"Diagnosis.........................."

As expected, there was a lot of initial discussion about the election before Bible class even started last night. While much of it dealt with concerns about this nation’s future, it amused me that some were perplexed how so many Americans could ignore basic moral values with their vote. In truth, it perplexes me that so many within the church believe the world should simply accept their doctrinal view of the Book. We convince nobody by swinging a sword. I point you to Christ, Himself, and suggest that His admonition that night in Gethsemane can be applied just as much to a Bible thumper as anybody else. Likewise, I’m prone to believe the Body has been led into left field concerning prayer, a lot of people in my bunch whining that Romney lost because the ecclesiastical community didn’t bombard heaven enough with our political petitions. Our teacher spoke of a television interview, however, with an older woman in Florida who was rejoicing about the Almighty having answered her earnest cries for Obama’s reinstatement; and he left me wondering if it was all a matter of the Methodists outnumbering the Pentecostals, one side cancelling the other out until God went with those two extra senior citizens at the last minute. No; if Christianity has become a minority in this country, it is because we, ourselves, have failed to be the leavening agent, complacent with our own sense of righteousness, thinking our proclamation of “truth” as we have interpreted it to be somehow equates to the Holy Ghost “in” me. A claim of resurrection means nothing until the Reality of such faith reveals Himself in the situation. Somewhere along the way we have lost our kids, the neighbor next door, and America as a whole. Judgment begins at the door of His tabernacle……

"From Where I Sit......."

There is an empty feeling in my stomach this morning. No fear; Christ remains the Rock to which I am anchored. It is obvious, though, that more than half this country holds little or no moral values; and I ask myself if that's because we have failed to legislate our faith unto others, or because we have failed to live it. My prayers were not to put any certain man into office, but for America to know revival, for the Church at large to awake in Him. He has always held, not only our future, but each and every day in His hands. In Him I rest... Forty years ago, preachers within old-time holiness were interpreting Biblical prophecy to reveal exactly what is taking place in the world around me today. They spoke of a global community desperately needing solutions to their very existence, financial disaster effecting drastic change in many areas. Christianity, not so much as a true body of believers, but the ecclesiastical institution, itself, would become wrapped up in its own righteousness and operate blind to its own arrogance. The answer, to me, is not standing on some street corner waving my “sword” and yelling “Repent!” Rather, more than ever, we need to look inside and know the voice of God for ourselves. A very dear friend of mine once delivered a sermon entitled “Will the real Holy Ghost please stand up!” In such time of chaos and confusion, in such a day when “the violent take it by force”, this old man often questions his own sanity, his own stumble down the path in the midst of it all. What I have found to be true is His inner grip on my very identity, a “hook in my belly” as I go......

"Hanging Chads....................."

Beth and I cast our ballots early this morning after dropping the granddaughter off at the church school. We did so out of “love for our country” rather than “revenge”, although I do admit both of us hold some pretty strong feelings about the incumbent. Here in Kentucky, a driver’s license is required to prove your identity. Neither of us considered it a big deal. Nevada is currently being charged in a law suit over their allowing illegals to register, the plaintiffs going so far as to declare Harry Reid would not have been re-elected in 2010 otherwise. Our assigned location was not crowded at all this morning, no electronic machines mysteriously changing Romney votes to Obama, merely a single sheet of paper with small blank boxes to be penciled in before feeding it into some sort of machine that resembled a shredder. Surely not; but I did mentally question that possibility. As a matter of fact, after leaving, it crossed my mind as to why, with all the computer genius that’s out there, this nation doesn’t possess a system capable of verifying each and every one of us. Could it be that politics at large just doesn’t want it “clean”? I wish we all were more like the population of this small town in New Hampshire. While we were waiting this afternoon to pick up the granddaughter, Beth somehow caught a broadcast on her smart phone telling about ten people in some rural burg up there who all showed up to vote at the same time, each dropping their complete form into a box before immediately taking them back out for a count. There are two who are Democrats, three Republicans, the rest listed as Independents. This occasion was a first, the results revealing a tie. Amazingly, after a bit of laughter and handshakes, they all went home, still good neighbors, willing to trust God for whatever the future holds…..

"Ground Zero............."

Yesterday afternoon I watched a short video clip recently given me, one created a few years ago for a Pastor Appreciation dinner, one wherein a few of the older members were reflecting on life as it was within the body as we made the transition from the former sanctuary to this present one. It brought a bit of tear to my eye, these folk all dear to my heart and the journey one I shared. To be truthful, they yet spoke of being thrilled with the current state of things, a position that this old man no longer holds. While the sanctuary yet remains a place where the Holy Spirit is able to fill my heart at times to over-flowing, when the whole service can simply be stopped somewhere in the middle for our shepherd to record a separate portion for those receiving our broadcast, surely there’s room for a question or two about our location… In my walk with Thomas Merton a few days ago, he pointed to that Garden of Eden event in Genesis, specifically to the interrogative the Creator brought forth just after the fall. “Adam,” He asked; “Where art thou?”, knowing full well that the object of His inquiry was hiding behind a bush. The author’s reasoning about the matter was a suggestion that we all might consider making a personal GPS investigation frequently, just in case we, ourselves, are likewise probed by Him. I agree, fully aware that acknowledging my longevity doesn’t equate to inspecting it for “continental drift”. With humanity being humanity, though, the ecclesiastical community at large, in my opinion, could benefit as well from regular check-ups. Just because His grace still abides, it doesn’t mean the ship hasn’t navigated off course……

"Reset............................"

I awoke early this morning, as usual, the television and my cell-phone current with the community around me, but every other appliance in the house yet operating by yesterday’s time schedule. Some speak of this occurrence in terms of having “gained” an hour, but, if that is so, somehow the mirth escapes me, my mind always remembering it just has to be “paid back” just a few months down the road. There is purpose to the whole affair, I suppose, a few more minutes of light restructured into that portion of our day where we most need it. Something in me, though, never adapts, or, at least, not immediately, my body, seemingly, with its own inner clock and needing to slowly adjust to the new alignment. More than a demand for a mental recalculation of my existence, this goes deeper. A root of who I am requires a bit of space before being able to once again feel comfortable in the soil of this unfamiliar ground… Is there such a spot within all of us, a Genesis Garden of Eden where can be found the original naked seed of our identity, that part of us trapped somehow in the web this world weaves around us and yet aware that life has to be more than what we possess? I think there is; and I’m inclined to believe it the one place where, when we realize He has been standing there knocking at the door all the while, we can connect not only with Him but with each other. It matters not our history, our ethnicity, nor our gender. Life is lot more confusing than trying to remember if it’s “spring forward and fall back” or the other way around. Christ promised, however, that “out of a man’s belly” could flow that which was able to strengthen us for the journey. In Him can be found a rock to anchor us in whatever the storm throws at us……

"Heresy: Part II..............................."

”If you forget the words to your own song, you can always claim artistic license. Forget the words to the National Anthem and you’re screwed.”…Kyle Lovett

Once again Saturday morning finds me just returned home from a visit to my local Ford dealership, this time performed at their request rather than a normal need for an oil change. While waiting there, I chanced upon the above quote and, with my mind yet traversing the subject of “deifying Scripture, somehow the singer’s statement registered with me. This old man is very much a “mental ruminant”, always chewing on some “regurgitated” thinking not yet quite digested; and what holds my attention, at the moment, is wondering why we are so scared to simply “give the Bible back to God”, in terms of Him defining it for us instead of the other way around. Immediately, of course, most will tell me that we already do so by confessing it to be “inspired”. What exactly does that last expression mean to us, however? Is it no more than the Almighty once “breathing” His voice into certain prophets and a handful of disciples, that which was spoken sanctified and set in concrete? Is it, in reality, yet alive, Deity in communication with us, utilizing Biblical text as a directional “rod and staff”, leading us step by step in our journey? Thomas Merton, in his book “Springs of Contemplation”, defines it as “a judgment on a deep level somewhere down in the ground of our body”, assigning it to the Holy Ghost and adding “it gives us the conviction that, when we follow such leading, we are on the right track”. I agree, my only hesitation being his failure, like so many others, to give the Spirit His own identity as the Third “Person” of the Trinity. One way or another in this, it seems, we find it much easier to keep Christ in a box, our faith, indeed our salvation, a matter of our own doctrinal interpretation……

"Literal Heresy............."

In reading the Old Testament, some tend to see a different God, one seemingly void of grace when it comes to humanity as a whole. The Jews fared well if, as a nation they toed the line, and a few chosen individuals getting blessed regardless of their character, their relationship with the Almighty more a matter of His patience with them than of their righteousness in an attempt to follow Him. This was an age where kings required only good weather to exercise population control, wiping out entire communities, the victor claiming the spoils; and such practice apparently not only okay with the Creator, but, at times, so ordered by Him. It was a different time, a different world, and surely we, as believers, need to consider such things It was, and always has been, the same “I am”. He who brought forth Christ through Mary via the Holy Ghost is that very One who in the beginning spared Noah, appointed Abraham, and spoke through Samuel, His nature changing not anywhere within the journey. Can it be said, then, that perhaps these sacred verses recorded within the first half of the Book came to us as much from men as they did from on high? Do I dare suggest that even so the second half was put to print, inspiration “tainted” by the very channel through which it flowed? For me, the Bible is special, not because it, in itself, possesses some hallowed state, but because it is “the sword of the Spirit”. The “Word” sits at the right hand of the Father, working in us via the Third Person of the Trinity. One way that occurs is through our perusal of Scripture. We must be careful, however, to never think ourselves as having solved the mystery therein, its promises ours to claim merely because we equate it with having faith. He, alone, remains the Authority, the Kingdom, and the Giver of Life…...