In a long conversation, a friend told me recently that: 1) he no longer buys into the “God story” [his words]; and 2) he is—in so many words—restless, cynical and disillusioned with life. It’s interesting to me that he didn’t seem to see a connection between #1 and #2. I did. Do you?
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Things Seem To Work Out For Rachel
Things seem to work out for Rachel.
Rachel and I were heading to the check out counter and I said, “What are you holding in your hand?”
She showed me the CD she intended to buy. The sticker on the label indicated that the price was $18.99. I said, “Do you have that much money?”
She said, “Yes.” But when I asked her to show me, she opened her wallet and produced one ten dollar bill.
I said, “You don’t have enough money. That will cost over $19 dollars with tax and you only have ten dollars.” But she continued walking to the check-out counter with me. I repeated myself, “You don’t have enough money for that CD, Rachel.”
When we got to the check out counter Rachel handed her CD to the clerk. (Alright, I admit, I was going to chip in the extra money she needed for her purchase.) The clerk looked at the CD and said, “Oh, this is on sale.”
I said, “What?”
She said, “Yeah, there’s a discount version of this same CD, it’s on that rack over there. Hold on a second, I’ll go get it for you.”…..When she came back, she rang up the CD and said, “That will be nine dollars and eighty-seven cents.”
Rachel handed the clerk her ten dollar bill and received 13 cents in change.
As we got in the car to leave Rachel said, “That was nice.”
I said, “Yes, it was.”
See what I mean? Things seem to work out for Rachel.
We Want To Choose Our Words Wisely
Words are powerful. We can crush people with words. We can wound and hurt and condemn and belittle and deceive. But, of course, it works the other way, too. We can lovingly speak grace and truth and encouragement and healing and thanks and peace and hope into the lives of others, as well. I pray that, today, we choose our words wisely.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Impersonations At Church...A Timeless Art
“Hello, daaaahling!”
That’s my imitation of one of the people in our church back when I was a kid. Yeah, it would be okay to say “punk kid”, since that would be a relatively accurate description.
(Note: If you attended the COG in Oak Lawn back in the 60’s and 70’s, you know who I’m talking about….God bless her.)
My brother and I (he’ll deny this if you ask him, but he was in on it…) along with some of our other buddies in the youth group had imitations of various people in the church. I guess, to be honest, there was a little bit of disrespect in it all, but mainly it was just good-natured joking around. It was just having a little fun. It was the kind of thing young people do.
Well, it’s been over 3 decades since my teen years and, sure enough, the tables have turned. Now my son and his buddies have impressions of me and other people in the church. I’ve seen and heard some of them and they’re pretty amusing. It’s inevitable. I figure, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Right? “What comes around goes around.”
There are probably some other sayings that apply but I can’t think of them.
They try to do their impersonations on the sly, but sometimes, I catch them in the act. That’s always fun. One day a hilarious impersonation of one of our singers was occurring at my house. The young person* doing the impersonation didn’t know I was home. He was literally strutting around the house belting out his impersonation in a loud, boisterous voice.
When he came around the corner and saw me standing at the top of the stairs, he immediately stopped singing and with a sheepish look on his face said, “Oh, I didn’t know you were home.”
After an awkward pause, he ran down the stairs while all the other guys cackled with delight at this “gotcha!” moment. Ahhh, memories.
Time will roll on and, yes, the tables will turn. And, someday--not too long from now, in the big scheme of things--a group of teenagers will be doing impersonations of my son and his buddies. I sure do hope I’m around for that. It’s so comforting to know that some things never change.
P.S. The impersonation of me, as far as I know, consists of one word. The trick is that it has to be spoke with just the right vocal inflection: “Really...?”
* “Young person”: he’s in the photo. Yep, he's in there alright.
What About Resources To Help Me With My Bible Questions?
At our church, we continue to emphasize having some type of personal devotional time as an important part of growing in the Christian faith. A “personal devotional time” has been identified by many recent studies as one of the primary catalysts of spiritual growth. Actually, we don’t need a lot of studies, though, any mature Christian will verify the truth of that reality.
Here is a response that I have provided to a couple of folks about the matter of finding answers to Bible questions/issues.
Bible commentaries are resource tools that provide “comments” on the scriptural text. While this is not a sure-fire source of answers to all Bible questions, it’s a helpful tool. There are many Bible commentaries available. Some Bibles have commentaries included with the Biblical text. For example the “Life Application Bible” (Tyndale publishers). These are sometimes titled “Study” Bibles.
Some commentaries are stand alone books. Many different kinds of Bible commentaries could be found at a Christian book store or on-line at Amazon.com and other on-line booksellers. Also, there are Bible commentaries that are directly accessible on-line, for example, at BibleGateway.com
One of the problems that can arise with commentaries is that generally they don’t deal with every single verse in the Bible and so, sometimes, they don’t address the specific questions that you may have about a particular verse. But they are a good, helpful resource that are usually the result of credible scholarship and there are many different commentaries available.
Also, there are Bible resource books that deal specifically with difficult issues or questions from the Bible. For example:
“Commonly Misunderstood Bible Verses” by Ron Rhodes;
“Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties” by Gleason Archer;
“Hard Sayings of the Bible” by Kaiser, Davids, Bruce, and Brauch.
And there are others that can be found by searching on-line. Again, what you might encounter with these types of resources is that they may or may not deal with the specific question that you have. But they are a good place to start a search and they often provide interesting and helpful responses to Bible questions.
Speaking of “on line”, another possibility regarding the questions we have—and I know most of you have already thought of this—is to type the question into a search engine like Google and see what comes up. I want to be quick to say that I realize the answers that come up from this type of search may not represent mature wisdom or careful and accurate Christian thinking, but sometimes they do. At any rate it is another avenue of research and investigation. The caution is simply this: as you expose yourself to the results of such a search, be sure to carefully consider the source of the answers you’re getting.
I feel like this idea is also worth mentioning: Sometimes when we encounter questions as we read a passage of Scripture, it’s okay to continue on without getting an immediate answer to that particular question. I’m not suggesting that we intentionally avoid difficult questions. And I’m not certainly not suggesting, for a moment, that God cannot stand up to scrutiny. Believe me, he can! But I am suggesting that this is possible: Sometimes we’re not ready for an answer to the particular question. Or, sometimes the answer to that question is going to come as we continue reading and studying and discussing the matter with others, but it’s not going to come RIGHT NOW. Or, sometimes the question represents one of the great mysteries that we’re never going to understand on this side of eternity. I know that can sound like a cop-out and I don’t mean to cop out. I believe it’s fair and legitimate and reasonable to pursue answers to our questions. In fact, I think it’s good and healthy to pursue answers to our questions. But there’s a reality about our existence in the here and now that is painfully true and the reality is this: We do not and we will not ever know all the answers. Again, this is not an attempt to dodge the tough issues, it’s an attempt to face the reality of our finite abilities.
So, I encourage you to keep reading His word. It can be challenging. But stick with it. Ultimately, it is a source of help and growth. And, it is a way that God reveals Himself to us. And as we know Him better, the Holy Spirit works in us to make us more and more like Him!
“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” 2 Cor. 3:18 [NLT]
Putting On The New Nature
How about saying this today? “God, you’re right. God, where my way diverges from yours….please change me in such a way that I come into alignment with YOU. God, I surrender control of my thoughts, my behaviors, my words to you.” This—done in concert with God’s Holy Spirit—is part of what the Bible calls putting on “the new nature.”
Thursday, November 12, 2009
People: A Pain AND A Joy
“People” are both the cause of our greatest pain in life and the cause of our greatest joy. If we CARE about people, somewhere along the way, we will get hurt. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. However, in order to engage fully with life and in order to be who God created us to be, we must care about people anyhow. This is part of the reason why “real living” involves courage, selfless love & much grace.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Do You REALLY Believe That God Loves You?
What I have found in many conversations with people is that even though we know the words about God’s love for us & we agree intellectually that He loves us unconditionally, there’s a sense in which we have a hard time REALLY BELIEVING it. God knows YOU completely—every detail—and yet He loves you FULLY. “Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God…” Rom.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Luther Keeps The Doctor Guessing
Last Sunday I told a story about my dad’s recent visit with a doctor. (You can hear the story at www.VisitUsOnline.org if you’re interested, 11/8/09 msg.) After I told the story about the doctor being caught off guard by my dad’s sense of humor, Nadia reminded me that I should have mentioned the other time, during their meeting, when the doctor didn’t immediately catch my dad’s humor at play. So, here it is…
The doctor was telling my dad that the test which had been performed revealed that there is a mass in one of his lungs. The mass shows up as a dark area on the charts that the doctor examined. The doctor held up his fingers to indicate the approximate size of the mass. The doctor continued with his explanation of the matter, but my dad interrupted him.
“Could that be the bullet?” my dad asked with a curious look of wonder on his face.
The doctor knew from a prior conversation that my dad was a World War II veteran who saw a good bit of action and so he launched into an explanation about the size and shape of the image on the CAT scan indicating that it couldn’t be “the bullet”.
As the doctor continued faithfully addressing the question of “the bullet”, I had to hold up a hand and tell him, “Doctor, my dad wasn’t shot in the chest during the war, he’s just kidding with you.”
The doctor looked at me—to see if I was the one who was now kidding, or not—then he looked at my dad, who was smiling at him. And he started laughing.
The doctor was seriously attempting to tell my dad that there is a mass of some type in his lungs that will need to be investigated. It’s a matter of concern because of the possibility that obviously comes to mind: could it be a malignant tumor? That’s a question to which we still do not know the answer. The doctor—who is a very nice man with a wonderful, caring “bedside manner”—was being appropriately professional about a serious health issue. My dad was joking with him.
Before our visit was over the doctor said to my dad, “Mr. Marler, you are a remarkable man.”
The doctor is right, but if he only knew the half of it….
See How Much We Need Each Other?
How fundamentally important and necessary are other people to us? Here’s an interesting example: On 9/11, people who were trapped in the flames at the World Trade Center
Monday, November 9, 2009
Take A Good Look At The Man In This Photo
The man in the picture accompanying this article is known to be on a diet and currently working with a personal trainer. And yet, as can be plainly seen from the photo, he is holding a triple-thick chocolate shake which, many witnesses confirm, he consumed IN ITS ENTIRETY.
All of this occurred at a local restaurant which is known to serve foods which are high in both calories, carbohydrates and thick cheeses.
The identity of the man shall not be disclosed in this article because this is, obviously, a forum in which we strenuously refrain from “gossip” and all forms of “small talk”.
But look at the photo. Look at it! Do you see the look of joy on his face? Do you see the smile? Is it possible that he’s flaunting his general disregard for the rules and boundaries of the diet? It makes a person ponder what other rules of the program might be at risk. Is he counting his push-ups properly? You have to wonder.
Witnesses at the scene claim to have overheard this exchange between the man and his caring wife…
Wife: Is THAT on your diet?
Man: The diet doesn’t start until tomorrow.
It was the old “the-diet-starts-tomorrow” routine! Yep, we’ve all heard THAT ONE a million times, haven‘t we?
One of the basic lessons of this story is this: There are people with cameras, now, everywhere. We can’t hide. All of our actions are “out there!” It’s something to keep in mind.
This man’s trainer is known to be a tough and demanding disciplinarian; a man who has quickly reduced powerful athletes to sad heaps, laying on the floor in tears. One can only hope that the trainer might be made aware of this incident, for the man’s own good…strictly for HIS OWN GOOD.
Look again at the photo, take a good look….it is clearly a cry for help!
A Life That Requires An "Explanation"
Comment I heard: “If you’re a true Christian, your life should sometimes require an explanation.” In other words, some people won’t understand your life. If we live for Christ with integrity there will be people scratching their heads saying, “What’s going on? What could make a person do such things?” Hey that’s great! A chance to explain kingdom living is just the kind of opportunity an Ambassador is looking for.
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