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.

Pickles

Pickles:

I've been thinking about issuing a decree--if both my readers put it into action it will be a great start--that the extremists of the world simply need to change their religious beliefs.  Apparently such things can just be done.  But I've been pretty serious here at STTA for the past couple of days and feel the need to Lighten up.   So, I figure I'll talk about pickles.  I just made some.  If they are half as good as the ones I made last year, they'll be great.  They're refrigerator pickles--I'm not serious enough to make the real kind.  You put cucumbers in a jar, together with a bunch of other stuff that isn't fit to eat, let them sit on the counter for a couple of days, then in the frig for a couple of weeks, and voila!  Pickles. Now, here is the sappy part that will cause my highly intellectual friends to roll their eyes.  That's just about what God is doing with you and me. God is in control, and He didn't have to google a recipe.  The stuff He puts/allows in the jar is there for a reason.  My task is to be a good cucumber, and react to the stuff in my jar so that in the end it will make me better. CAUTION:  It may take longer than two weeks.   I confess, some cucumbers were actually cut up and immersed in boiling brine to make this STTA, but they didn't complain.    It’s STTA.     Over at one of my blogs you can find some serious thoughts on the "brine" around us. You can read about the life-changing Good News  here.

Unity that Transcends our Differences

A Serious Lack of Unity:

It came up last night at Prayer meeting.  This morning it was a topic of conversation over breakfast.  I hear people saying things like, "Our nation is more divided than it has ever been."  I'll get the objection out of the way first.  Come on, our nation was once so divided that part of it seceded.  Those of us who lived through the civil-rights conflict era saw whole neighborhoods put to the torch.  Disagreements over the Vietnam war led to the disruption of a national political convention and the involvement of US troops.  Maybe we are not more divided than ever, but there is clearly a schism in the American public, and what concerns me most is that this jagged chasm runs right through the body of Christ. On the one hand I hear church-people hurling invective at the other side; each verbal volley only serves to widen the gap.  Then there are those who sound a lot like the late Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"  They offer no real solutions other than another chorus of Kumbaya, as if real healing can be based on ignoring the wound.  We can't just get along, but we can take steps that will make it possible for those of us with different political persuasions to work together for greater good. Politics is inherently a messy business.  As I look back over my voting history I see that clearly.  I think Richard Nixon was the first presidential candidate I voted for.  Knowing what I know, now, would I do that again?  He is but one example.  We never have an absolutely pure candidate for whom to vote.  We never know all that we wish we knew.  Casting a vote is more like throwing hand-grenades than shooting a rifle.  If you get it close, most of the time, that's pretty good. Talk of the future of the Supreme Court, and legacy can lead us to believe that this election has ultimate, eternal consequences.  How we cast our vote is important, but it's not ultimate.  The Sovereign of the Universe is not on the ballot.  He is secure in that position. I have found over the years that often times people who come to different political conclusions than I do, do so for credible reasons.  I ought to hear them, especially when they are my sisters and brothers in the Lord.  After I listen I may still very-well disagree, but often I'll find that they have a point that is worth considering.  A few days ago a friend pointed me to this article (Warning: this article contains language I don't approve), which is an example of that point.  I ought not assume that someone is an idiot, a bigot, liberal, or (insert your own invective) until I give them an opportunity to explain their conclusion. I figure if there had been an election in the First-Century Roman world that slaves and masters would likely have been interested in political platforms that were radically different.  Yet in the churches of the day there were both bond and free, Jew and Gentile, and Romans from the conquering class along-side representatives of the conquered.  Those love-feasts,1 Corinthians 11, likely included some rhetoric that was anything but lovely, but somehow they made it work.  So must we. Our political process involves real differences that are important.  We ought not to ignore them, but we must never forget that our being known as followers of Christ, Christians, is always more important than whether we are Independents, Green, Libertarian, Democrat, or Republican.  Undeniably, our nation is divided.  The church shouldn't be.  We can't just get along, but we can get along if we work at it.   It’s STTA.   Over at one of my blogs you can find some other thoughts on this matter.  Scroll down and look around. You can read more about the life-changing Good News, that far exceeds all earthly dogma,  here.

Standing with Those Who Stand for Christ

Ask not for whom the bell tolls:

The Institute on Religion & Democracy calls it Jihad on the church. Father Jacques Hamel, an 86 year old Roman Catholic Priest was leading worship when two Muslim extremists, burst into the church in Normandy France, shouting, "Allah Akbar," and slit the cleric's throat.  ISIS issued a statement that two of its soldiers had carried out the attack. The murder took place in a country other than mine, in a church that is different than mine, and it was perpetrated against a pastor whose Theology and practice are not my own.  What I, and others like me need to realize is what made Father Jacques Hamel a target of terrorism is something that is absolutely true about me.  He died as a representative of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died in our place, and arose victorious.  In no sense was it one of them who died in this cowardly, ugly attack.  Father Jacques was/is one of us. So, how do I react? My branch of Christendom--Evangelicalism, Conservative Evangelicalism, The movement formerly known as Fundamental, Historical Fundamentalists, I don't know what to call my kind--suffers serious division on how to answer this question.  At the risk of creating further divide, but in hopes of moving us toward sanity, I make the following suggestions: My kind has a history of "coming out from among them."  I was taught the virtues of separation.  Not so much the value of unity.  This is a time to link arms, to embrace.  We may disagree on the definition of what it means to be a Christian, certainly we have a variety of answers to the question of how we do Christianity, but let us not forget.  Father Jacques was not killed because of what he believed about the mass he was performing, or because of his allegiance to the Roman Catholic hierarchy.  His throat was cut because he was a follower of Christ, and because he was leading others to follow Christ.  He and I are the same.  No "buts." We have to walk spiritually, and chew gum politically at the same time.  One of the terrorists who attacked the church in Normandy was a known terrorist.  The church was known to be on a hit list.  One of the tasks of governments, perhapsTHE task, is to keep order, to keep the citizens of a land, and others within its borders, from killing each other.  I need to be disciplined enough to give the same answer when the attack is by "Christians" on a group of Muslim worshipers.   My nation, the United States, has a history of protecting freedom of worship.  That value seems consistent with the teaching of Scripture.  The Bible presents a balance and a tension between a personal response that is characterized by charity and forgiveness, and a governmental policy of security and justice.  Having police armed with Glocks is not contradictory with the response of the members of Emmanuel A.M.E. church in forgiving the murderer of their pastor and fellow-church members (here). Christians who emphasize the importance of forgiveness are right.  Likewise those who stress law and order are on solid ground.  Those who exclude one or the other are wrong. We need to eliminate from our thinking any notion that this business of standing up and speaking for the Lord is safe.  It isn't.  That distortion has been perpetuated because we, my kind, have been living in an anomalous time and place.  Christians always and everywhere have been called to a Romans 12:1dedication.  It's just getting clearer, now. We do not stand for Christ because it is easy or safe.  We do so based on this calculation:     We believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. (2 Corinthians 5:14–15, NLT) The prayer requests that the Apostle Paul offered in the First Century make a great deal of sense in our world. ". . . pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified . . . and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith" (2 Thessalonians 3:1–2). ". . . pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" (Ephesians 6:19–20). One missions leader, for a period of time, forbid the people in his office from praying for the safety of the personnel they represented.  Prayers for safety were taking up all the air in the room.  Prayers for boldness and effectiveness need to be offered, as well. So, I close this STTA with prayer. Lord, I pray for those who love Father Jacques; May they know your comfort and peace.  Grant that they will respond with the grace that is becoming to those of us who bear your name. I ask that the authorities in France, the US, and around the world will act with justice and appropriate firmness.  I pray that all--even those whose worship is a lie--will have freedom to worship in safety. As the Lord of the harvest, I ask that You will send forth laborers into the harvest, even the parts of the field that are not safe.  I pray that those who represent you in dangerous places will be effective witnesses.  As your servant, the Apostle Paul observed, that might be by life, or by death. I pray that Your will be done down here in this messy world, and, Lord, I yield myself, dedicate myself, to that task. I long for Your Kingdom to come. Amen.      It’s STTA.   You can read more about the life-changing Good News, that gives us something worth dying for,  here.

Hospitality

Being Hospitable--not to be confused with being in the . . . :

I'm reading John Piper's book on marriage, This Momentary Marriage.  I recommend it.  I'll probably say more about it later.  Chapter ten is about a subject that might surprise you, hospitality--not only addressed to married folk, but to, and, also, about, singles.  In keeping with the oft-expressed passion of Piper's life, he introduces his topic as a "desire for Christ to be magnified in the way married people and single people show hospitality to each other." Hospitality is a skill and discipline that is to be looked for in the lives of those who are being considered for leadership in the church, and as a qualification for those who are good candidates to be helped by the church.  Look here and herein 1 Timothy, and here in Titus.  I get the idea, since hospitality is something that is expected in leaders of the church as well as those who are being helped by the church, that what we have here are two poles.  It is kind of like saying, "All you folk over there, and all of you way over there, and everyone in between, be showing hospitality." That is a conclusion that is reinforced by passages like Romans 12:13, where "practicing hospitality" is a virtue found in a long list good things that Christians ought to do.  Though I don't think scripture recommends exposing our families to danger, Hebrews 13:2 indicates that our willingness to be hospitable should extend even to strangers.  Peter says that we should do it "without complaint."  From Mary and Martha who were hostesses to Jesus and His disciples to those who are pronounced blessed by the Lord because they showed kindness to His people when they were in time of need (here) the New Testament is full of examples of those who used their resources to help others.  The little book of Philemon tells of a family that excelled in this virtue, and at the end of the Book of Acts, even though Paul was under house arrest, he opened his quarters to receive others so they could talk about the things of God.  I wonder if he got his guard to serve coffee. As I write this, I'm out in my man-cave.  I started while I was in the house, but my wife, who excels in hospitality, had invited some ladies in for a meeting--I know my place.  As I write I'm reminded of some friends who jokingly refer to their home as a "B&B."  I, and Kathy and I, have been guests in their home on many occasions.  Their home is used as a tool to further the kingdom.  In the chapter in his book, Piper challenges folk to reach across what are often social barriers in showing hospitality.  Married folk ought to include singles and vice-versa.  Ask my wife about one of her favorites invites and she will tell you about a widower friend of ours.  There is a specialty food that he enjoys.  Every year when that culinary delight is in season, he unashamedly in single guy fashion, will lay out a great spread, and will invite a couple of couples into his home to enjoy, and we do.  The food is great, but sharing in one another's lives is so much better. Hospitality, it's not about imitating Martha Stewart, though if that's your thing it's fine.  Whether you are an old preacher in chains, a widow, a widower, servants of God with limited resources, or a lady with a home she can open to her friends.  Be hospitable.  If we do it right--and that has to do with the condition of our heart, not the position of our pinkie when we hold our teacup--it will bring glory to God. BTW, you'll have to come one at a time--it's that small--but I try to be hospitable in my man-cave/study.  Stop by.   It’s STTA.   Disclaimer:  No shopping carts were removed without permission in the production of this STTA. This Momentary Marriage, like many of John Piper's books, can be read for free, clickhere. You can read more about the life-changing Good News, that gives us something worth sharing when we invite others in,  here.

You Can't Stop, Yet

We pursue a goal of perfection, so there is always a need for more:

Reading 1 and 2 Thessalonians one can see the affection the Apostle Paul had for this group of Christians in Greece.  He wanted the best for them.  Several times he refers to some virtue, commending them for their past practice, but reminding them that they have not yet arrived. Concerning their daily life of living by Biblical principles the Apostle says, ". . . you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.  (1 Th 4:1) In chapter 4, verses 9-10, Paul commends them for their love, but goes on to say that they need to"excel still more." In the opening chapter of 1 Thessalonians, Paul gives thanks for the faith, love, and perseverance expressed in the lives of this young Church.  (1:3)   When he writes 2 Thessalonians he praises the Lord that their "faith is greatly enlarged," their love is growing "even greater," and their perseverance continued even in the face of persecution.  (1:3-4) These First-Century Christians set a pattern that we would do well to follow.  Short of heaven, I can always be sure that I haven't arrived yet (SeePaul's personal testimonyin Philippians 3.  Actually, I think we'll continue to progress even in heaven, but we'll wait til we arrive to talk about that.  For now, Christian friend, don't quit, don't slow down, don't even think about it. More!   It’s STTA.