"Sometimes I lie awake at night and I ask where have I gone wrong? Then a voice says to me - This is going to take more than one night... In the Book of life, the answers aren't in the back."...Charlie Brown
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
"Whoops!........."
Monday, February 25, 2013
"Higher Levels..................."
Sunday, February 24, 2013
"One-Eighty.............."
It’s Saturday morning here and there’s an hour or so yet before my presence is required at an annual meeting at the Youth Detention Center. This past Wednesday evening the rescue mission had me missing our Bible class, so I’m not sure if the above quote was discussed or not. The author is one of my favorite and his words here say much; but, a few more chapters into the book, he gets into a subject where they might have been better utilized. Taking those verses of Scripture in Acts dealing with the Day of Pentecost, along with John 7:38-39, he makes the statement that “Whenever Jesus is glorified, the Holy Spirit comes!” To his credit, he also notes that “Contrary to what most people unintentionally assume, the important thing here was not that the Spirit had come; the important thing was that Jesus had been exalted”; but, to me, the danger is in leaving the reader to believe if he just brings forth an abundance of praise with enough faith behind it, an encounter with the Holy Ghost will take place. There are a lot of people in our own denominational ranks, anyhow, who now preach it that way. I’m of the opinion, however, that Tozer’s declaration is better phrased in reverse: “Whenever the Holy Spirit comes, Jesus is glorified” (at least through and in us). The connection is not external, but internal, not a reach into the heavens, but a surrender into the depths of whom He is within us. Indeed, the author declares elsewhere, “The Christian Church is trying to carry on in its own power: that kind of Christianity makes God sick”; and, while his final adjective might well be a little strong, he says what he failed to make clear earlier: Jesus died and arose to re-establish within man that point where we might find the reality of all He is. His cross and His throne mark the spot and we approach it with reverence, not the clamor and bravado of the seven sons of Sciva…….
Friday, February 22, 2013
"Sour Grapes.................."
Thursday, February 21, 2013
"Foliage......................"
The Earth may indeed be tilted on its axis; but I’m beginning to think it has picked up a wobble along the way. How else does one explain the temperature being in the mid-thirties Sunday, all the way up to over sixty Monday, and today plunging to twenty-one with a mean arctic breeze that just cuts right through you? The world, in general, is screaming for solutions, chaos in just about any direction one might look, more and more it appearing as if we’re sitting on a powder keg, the fuse lit and ready to blow. I don’t mean to sound like Chicken Little. I’m not running around with a “Repent or Burn” slogan on my t-shirt. In truth, there is peace in my soul about it all, my girls and my grandkids all anchored in Him, all things in His hands.
Caleb just won the Best Offensive Player trophy in the final JV tournament, a game that was lost by a last second buzzer beater. As a Ninth Grader also much utilized by the Varsity team, he’s facing that time in his life where peer pressure is always part of the picture; but I see his heart and the birthing he has known in Christ. McKenna is a Seventh Grader about to step into her teens this summer. Beth and I replaced a worn-out Bible for her this past weekend, the above verse inscribed just inside the front cover as I had originally penned it on the initial gift. We told her that it speaks about God’s wisdom, but felt He wouldn’t mind if we applied it to her. There are no guarantees in this. The future is always a mystery in front of us. His promise, though, is more than words in a Book; it is an assurance found within, an anchor-line connection in my belly. In Him, I can rest and find peace……
Sunday, February 17, 2013
"Linked............................."
Friday, February 15, 2013
"Progress..................."
Thursday, February 14, 2013
"Therapy............................."
There were about twenty of us last night to begin our ten-week study of the Holy Ghost. While we discussed several points of interest utilizing the Bible, the above author’s “Life in the Spirit”, and quotes from other fairly well-known “old-time” preachers, it was the statement shared here, given to us as a question, that remained unanswered until the last few minutes of class. The teacher had referred to me in jest as he brought it forth, declaring he had almost audibly heard my “amen!” in reading it the first time. I laughed with the rest, admitting that particular paragraph had resonated with me; but, with no response from others, I simply allowed Steve to continue. When we came to the end of the lesson, however, this old man ventured to state his opinion. Realizing that most who read this are probably familiar with Pentecost, if at all, merely through some sort of encounter with either the “legalistic” bunch or the “misinformed” masse we’ve acquired through tele-evangelism, let me apologize if my sentiments should surprise or confuse you in any way. Over four decades within this group, though, has convinced me that our problem is not in recognizing the reality of a risen Savior having resurrected in us via the Third Person of the Trinity, but in having had no good instruction along the way as to “who” and “what” He is in such form! We well know what it is to rejoice in His presence, to sing and preach under an anointing; but, when life comes along and we actually have to walk through the storm, when the day comes to a close and prayer doesn’t bring the immediate expected results, suddenly all the books and sermons on “faith” and “authority” do not add up. That, as much as anything else, is why we have people going out the back door as fast as they come through the front one, why our teenagers eventually leave Youth Fellowship and look for “freedom” elsewhere. Christianity is a connected walk with Him, not some transformation into Super Saint…….
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
"Spot-check..........................."
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
"Sidenote....................."
Sunday, February 10, 2013
"Freedom...................."
Saturday, February 9, 2013
"Encounters........................."
Thursday, February 7, 2013
"Filet Mignon........................."
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
"GPS...................................."
Saturday, February 2, 2013
"Abracadabra!................."
My snow day yesterday, even with nothing more than a dusting that soon disappeared once the sun made it way over the hills to the east of us, was spent here in the house. The granddaughter has been battling a sore throat, so we elected to skip the usual breakfast at Bob’s. I actually slept until ten and Beth served up biscuits and scrambled eggs. From there, for me at least, it was a constant change of position in an attempt to escape “cabin fever”, computer to television to crossword puzzles and the second of four books recently loaned me by the Catholic fellow at school. This particular one was written by an old-time Methodist preacher and can be summed up by his words above, the message merely a continual declaration of the importance of prayer without ever really getting into the depth of what prayer really is. In truth, though, other than a few excursions into the example Jesus shared with the disciple when they asked Him how to accomplish it, in forty-one years I’ve heard only one man come close to my own theology on the matter; and, while we are in agreement concerning the experience, we part company when he explains the benefits gained from entering into such place of being one with Christ in the Holy Ghost. Maybe it’s no more than this old man wanting what’s said to be clearly defined, or at least left open for discussion, the initial quote offered here allowing me to at least better express my dissent. As stated, Pastor Bounds speaks volumes in terms of our faith being a journey; but he comes up short, in my opinion, when he leaves one with the impression that a man might possibly be transformed into “holy” because of the indwelling. He does correct himself with the last condition, declaring the vessel to be anointed only because, at the time, the Spirit has revealed Himself; but, if we are not careful, men being yet men, the seed sown is corrupted. This is, and always has been, a pilgrimage, not an immediate metamorphosis……
Friday, February 1, 2013
"Menus............................"
For the second time this school year, what appears to be not much more than a dusting has given me a day off. Beth awoke me at a little after five o’clock with the Board’s telephone declaration. I grunted, turned over, and went back to sleep. Bad decision. The last two hours (or at least some small portion of it) has involved a dream wherein this old man was seated with my wife inside a church sanctuary, one that at least seemed to be the facility we attend; yet, having gotten to my feet and walked outside such space for some reason, I suddenly found myself in another assembly altogether. They were teaching a class in the foyer. I recognized no one. Re-entry proved to be just as disturbing: Beth was no longer in there, everything was different, and from there it got worse, driving and not being able to find my way home…. Just a dream? Maybe; but, in writing this, it comes back to me that my initial departure from the service was due to discovering a different shoe on each of my feet. Then, at one point in this mental drama, I remember a man providing me with a new pair, making me think of that verse in Ephesians where Paul speaks of our being “shod with the preparation of the Gospel”. There is no inner witness of the experience equating to “divine revelation”, no “inner tug on the anchor-line”, merely my thoughts considering the above quote and how much the Christian Faith, at large, has evolved in the last forty years, forget the last two thousand. What we wear reflects who we are; we are what we eat; and I’m particular about both……