If you are going to take care of plants it is helpful to know something about them. I don’t. That is, I don’t really know about them; I do have to take care of them. My training involving the plants consisted basically of being told to water them every day, and to water them until it runs out the holes in the bottom of the pots. I really don’t know much about plants.
Luckily, Wal-Mart has Art. Art is a 76-year-old black man who knows everything about every plant. When we have a question, we go to Art, and he answers with his usual fervor. He sure doesn’t act 76. I think he must have either discovered the fountain of youth or he has a secret lab in his basement where he sucks the vitality out of little children he has shipped in from the streets of Mexico City. But I digress. The point is, when the majority of the Begonias in our store were dying and rotting, it was Art who knew that their peril was caused by over-watering.
In life, I have found that I usually know as little about what I need as I do about how to take care of a hibiscus. Thankfully, in life, we have God. The verse has become a bit of a Christian cliché, but the truth of Jeremiah 29:11 not diminished by its overuse. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Sometimes the things that happen to us don’t make sense. But God knows what He’s doing. Just accept what He gives, and trust.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Enslaved to Liberty
Here in the land of the free and the home of the brave there are few things we value more highly than our liberty. Liberty is one of the cornerstones of our nation. We even have an idol of her in the harbor outside New York. Well, perhaps we don’t bow down to “Lady Liberty,” but she is still somewhat of a deity to us. We like to do things on our own, in our own way. And we like to have the freedom to do so. This is especially true of men, and I don’t know of any guy out there that doesn’t wish they could be William Wallace crying out with his last breath, “FREEEEEDDOOOOOOOM!!!”
As wonderful as our liberty is, and as grateful as I am for freedom, I believe that the majority of the American church has taken our independence too far. Our commercialism and economics and politics and social theory have bled over into our faith. There is only one problem: our faith does not follow the same laws as the government or the stock market or Hollywood or the media (thank goodness). And yet, we have all but replaced God with what we can do on our own. We are free to do as we please and do what we please in a way that is pleasing to us. And our freedom has given us power.
Or so we think.
But seriously, what can we not accomplish? We have enough money to solve all our problems without prayer, without God’s help. We have a world of information to answer our questions. The philosophy of the ages and of this age is at our fingertips on the internet. We can supply our own food, shelter, whatever; who needs faith? Who needs to rely on anyone or anything? We are free.
Or are we?
Maybe we are. But if we are, our liberty has made us weak. By relying only on our own power we have forfeited any true power. By replacing God with freedom we have become indebted to self-sufficiency, enslaved to liberty, and subservient to independence.
Think about it; the most powerful being to ever walk the planet, Jesus Christ, did not even rely on His own strength. Listen to what He said in John 5:19. “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do.”
In spite of all His power, Jesus was still completely dependant upon His Father. In fact, that dependency was the very source of His power. Wrap you mind around this: Jesus was so dependant on the Father that He could do nothing apart from the Father; hence, everything He did was in accordance with the will of the Father and as such was empowered by the very hand of God. It is incredible to think of such perfect dependence result in such absolute power, but that is the way God works.
So if you want more than just “freedom,” offer yourself as a slave to God. It is my prayer that the church will become so dependent on God that He can empower us. It is my prayer that we will forfeit enough of our liberties that He will be able to use us.
As wonderful as our liberty is, and as grateful as I am for freedom, I believe that the majority of the American church has taken our independence too far. Our commercialism and economics and politics and social theory have bled over into our faith. There is only one problem: our faith does not follow the same laws as the government or the stock market or Hollywood or the media (thank goodness). And yet, we have all but replaced God with what we can do on our own. We are free to do as we please and do what we please in a way that is pleasing to us. And our freedom has given us power.
Or so we think.
But seriously, what can we not accomplish? We have enough money to solve all our problems without prayer, without God’s help. We have a world of information to answer our questions. The philosophy of the ages and of this age is at our fingertips on the internet. We can supply our own food, shelter, whatever; who needs faith? Who needs to rely on anyone or anything? We are free.
Or are we?
Maybe we are. But if we are, our liberty has made us weak. By relying only on our own power we have forfeited any true power. By replacing God with freedom we have become indebted to self-sufficiency, enslaved to liberty, and subservient to independence.
Think about it; the most powerful being to ever walk the planet, Jesus Christ, did not even rely on His own strength. Listen to what He said in John 5:19. “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do.”
In spite of all His power, Jesus was still completely dependant upon His Father. In fact, that dependency was the very source of His power. Wrap you mind around this: Jesus was so dependant on the Father that He could do nothing apart from the Father; hence, everything He did was in accordance with the will of the Father and as such was empowered by the very hand of God. It is incredible to think of such perfect dependence result in such absolute power, but that is the way God works.
So if you want more than just “freedom,” offer yourself as a slave to God. It is my prayer that the church will become so dependent on God that He can empower us. It is my prayer that we will forfeit enough of our liberties that He will be able to use us.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Stacking Dung
I recently got a job at Wal-Mart. Working there has stifled my desire to write for some time, though I have gotten a few ideas in the past weeks. One of them actually came from something I do as a part of my job.
I work in the lawn and garden department and one of the responsibilities I have is to load mulch and potting soil and fertilizer and such things. We have big piles of all this stuff stacked on pallets in the parking lot, and the heaps can tend to get a little disorderly. When this happens, someone has to straighten up the lot.
This task reminded me of what Paul said about this life in the third chapter of Philippians. In the beginning of that chapter Paul lists his credentials according to the flesh: all the things that he once thought would make him right with God. It is a very impressive list, full of wonderful things. But in verse eight Paul says he counts all these things as “rubbish” but the original Greek word actually translates better as “dog dung.”
Perhaps you wonder how it relates. But as I thought about the impressive pile of crap that Paul had accumulated, I couldn’t help but think about the stacks out on the lot and about how much time I spend building up my own pile.
We spend so much time gathering together our little piles of manure, stacking them neatly, and trying to make them look impressive. But in the end, it’s all still dung. No matter how nicely packaged a bag of manure may be, it doesn’t change what I’m loading into that truck when people come to Wal-Mart to try to get their garden ready. And no matter how much dung we gather, we still have nothing to offer to God.
So what we need to do is leave those steaming heaps behind us; and, like Paul, say that we are “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.”
I work in the lawn and garden department and one of the responsibilities I have is to load mulch and potting soil and fertilizer and such things. We have big piles of all this stuff stacked on pallets in the parking lot, and the heaps can tend to get a little disorderly. When this happens, someone has to straighten up the lot.
This task reminded me of what Paul said about this life in the third chapter of Philippians. In the beginning of that chapter Paul lists his credentials according to the flesh: all the things that he once thought would make him right with God. It is a very impressive list, full of wonderful things. But in verse eight Paul says he counts all these things as “rubbish” but the original Greek word actually translates better as “dog dung.”
Perhaps you wonder how it relates. But as I thought about the impressive pile of crap that Paul had accumulated, I couldn’t help but think about the stacks out on the lot and about how much time I spend building up my own pile.
We spend so much time gathering together our little piles of manure, stacking them neatly, and trying to make them look impressive. But in the end, it’s all still dung. No matter how nicely packaged a bag of manure may be, it doesn’t change what I’m loading into that truck when people come to Wal-Mart to try to get their garden ready. And no matter how much dung we gather, we still have nothing to offer to God.
So what we need to do is leave those steaming heaps behind us; and, like Paul, say that we are “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.”
Monday, April 12, 2010
What is Good?
We all want things that are good. We don’t want things that are bad. It’s a simple concept, one that no one would dispute. It is basic common sense. But, in this life, we all must face things that we cannot help but label as “bad.” These “bad” things cannot be avoided; there are a part of living in a fallen world. But they make me wonder: who decided whether a thing is “bad” or “good”? And is there any real difference between these things, or is it all in our heads?
As Christians, should we not be protected from these “bad” circumstances? If, after all, “bad” is a result of sin, should not we whose sins have been atoned have release from these dire circumstances? Does not the Bible say, “God cause all things to work together for good…”? Yes, that promise is there. But what does the Bible mean when it says “good”? Is it what we would call “good”?
Ecclesiastes 6:12 asks the question, “Who knows what is good for a man in this life…for who can tell a man what will be after him?” The Hebrew word for “good” in that verse—tob—can have several meanings: sweet, beautiful, bountiful, better, or best. So, it is difficult for us to know what is good for us in this life. Many things that seem “good” can become bad, and vice versa.
So, now to the real question: what does God say is good? Well, Micah 6:8 tells us that God has “shown you, o man, what is good (tob).” But since I took Romans 8:28 out of context earlier, I would like to use that passage to answer the question.
When Scripture says that God cause all things to work together for good it puts a few stipulations on that promise. To begin with, the previous verses are talking about how we don’t even know what we should pray for, but the Spirit will intercede in accordance with God’s will. So, the context is not one of getting what we want, but of being informed of what God’s purpose is. So, if we do not even know how to pray as we aught, how can we claim to understand what is good for us?
Secondly, the last half of the verse puts a qualifier on the promise, “to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” So, this is meant for those who are called according to the purpose of God. But what is that purpose? What does He intend? The following verses explain; they list a string of events that take place in the life a Believer. We are foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified. All these things take place that we may be “conformed to the image of His Son.”
That is the goal. That is the purpose to which we have been called. That is the good toward which God will cause all things to work. So, those “bad” things we go through, they are put there because God wants to use them to make us more like His Son. That is the reason we were made: to be His image. That is the purpose we messed up with our sin. And that is the purpose Christ had in mind when He offered us salvation. God is ever striving to restore His image in us. And that is the greatest good we can find in this world.
As Christians, should we not be protected from these “bad” circumstances? If, after all, “bad” is a result of sin, should not we whose sins have been atoned have release from these dire circumstances? Does not the Bible say, “God cause all things to work together for good…”? Yes, that promise is there. But what does the Bible mean when it says “good”? Is it what we would call “good”?
Ecclesiastes 6:12 asks the question, “Who knows what is good for a man in this life…for who can tell a man what will be after him?” The Hebrew word for “good” in that verse—tob—can have several meanings: sweet, beautiful, bountiful, better, or best. So, it is difficult for us to know what is good for us in this life. Many things that seem “good” can become bad, and vice versa.
So, now to the real question: what does God say is good? Well, Micah 6:8 tells us that God has “shown you, o man, what is good (tob).” But since I took Romans 8:28 out of context earlier, I would like to use that passage to answer the question.
When Scripture says that God cause all things to work together for good it puts a few stipulations on that promise. To begin with, the previous verses are talking about how we don’t even know what we should pray for, but the Spirit will intercede in accordance with God’s will. So, the context is not one of getting what we want, but of being informed of what God’s purpose is. So, if we do not even know how to pray as we aught, how can we claim to understand what is good for us?
Secondly, the last half of the verse puts a qualifier on the promise, “to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” So, this is meant for those who are called according to the purpose of God. But what is that purpose? What does He intend? The following verses explain; they list a string of events that take place in the life a Believer. We are foreknown, predestined, called, justified, and glorified. All these things take place that we may be “conformed to the image of His Son.”
That is the goal. That is the purpose to which we have been called. That is the good toward which God will cause all things to work. So, those “bad” things we go through, they are put there because God wants to use them to make us more like His Son. That is the reason we were made: to be His image. That is the purpose we messed up with our sin. And that is the purpose Christ had in mind when He offered us salvation. God is ever striving to restore His image in us. And that is the greatest good we can find in this world.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Raised from Stones
What gall those Pharisees and Sadducees had. Oh, and it wasn’t just Jesus who had to deal with them; John the Baptist had his fair share of dealings with the religious nuts. They came to him in Matthew chapter three. They wanted to be baptized, but John saw right through them. They wanted to be baptized, but they didn’t want to change.
Those presumptuous Israelites figured that their standing as children of Abraham afforded them assurance of high standing in the Kingdom of God. They thought God would certainly desire followers of such noble lineage. But John set them straight.
In verses seven through twelve he really lets them have it. “You’re a bunch of snakes! Who warned you that God was about to take you out? If you really want to escape, start acting like you’re sorry for being such idiots and making Him angry in the first place.” (This, of course, is a slight paraphrase.) “You keep bragging about being descended from Abraham, but that’s nothing. God could make children of Abraham from this pile of rocks, and they’d be better looking too!” (Maybe that last part isn’t in there).
The gist of John’s message: “God is fixin’ to clean house fellas (I like to imagine John spoke with the equivalent of an Alabama accent in Hebrew). You’d better straighten up and quit putting all you stock in who your daddy was. God doesn’t need you anymore than He needs a gravel pit.”
How true that is. God made the first man from dirt; don’t you think He could do that again? He doesn’t need us. But we need Him desperately. The next time you think you are entitled to something from God because of who you are or what you have done, remember: He made you from mud; there is plenty of material left to make your replacement.
Those presumptuous Israelites figured that their standing as children of Abraham afforded them assurance of high standing in the Kingdom of God. They thought God would certainly desire followers of such noble lineage. But John set them straight.
In verses seven through twelve he really lets them have it. “You’re a bunch of snakes! Who warned you that God was about to take you out? If you really want to escape, start acting like you’re sorry for being such idiots and making Him angry in the first place.” (This, of course, is a slight paraphrase.) “You keep bragging about being descended from Abraham, but that’s nothing. God could make children of Abraham from this pile of rocks, and they’d be better looking too!” (Maybe that last part isn’t in there).
The gist of John’s message: “God is fixin’ to clean house fellas (I like to imagine John spoke with the equivalent of an Alabama accent in Hebrew). You’d better straighten up and quit putting all you stock in who your daddy was. God doesn’t need you anymore than He needs a gravel pit.”
How true that is. God made the first man from dirt; don’t you think He could do that again? He doesn’t need us. But we need Him desperately. The next time you think you are entitled to something from God because of who you are or what you have done, remember: He made you from mud; there is plenty of material left to make your replacement.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Kicking Against the Goads
In Bible times one of the most vital and useful tools that could be owned by a farmer or a herdsman was a device known as a goad. It’s not something we hear about very often these days. It was basically a stick with a sharp point either hardened with fire or covered with metal. This spiked tip was then used to poke an animal to make it move. The goad was meant to direct the animal, steering it or speeding it up.
When the beast was confronted with this motivational tactic, it had three basic choices. It could give in to the prodding and move at the desired speed in the right direction. It could keep doing what it was doing as though nothing had happened, thus ensuring the goad would be used again (and likely in a more aggressive manner). Or the animal could kick at the goad, trying to injure whatever it was that had poked him. There are a couple of problems with the animal reacting in this way. First of all, the whole point of a goad is to keep the herder far enough away from the herdee that the animal cannot reach him. So, an animal that kicked against a goad could only hurt himself. In order to kick, the animal has to be moving toward the goad; well, moving closer to a sharp object that is jabbing you is not going to help. Also, in order to kick, the animal would have to flex most of the muscles in its leg. This would cause the goad to dig deeper into the muscle than if they were relaxed.
Interesting, right? Well, I’m not meaning to just talk about ancient techniques for animal herding. That historical tidbit is necessary in order to understand a message that God once gave to the apostle Paul. In Acts 26 Paul is retelling the account of his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. It is there that we hear the words of Jesus, when He says, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
So, God is comparing Saul (later to be called Paul) to a stubborn ox that is being herded but keeps kicking against the goad. God is trying to direct Saul, to move him in the right direction; but Saul only wants to attack what is pushing him.
This makes me wonder if Saul knew all along that Christianity was the way. God had been guiding him, trying to get him to see the truth, but he just would not. He did not want to admit that his whole way of life was useless, his vast learning was missing a vital piece, his righteousness was not enough.
Like Paul we often find ourselves being herded along by God. And, like Paul, we often think our own way is so much better, and we rail against the direction God is taking us. We ignore His guidance and His direction. But all the while, He keeps trying to turn us. It would be so much easier if we would just stop kicking against the goads and walk where Christ wants us.
“The words of the wise are like goads…they are given by one Shepherd.” Ecclesiastes 12:11
When the beast was confronted with this motivational tactic, it had three basic choices. It could give in to the prodding and move at the desired speed in the right direction. It could keep doing what it was doing as though nothing had happened, thus ensuring the goad would be used again (and likely in a more aggressive manner). Or the animal could kick at the goad, trying to injure whatever it was that had poked him. There are a couple of problems with the animal reacting in this way. First of all, the whole point of a goad is to keep the herder far enough away from the herdee that the animal cannot reach him. So, an animal that kicked against a goad could only hurt himself. In order to kick, the animal has to be moving toward the goad; well, moving closer to a sharp object that is jabbing you is not going to help. Also, in order to kick, the animal would have to flex most of the muscles in its leg. This would cause the goad to dig deeper into the muscle than if they were relaxed.
Interesting, right? Well, I’m not meaning to just talk about ancient techniques for animal herding. That historical tidbit is necessary in order to understand a message that God once gave to the apostle Paul. In Acts 26 Paul is retelling the account of his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. It is there that we hear the words of Jesus, when He says, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
So, God is comparing Saul (later to be called Paul) to a stubborn ox that is being herded but keeps kicking against the goad. God is trying to direct Saul, to move him in the right direction; but Saul only wants to attack what is pushing him.
This makes me wonder if Saul knew all along that Christianity was the way. God had been guiding him, trying to get him to see the truth, but he just would not. He did not want to admit that his whole way of life was useless, his vast learning was missing a vital piece, his righteousness was not enough.
Like Paul we often find ourselves being herded along by God. And, like Paul, we often think our own way is so much better, and we rail against the direction God is taking us. We ignore His guidance and His direction. But all the while, He keeps trying to turn us. It would be so much easier if we would just stop kicking against the goads and walk where Christ wants us.
“The words of the wise are like goads…they are given by one Shepherd.” Ecclesiastes 12:11
Thursday, March 11, 2010
It sure seems like I've been writing on here a whole lot less recently. Well, since I'm through with college, there hasn't been as much to write about. Or so it seems anyway.
One may take my lack of blogging to mean that I am no longer clueless. Perhaps I wander less. Perhaps I have found the answers to my questions.
Rest assured, this is not the case.
Yes, despite all the things God has taught me, I am still clueless. I still ponder things to which I may never find a reasonable conclusion. And my life is filled with at least as many questions as it was when this whole thing began.
Here's the problem. My questions used to be interesting. There used to be some kind of deeper... something from... somewhere. Now all I can seem to get out is "What? Where? When? How?" Not very exciting or vital to the reader who is outside my thought process. But to me, these are the questions that shape the course of my life. They are the same boring questions we all ask.
So, yes, I am still clueless. I am still stumbling through a messy, mixed-up world. And I still hope we can find the Way together as we seek to walk with Christ.
One may take my lack of blogging to mean that I am no longer clueless. Perhaps I wander less. Perhaps I have found the answers to my questions.
Rest assured, this is not the case.
Yes, despite all the things God has taught me, I am still clueless. I still ponder things to which I may never find a reasonable conclusion. And my life is filled with at least as many questions as it was when this whole thing began.
Here's the problem. My questions used to be interesting. There used to be some kind of deeper... something from... somewhere. Now all I can seem to get out is "What? Where? When? How?" Not very exciting or vital to the reader who is outside my thought process. But to me, these are the questions that shape the course of my life. They are the same boring questions we all ask.
So, yes, I am still clueless. I am still stumbling through a messy, mixed-up world. And I still hope we can find the Way together as we seek to walk with Christ.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
