifestyle choices you make, I should respect those.  Not only should I tolerate them, I need to embrace them.  It is the absolute standard of Whatever.   There is one caveat to the rule of Whatever.  No one should do anything that hurts anyone else.  But even this amendment has been severely narrowed for those who find Whatever to be a rule of life that is lacking.  In broad terms, personal freedom, and opportunity for individual expression trumps all broader societal concerns.  In the world of Whatever when one side of an argument is "This is what I want."  and the other side is, "This is where these personal decisions will lead."  the now and personal will always win.  It's like the old playground basketball standard, "No blood, no foul."  Unless it can be clearly demonstrated that one person choosing Whatever, will bring clear and immediate harm to another--and violated religious standards don't count--then the Whatever choice should stand. Olson raises the question of whether such a social order can stand. But since that question cannot point to any blood on the pavement, SCOW (the Supreme Court of Whatever) declares that the objection has no standing.  The Main Street Journal, in a recent one-word op-ed piece summed it up well: WHATEVER! Again, I refer you to Roger Olson's excellent article. It's STTA.

Friends don't let friends , , ,

Friends don't let friends . . .
This started out as a slogan against driving while under the influence of alcohol.  "Friends don't let friends drive drunk."  Over the years many "friends don't let friends . . ." sayings have surfaced.  Here is one some friends of mine have reminded me of.  

Friends don't let friends enter eternity without hearing about Jesus.

Several of my friends have been busy doing their best to share the Good News with their friends.  We just finished TEENWEEK.  One of the main purposes of TEENWEEK is to introduce teens to the Lord Jesus Christ.  As I'm typing a group of folk are hosting a supper before a fishing tournament.  Another friend of mine will tell his story--how he came to know the Savior.

Sometimes folk accuse we Christians of being pushy, thinking we are always right.  The fact is, in this dark, cold, dangerous world we have warmth, peace and forgiveness.  We are beggars.  We found where to get bread.  It would be the height of cruelty to not tell other beggars where they can be fed as well.

Find out more here.
 

It's STTA.

Deterioration:

Something To Think About, Deterioration:

Left to themselves all things wind down. Over the past week I've been dealing with rusty pipes, insects in wood--and woodpeckers who consider them as their next meal, concerns about declining stock values, and a business agreement that was missing important details.  You have probably had the experience of putting a letter in a pile, or an email in a digital file, intending to answer it later.  There it remained untouched, until sometime later when it no longer had any relevance.  We not only live in a fallen world, in a sense everything around us is still falling.  Stopping, slowing, or reversing that deterioration always takes work.  The ultimate force in that curse opposition emanates from the cross where Jesus died.  From there and the empty tomb flow forgiveness to deal with sins destruction, reconciliation to counter the endemic alienation that began with Adam and Eve hiding in the garden, and purpose that comes to replace the lostness that infected us all at the fall. As soon as I finish this I'm heading to the hardware store for a couple of new pieces of pipe.  That rusty plumbing will not suddenly grow solid again.  Take a moment and consider what is in your heart.  If you sense there the same deterioration that is going on all around us, I encourage you to get to know Jesus Christ better.  He has accomplished what is needed to reverse the trend. Find out more here.   It's STTA.

What Isn't Temporary?

Something To Think About, Temporariness:

The mom of a new bride was talking to me recently.   "How are the newly-weds?" I asked. "They are doing fine.  They are really enjoying setting up their temporary apartment." The young couple is barely back from their honeymoon.  Both are college students.  The apartment they'll be living in for the next year doesn't open up for another three weeks or so, so they are crashing where one of them lived pre-nuptials.  At first I smiled within.  "Young love," I thought.  "Why go to all the trouble of setting up a place for such a short time?" The fact is, though, we all live on a precarious balance.  My house, car, wardrobe, computers, and stuff in general is all daily succumbing to moth and rust.  What remains will be consumed with fire. Yet God has given me all that He has entrusted to me so thatI can enjoy it.  Clearly maximum gratification comes from using my stuff to the glory of God. At the time the Mother-of-the-Bride spoke with me I was involved in a remodeling project.  I've been doing these for a long time.  One of the calculations that almost always comes into play is, "How long will it last?"  Do I spend the extra money for the better material, or is the less expensive route OK?   My wife questioned me about one decision I made on this project.  My reply was, "I want this to last until I die."  I do, and at my age that is a realistic metric.  The problem is I don't know when my maker will recall me.  The successful farmerthought he had many years of plenty ahead of him.  In truth his future on earth was measured by mere hours.   Peter asks a probing question, "Since all these things are to be destroyed . . . what sort of people ought [we] to be . . . ?" (2 Peter 3:11) I need to constantly keep in mind that everything around me is temporary.  Jesus told us that we should lay up treasures in heaven, not on earth. It's STTA.

The New Normal

Something To Think About, The New Normal:

I'm a really lousy record-keeper so I can't begin to tell you how long I did STTA before I took a break a couple of months ago (here).  As that last STTA indicated my life has changed in the past three and half months.  Though decisions are still being made, I'm settling into my new roles. A couple of observations: First a brief explanation.  I'm a guy, a guy who has done the same thing all of his adult life, and someone who has always been reasonably independent.  I tell you that because I'm not sure how much of my experience is transferable.  If you are really different than me then maybe not so much. In one way the changes have been more profound than I thought they would be.  Especially guys are pretty tied up in what they do.  Change that, and you change a lot.   On the other hand, I woke up on March 16th precisely the same person who had gotten up the day before.  The notion that everything ought to change because of a date on the calendar, whether my paycheck comes from an employer or Social Security, or which office I hang out in, is really pretty ridiculous.   I still have gifts, abilities, and responsibilities given to me by the One who will be my boss until I die.  I need to keep on serving.  As John Piper has so eloquently written, "Don't Waste Your Life."  Now that I'm in a place where I have a greater measure of discretion about what I do with my life, that challenge is more important than ever. l've become much more aware of old people.  I guess it's because I am one.  I go to Walmart and see people riding those scooter/carts, or using their push carts in lieu of a walker, and I'm aware that in about ten minutes I'll be there.  I exercise--not as much as I should--watch my diet--not as closely as I ought--and visit my Dr. as scheduled.  Still I'm aware that most of the sand has passed through the narrow part of my hour glass.  I've been reading a book about making decisions at my end of life.  One of the points the authors make is that we don't have time for do-overs.  I'm not afraid to die, but I see life as more precious. It's been good that I've had a time to step back, get out of Dodge (you can read about just how far out of Dodge I was for a while, here).  My new boss, Pastor Doug Williams, or as I call him the "Right Reverend Boss Man," has been marvelously gracious and patient with me, as has the congregation of CBC.  My wife has walked with me hand-in-hand.  Still, it's taking sometime to rearrange the pieces.  That's not bad.  It's just the way it is. I figure there are many of you, who like me, don't particularly like the word "retirement."  It conjures up a finality and state of leisure that we're not comfortable with.  Just trust me on this.  Don't fight it.  Unless you are prepared to spend a significant portion of your life (see above concerning how precious our remaining time is) giving a long explanation every time somebody asks, "How's Retirement?" just go with it.  It's how most of those around me describe what I did March 15th.  I'm trying to do the same thing in retirement that I did back when I was working.  I'm trying to invest what God has entrusted to me to His glory.  If I correct folk every time they use the word "retirement," I won't have time for much else. This started our being a simple announcement.  Everything above is just introductory. When I sent that March 16 STTA I wasn't sure whether that would be the last one or not.  Turns out it wasn't.  I've been thinking about Something to Think About.  I noticed that no one sent me a note indicating how glad they were that I finally stopped out my little mindless nuggets.  That's enough encouragement for me.  I figure that now that I'm semiretired--that's my preferred term--I'll send out STTA whenever I think of something that I think is worth thinking about.  If that doesn't work for you, just use the unsubscribe button.  Your life is precious, too.  You need to use it the way you think is best. For now, anyhow, it brings me a great deal of joy to once again say . . . It's STTA.

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