The nerds, geeks and wallflowers have found their voice.
Seriously.
We are witnessing the revolt of the "good" kids in today's political debates. It's heartening, timely and oh so needed.
The 1960's are billed as the era of revolution: drugs sex and rock n roll. And the good kids were made fun of as out of it and irrelevant. So the Boomer revolution took on a monolithic status of liberal lifestyles combined with compassion (as long as it was funded by someone else). This was epitomized by the rise to power of Bill Clinton: one of the few free-loving respectable hippies to get elected. His worldview was/is pure Boomer stereotype.
Something happened to the generation labeled Boomer during his presidency: the "Good" kids of that generation got upset. They realized that they could no longer protect their kids, life and country by homeschooling, hiding behind the veil of religious conviction, and congregating with the like minded. Clinton's mandate was to hunt the good kids down and begin to make them conform to his worldview. The good kids realized that the USA was no longer going to be good if they left it alone.
We floated with the Bush years. (I am identifying with the "Good" kids of the Boomers and Busters) He was tolerable and there was a crisis going on. But even the so-called War in Iraq grew tiresome. (Let's win the damn thing and move on!)
And then, doing the "good" thing, many of us helped to elect the first black president. Many did it quietly and would never admit to voting for him. Many were just voting against McCain, believing that the system would absorb the most heinous of the Obama goals. But never did the "good" kids believe that we would be going down the sewer of forced sameness.
I do not want to live like the hippies, druggies and loud braggarts of the Boomer generation. At least for a time, the "Good" kids are coming out of their shells to protest the excesses of their peers. We are witnessing the revolt of the "Good" kids.
This is the culture war that must be fought.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
18
I'm on my knees today.
I had the talk with my 13 year old... the one that starts "Do you realize you only have 5 years till you are 18?"
It might be a heavy load for a 13 year old, but when you fight against good habits someone is missing the big picture. The big picture is that good habits developed when a kid is 13 will carry them right through to independence and old age. On their own.
Parenting is kind of like a cross country race: when you get 2/3rds through you think it's never going to end. And the real reason I'm on my knees has to do with the current debate about the role of government and the extent of government. What will the world be like five years from now? What should I be training my kids to expect, accept, and adapt for?
I don't know, but God does. So I ask him to help me to focus on the present with an eye to the future, and forever. Help me to keep the goal in front of both me and my loved ones. Help us to see the sinful rebellion in our souls and concentrate on the habits of a Godly and useful life. Steer us clear of the pitfalls and easy trails that lead to laziness, gluttony, and ruin. Interrupt my child's life when they are willfully choosing to hurt themselves: either in attitude or action.
The next five years are a mystery. But the Godly will still be at peace, harmony, and confident in a God who has seen it all.
May that lesson be an integral part of my children: more than the tidiness of their room.
I had the talk with my 13 year old... the one that starts "Do you realize you only have 5 years till you are 18?"
It might be a heavy load for a 13 year old, but when you fight against good habits someone is missing the big picture. The big picture is that good habits developed when a kid is 13 will carry them right through to independence and old age. On their own.
Parenting is kind of like a cross country race: when you get 2/3rds through you think it's never going to end. And the real reason I'm on my knees has to do with the current debate about the role of government and the extent of government. What will the world be like five years from now? What should I be training my kids to expect, accept, and adapt for?
I don't know, but God does. So I ask him to help me to focus on the present with an eye to the future, and forever. Help me to keep the goal in front of both me and my loved ones. Help us to see the sinful rebellion in our souls and concentrate on the habits of a Godly and useful life. Steer us clear of the pitfalls and easy trails that lead to laziness, gluttony, and ruin. Interrupt my child's life when they are willfully choosing to hurt themselves: either in attitude or action.
The next five years are a mystery. But the Godly will still be at peace, harmony, and confident in a God who has seen it all.
May that lesson be an integral part of my children: more than the tidiness of their room.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
I'm incensed that the issue of our "moral" responsibility has entered the debate over access to health care.
First of all, if there is no God to be respected as moral arbiter then there are no arguments to support the term "Right" when applied to access to healthcare.
Second, the term "moral" comes from the term "more" which is a sociological identifier for a commonly accepted standard of behavior. It is neutral, and does not imply a standard of good or bad. Just commonly accepted.
Third, if one is going to espouse a position as "moral" then they should give their coherent rationale undergirding such a position. That's where I'm going for this blog.
What is the undergirding that Obama proposes as the foundation for a moral obligation for access to healthcare? We have heard none except the rally cry of "It's unfair that some have and some have not! All should have!" This appeal to "fairness" smacks against reality when you look under the argument and find nothing there. What is the comparison? What is unfair?
Emotional whipping is the tool of the abuser. We are being whipped with the image of babies ejected from hospitals because there is no insurance, when the same hospitals find the dollars to kill another baby because of their moral imperative called "a women's right to choose". Is that fair? We are being emotionally abused by this whipsaw series of proposals that do not make sense when put into a single idea.
There is no moral sense to the health access debate going on in America today. Do I believe that access to basic health restoration is a good thing? Yes. But I don't believe that just because a treatment exists that it should be used for every purpose on earth.
We will soon be in the scientific era of genetic manipulation. The 1950's were a time of wild thinking of half man/half beast movies. (The Fly) This will soon be a reality in our world. Who will fund this research? We are already through government grants to our universities.
Once government can control the money for healthcare, then they can control where that money is going. When that money is coming from the private sector to industry then the private sector can control what direction industry goes. That's a moral decision from the people. We vote with our dollars. But government, with the ability to tax, can force a person to participate in that which is abhorent to the person. That is not fair.
First of all, if there is no God to be respected as moral arbiter then there are no arguments to support the term "Right" when applied to access to healthcare.
Second, the term "moral" comes from the term "more" which is a sociological identifier for a commonly accepted standard of behavior. It is neutral, and does not imply a standard of good or bad. Just commonly accepted.
Third, if one is going to espouse a position as "moral" then they should give their coherent rationale undergirding such a position. That's where I'm going for this blog.
What is the undergirding that Obama proposes as the foundation for a moral obligation for access to healthcare? We have heard none except the rally cry of "It's unfair that some have and some have not! All should have!" This appeal to "fairness" smacks against reality when you look under the argument and find nothing there. What is the comparison? What is unfair?
Emotional whipping is the tool of the abuser. We are being whipped with the image of babies ejected from hospitals because there is no insurance, when the same hospitals find the dollars to kill another baby because of their moral imperative called "a women's right to choose". Is that fair? We are being emotionally abused by this whipsaw series of proposals that do not make sense when put into a single idea.
There is no moral sense to the health access debate going on in America today. Do I believe that access to basic health restoration is a good thing? Yes. But I don't believe that just because a treatment exists that it should be used for every purpose on earth.
We will soon be in the scientific era of genetic manipulation. The 1950's were a time of wild thinking of half man/half beast movies. (The Fly) This will soon be a reality in our world. Who will fund this research? We are already through government grants to our universities.
Once government can control the money for healthcare, then they can control where that money is going. When that money is coming from the private sector to industry then the private sector can control what direction industry goes. That's a moral decision from the people. We vote with our dollars. But government, with the ability to tax, can force a person to participate in that which is abhorent to the person. That is not fair.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Double Rainbow
Looking off our deck the last hints of two events intersected for an incredible scene. It only lasted a few minutes. The kids and I stared in awe as the rainbows formed from low to high in the darkening sky.
Looking east the storm had passed with a ragged trailing edge. The sky was clearing overhead while dusk approached. One of the kids called me out of my office, she had seen the second rainbow and knew I would want a picture. Dazzling, pulsing with light, the rainbows spoke loudly and proudly.
God is keeping his promise, declaring it in a beautiful way over his earth in his own style. Beautiful.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Faith and a Tesla Ball
There is a singular reality of physics that helped me to understand the issue of the Almighty and of God. I discovered it in Fifth Grade. The importance of the dialogue was lost to me for decades.
At a school science assembly the presenter was showing a Tesla ball, one of those electrical bad hair days. He was explaining how the strands of electric charge would go towards places on the glass with differing charges, such as when your hand touched the edge and changed the charge.
His point was: "We are creatures of energy".
Well, this fifth grader had just learned two things: (1) atoms are comprised of protons, neutrons and electrons, (2) E=mc2.
The question? What is the composition of a proton? What makes up the smallest of particles?
The answer is unfathomable, too deep, too real, too scary for the scientist to fully explore. Why? because at the core, matter is just organized energy. Einstein said so, every honest physicist will agree. What they will fight, and the dawn of faith in this fifth grader discovered, was that the organizing principle cannot be of this physical plane. It must be other, over, and absolute.
Or as John 1 says, all things are held together by the Logos: Christ.
The only reason matter exists is because the Other, our Christ, chose to organize his own energy into a form. The ancient text describes the event as "ex nihilo", out of nothing... then something. This is my proof for the existence of God and my reasoning for the divine quality of Scripture.
All of man's works pale in the view of the preservation of a single atom. If that bond could be broken the amount of energy released would power our dreams forever. Nuclear power unleashes the energy of the bonds between protons, neutrons and electrons. What if you could unleash the very energy OF those particles? What if you could release the binding power of energy itself? The release from a single molecule could power your car, or intergalactic flight, based on space trash.
The assembly presenter was right on many levels: we are creatures of energy. The very stuff of matter is nothing more than energy that is organized.
And so, I believe in an omnipotent Other, who must organize, be devoted to, and be invested in matter. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus the Creator. All from a fifth grade science assembly.
At a school science assembly the presenter was showing a Tesla ball, one of those electrical bad hair days. He was explaining how the strands of electric charge would go towards places on the glass with differing charges, such as when your hand touched the edge and changed the charge.
His point was: "We are creatures of energy".
Well, this fifth grader had just learned two things: (1) atoms are comprised of protons, neutrons and electrons, (2) E=mc2.
The question? What is the composition of a proton? What makes up the smallest of particles?
The answer is unfathomable, too deep, too real, too scary for the scientist to fully explore. Why? because at the core, matter is just organized energy. Einstein said so, every honest physicist will agree. What they will fight, and the dawn of faith in this fifth grader discovered, was that the organizing principle cannot be of this physical plane. It must be other, over, and absolute.
Or as John 1 says, all things are held together by the Logos: Christ.
The only reason matter exists is because the Other, our Christ, chose to organize his own energy into a form. The ancient text describes the event as "ex nihilo", out of nothing... then something. This is my proof for the existence of God and my reasoning for the divine quality of Scripture.
All of man's works pale in the view of the preservation of a single atom. If that bond could be broken the amount of energy released would power our dreams forever. Nuclear power unleashes the energy of the bonds between protons, neutrons and electrons. What if you could unleash the very energy OF those particles? What if you could release the binding power of energy itself? The release from a single molecule could power your car, or intergalactic flight, based on space trash.
The assembly presenter was right on many levels: we are creatures of energy. The very stuff of matter is nothing more than energy that is organized.
And so, I believe in an omnipotent Other, who must organize, be devoted to, and be invested in matter. I believe in God. I believe in Jesus the Creator. All from a fifth grade science assembly.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Four Eyes
What happens when you get married?
And then you have kids?
And then work changes?
And then and then and then?
Every once in a while a couple is tracking along just fine and then an incident happens that makes you realize that there really are two people in this relationship after all.
For example, the eight year old comes back in from playing and is covered in mud and glowing with joy with the sheer tactile thrill of warm, oozy mud pies between the fingers....
Mom screams "To the hose then to the laundry!!!!"
Dad thinks "Looks like that was fun!!!"
I think it takes four eyes to look out for a household. Hers and mine.
And then you have kids?
And then work changes?
And then and then and then?
Every once in a while a couple is tracking along just fine and then an incident happens that makes you realize that there really are two people in this relationship after all.
For example, the eight year old comes back in from playing and is covered in mud and glowing with joy with the sheer tactile thrill of warm, oozy mud pies between the fingers....
Mom screams "To the hose then to the laundry!!!!"
Dad thinks "Looks like that was fun!!!"
I think it takes four eyes to look out for a household. Hers and mine.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Caring About People
I have two friends from long ago who are in an industry that is fading away. One is diametrically opposed to me in their politics. The other in their desire to engage problems.
I still care for them as people while I imagine their jobs being whittled away by the competition. What must that be doing to their outlook? Their self worth? Their future?
If we got to talking about the president we would be arguing deep into the night. Or just shutting down the conversation and the appointment. But my mind still drifts back to their life situation and I care about them.
Like I care about my kids and how they come out.
Like I care about my crusty former manager with the mean streak.
Like I care about the different people who have touched my life one way or another.
I believe God put those people in my life for a reason, and that he wanted me to see them as people, like he sees them. How Jesus, in essence same as the Father yet sharing life intimately with us, could take the hits and bruises of life without learning to hate is truly God-like. His words demonstrate the ability to separate the politics from the person: "forgive them, for they know not what they do."
This is an odd spot to be in, for hatred seems to be the emotion of the day. Hate is the emotional equivalent of trying to wall someone/thing out and away so you don't have to deal with it. It does not mean that you need to submit to someone who wants to hurt you. But hate is a cheap shortcut to understanding. The problem with hate comes at the point when you are totally walled in by your hatred. There is no way out. Hate consumes every vision of life.
Jesus knew that people wanted him dead. Jesus also knew he wasn't done with people. So instead of hate he taught, loved, modeled and encouraged everyone. Jesus was never walled in by hate.
My friends may think I'm a little wacko, but I still care for them as people, friends, those who God wanted in my life. Politics, local activism, past life experiences all fade as I remember my friends as Jesus would. People worth dying for.
I still care for them as people while I imagine their jobs being whittled away by the competition. What must that be doing to their outlook? Their self worth? Their future?
If we got to talking about the president we would be arguing deep into the night. Or just shutting down the conversation and the appointment. But my mind still drifts back to their life situation and I care about them.
Like I care about my kids and how they come out.
Like I care about my crusty former manager with the mean streak.
Like I care about the different people who have touched my life one way or another.
I believe God put those people in my life for a reason, and that he wanted me to see them as people, like he sees them. How Jesus, in essence same as the Father yet sharing life intimately with us, could take the hits and bruises of life without learning to hate is truly God-like. His words demonstrate the ability to separate the politics from the person: "forgive them, for they know not what they do."
This is an odd spot to be in, for hatred seems to be the emotion of the day. Hate is the emotional equivalent of trying to wall someone/thing out and away so you don't have to deal with it. It does not mean that you need to submit to someone who wants to hurt you. But hate is a cheap shortcut to understanding. The problem with hate comes at the point when you are totally walled in by your hatred. There is no way out. Hate consumes every vision of life.
Jesus knew that people wanted him dead. Jesus also knew he wasn't done with people. So instead of hate he taught, loved, modeled and encouraged everyone. Jesus was never walled in by hate.
My friends may think I'm a little wacko, but I still care for them as people, friends, those who God wanted in my life. Politics, local activism, past life experiences all fade as I remember my friends as Jesus would. People worth dying for.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Good News Bad News
Have you ever noticed:
Bad news moves at the speed of light
Good news barely moves at all
Why?
A job is lost, the community knows in minutes. It becomes a headline of focus.
A job is started, only to be compared with the one just lost.
We lament the bad.
We show no emotion for the good.
Why?
Is it because the world is tuned to evil because of the one who is the Prince of the Air? Satan himself? Our world is like a violin whose strings will vibrate to the frequency they are tuned. Evil moments make our world vibrate and we are compelled to know what it is that has set us off so. Thus, bad news travels fast because our world is tuned to receive it better.
Good news is like a message transmitted through static. It takes work to find the message. Or it takes a filter and amplifier to hear the message clearly. Jesus Christ is the filter, the Holy Spirit the amplifier to tune oneself to hear the messages of good in our world. When we trust Christ as Savior He first begins to tighten our "strings", our conscience, our soul, to respond to holiness rather than evil. He then highlights the difference between a signal of evil versus one of good. It is work, it is God's work, and it is good. Thus, good news, to have full effect on your soul, needs Christ and Spirit to fully absorb the message of grace. It travels slow if at all.
Today, be a messenger of good. As you help the good message travel you are a part of the redemption of this world.
Bad news moves at the speed of light
Good news barely moves at all
Why?
A job is lost, the community knows in minutes. It becomes a headline of focus.
A job is started, only to be compared with the one just lost.
We lament the bad.
We show no emotion for the good.
Why?
Is it because the world is tuned to evil because of the one who is the Prince of the Air? Satan himself? Our world is like a violin whose strings will vibrate to the frequency they are tuned. Evil moments make our world vibrate and we are compelled to know what it is that has set us off so. Thus, bad news travels fast because our world is tuned to receive it better.
Good news is like a message transmitted through static. It takes work to find the message. Or it takes a filter and amplifier to hear the message clearly. Jesus Christ is the filter, the Holy Spirit the amplifier to tune oneself to hear the messages of good in our world. When we trust Christ as Savior He first begins to tighten our "strings", our conscience, our soul, to respond to holiness rather than evil. He then highlights the difference between a signal of evil versus one of good. It is work, it is God's work, and it is good. Thus, good news, to have full effect on your soul, needs Christ and Spirit to fully absorb the message of grace. It travels slow if at all.
Today, be a messenger of good. As you help the good message travel you are a part of the redemption of this world.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Small Steps
No pictures today, instead a memory.
Every child that has learned to walk has had to learn the terrible reality of gravity. If you stand up you will fall down. Small steps are wee bits of courage that push the fear of falling away.
I see people everywhere that are stumbling as they take small steps and wonder why it is that the rule of gravity continues to exist. For example:
Why is it that someone dreams of another occupation, one they could do well, but never puts their resume in? Never asks for ideas, references or opportunities? Could it be fear of falling?
This is especially appropriate as kids are launched into the real world. I hear the phrase "this isn't the way I expected it to be" or "I'm looking for exactly the right position to come along." Both are stumble steps, they are attempts to say that gravity shouldn't apply, the ground should not be solid, I should be perfect and the world should fit me well.
I have been a lifeguard, a hand trucker, a truss maker, a reject dismantler, a primary care sales rep, an assistant pastor, youth pastor, senior pastor, and a specialty sales rep. I spent fifity years wondering where I fit, and realized I fit in my own skin. God has blessed me as me and given me chances to take in life. He has said come take a walk with me and I'll show you a world you didn't know existed. But, says my Lord, I'll show you on my terms, OK?
Ok Lord. You have been good to me, helping me to walk upright without falling (too often) and I pray that others in my care will launch with the same delight I now know.
Every child that has learned to walk has had to learn the terrible reality of gravity. If you stand up you will fall down. Small steps are wee bits of courage that push the fear of falling away.
I see people everywhere that are stumbling as they take small steps and wonder why it is that the rule of gravity continues to exist. For example:
Why is it that someone dreams of another occupation, one they could do well, but never puts their resume in? Never asks for ideas, references or opportunities? Could it be fear of falling?
This is especially appropriate as kids are launched into the real world. I hear the phrase "this isn't the way I expected it to be" or "I'm looking for exactly the right position to come along." Both are stumble steps, they are attempts to say that gravity shouldn't apply, the ground should not be solid, I should be perfect and the world should fit me well.
I have been a lifeguard, a hand trucker, a truss maker, a reject dismantler, a primary care sales rep, an assistant pastor, youth pastor, senior pastor, and a specialty sales rep. I spent fifity years wondering where I fit, and realized I fit in my own skin. God has blessed me as me and given me chances to take in life. He has said come take a walk with me and I'll show you a world you didn't know existed. But, says my Lord, I'll show you on my terms, OK?
Ok Lord. You have been good to me, helping me to walk upright without falling (too often) and I pray that others in my care will launch with the same delight I now know.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Growing
Sometimes "No" is a reality moment.
Most of the time "No" is a terribly difficult word to say.
How much does our desire to be liked, admired, and in touch interfered with the need to say "No"? Way too often.
Today I said "No, I would prefer that that not happen." It meant I had to break an assumption about something as simple as storage.
Crap accumulates. Breeds. Flourishes in the absence of tragedy (such as pitching pieces that are obsolete, obnoxious, and unusable). Like "The Blob" it grows and takes things over. Like the garage.
I like a little clear space in the garage. Well, a lot of clean space. I build cabinets to store as much as possible out of sight. Check out the pick of what I expect things to look like, and then what happens just to one shelf when left alone...
Nope, I don't want 30 cubic feet of "that special find that I can use or sell sometime somewhere down the line." No, I don't want an extra transmission for a car you might want in the future. No, I don't want to store stuff. I don't want to buy stuff. I don't want to be the family garage holding tank. And I don't want to pay for a place to store the stuff either. No.
But... it stops the dreams and ideas of my child. He sees opportunity and I'm in his way. That kinda hurts, both of us.
Or does it define the need for him to have a life separate from the family, to truly be on his own. Is it a goad to prod him to grow, risk, try the very things that will be good for him in the future.
And that is why the "No" is important... even if it comes to something as simple as making room for a "find" in the garage.
There will be a time and place for him to accumulate the stuff. For now, I can't handle the crap and need him to follow through on the growing up before he can manage it on his own terms.
Tough, but I had to learn the same lesson with my 1978 era stereo with the big monster speakers at home and at college. How loud, where you gonna put that thing, seriously, don't play that thing so loud when I'm studying!
I'm smiling now, it's a good growing up moment.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Seriously
March 18th. Almost two months for our new President, Obama.
Is this what the American people really voted for?
That's enough of that.
Today, my second grandchild almost came into the world. I had some time with my eldest to just talk while she worked her way out of the hospital. She took a nap too, which proved again that she is very cute when she is sleeping!
The world is upside down for that little unborn grandchild of mine. He doesn't know it, and I hope he doesn't feel it with Momma's hormones cruisng through his vessels. She is a calm one so there is hope.
But how to pray for this soon to be newborn?
I pray for wisdom: slow down, read the signs and think clearly.
I pray for joy: Learn to find your "happy place" and live there
I pray for skill: Find your skill in the world and work it baby!
I pray for health: May his constitution be hale and hearty.
I pray for soul: Find God. Find Him everywhere. Find Him in Jesus.
I pray for family: May it stay together, grow fond with memories, and vibrant to continue.
And that's about enough of that too.
God bless you, Bennie.
Gumpy
Is this what the American people really voted for?
That's enough of that.
Today, my second grandchild almost came into the world. I had some time with my eldest to just talk while she worked her way out of the hospital. She took a nap too, which proved again that she is very cute when she is sleeping!
The world is upside down for that little unborn grandchild of mine. He doesn't know it, and I hope he doesn't feel it with Momma's hormones cruisng through his vessels. She is a calm one so there is hope.
But how to pray for this soon to be newborn?
I pray for wisdom: slow down, read the signs and think clearly.
I pray for joy: Learn to find your "happy place" and live there
I pray for skill: Find your skill in the world and work it baby!
I pray for health: May his constitution be hale and hearty.
I pray for soul: Find God. Find Him everywhere. Find Him in Jesus.
I pray for family: May it stay together, grow fond with memories, and vibrant to continue.
And that's about enough of that too.
God bless you, Bennie.
Gumpy
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Confounding the experts
Splitting hairs. It's a religious propensity.
Is a man born gay or does he learn to be gay?
If illness comes to someone do we say that it serves them right, or that they are so good they don't deserve the pain?
Jesus was in the middle of just such an arguement with the religious teachers of the day as they walked by a man by the wayside. Clearly, this man knew the people strolling by and did not want to interrupt them. He was about to discover whether the societal guilt heaped upon him was valid or not. "Jesus", the teachers demanded, "who sinned that this man was born blind? The man's parents or did he?"
I can hear the taunts against the parents over the years about their supposed sin. I can also hear the well meaning friends of the blind man saying, this isn't your fault, your parent's sin caused your blindness.
I can also hear the mothers and fathers warning their children to stay far away from this sinful dirty man.
And then Jesus...
Jesus goes outside the argument to the reality. Practical, simple, powerful. Jesus used spit, dirt and a command to wash and be healed. All of which was unrequested by the man!
Then Jesus answers the argument: Don't connect circumstance with sin. The debate is irrelevant, he is just blind and this for the glory of God!
Jesus took a religious hairsplitting argument and shattered its power by ACTING.
Through all the rest of the story the man realizes that Jesus is outside and beyond the religious arguments, his parents' cowardice, and his neighbors' rrejection.
Jesus comes to find him, seeks him and the circle is fulfilled in relationship. Healed man and Jesus become one in the end.
Act, rather than have your argument finetuned.
Is a man born gay or does he learn to be gay?
If illness comes to someone do we say that it serves them right, or that they are so good they don't deserve the pain?
Jesus was in the middle of just such an arguement with the religious teachers of the day as they walked by a man by the wayside. Clearly, this man knew the people strolling by and did not want to interrupt them. He was about to discover whether the societal guilt heaped upon him was valid or not. "Jesus", the teachers demanded, "who sinned that this man was born blind? The man's parents or did he?"
I can hear the taunts against the parents over the years about their supposed sin. I can also hear the well meaning friends of the blind man saying, this isn't your fault, your parent's sin caused your blindness.
I can also hear the mothers and fathers warning their children to stay far away from this sinful dirty man.
And then Jesus...
Jesus goes outside the argument to the reality. Practical, simple, powerful. Jesus used spit, dirt and a command to wash and be healed. All of which was unrequested by the man!
Then Jesus answers the argument: Don't connect circumstance with sin. The debate is irrelevant, he is just blind and this for the glory of God!
Jesus took a religious hairsplitting argument and shattered its power by ACTING.
Through all the rest of the story the man realizes that Jesus is outside and beyond the religious arguments, his parents' cowardice, and his neighbors' rrejection.
Jesus comes to find him, seeks him and the circle is fulfilled in relationship. Healed man and Jesus become one in the end.
Act, rather than have your argument finetuned.
Door
The drastic consequence of the Fall is that man erected a wall without a gate against God.
Jesus invaded our sphere, our safe place, and wanted us to see the immensity of the world/life we have tried to wall out. Then He has called to us - leave the walled in city, join the whole of life - through the gate I've built.
Come.
Jesus invaded our sphere, our safe place, and wanted us to see the immensity of the world/life we have tried to wall out. Then He has called to us - leave the walled in city, join the whole of life - through the gate I've built.
Come.
Reset
A sermon from Octoer 2008 was on confession as a spiritual discipline. The presenter had many good points, and they are available on the net if you wish to find them. But I came away with a slightly different take.
What is confession? Confession is a reset of your soul.
I like the PDA - personal digital assistant. I keep my calendars on them, games, documents, pictures. Just a little computer to me. Every once in a while something gets funky in the programming and it stalls. I have to push a little button and reboot the whole system so it goes back to the original programming to run properly.
Confession is a reset for your soul.
Confession is mainly to God. Life has standards, we know them through our conscience and the law. But we are not sure what the true standards are? Should they be set by society? If measured by society, then why do I sense a reason to be guilty?
Our internal standards were set by the Creator. We sense life should work like X, but Y turns out. Life is all bogged down by fragments of an ill lived life. Sin leaves fragments of failure internally. Those are things Satan latches onto, they are his. Do you want to leave them in your soul?
Jesus declared to a man born blind "You are forgiven" and released the sin frags from his soul. Then he declared "You are healed" and released the illness that no longer had a hold on the man's eyes. This man, once blind and sin stained was now "reset" to God and the world.
James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."
What is confession? Confession is a reset of your soul.
I like the PDA - personal digital assistant. I keep my calendars on them, games, documents, pictures. Just a little computer to me. Every once in a while something gets funky in the programming and it stalls. I have to push a little button and reboot the whole system so it goes back to the original programming to run properly.
Confession is a reset for your soul.
Confession is mainly to God. Life has standards, we know them through our conscience and the law. But we are not sure what the true standards are? Should they be set by society? If measured by society, then why do I sense a reason to be guilty?
Our internal standards were set by the Creator. We sense life should work like X, but Y turns out. Life is all bogged down by fragments of an ill lived life. Sin leaves fragments of failure internally. Those are things Satan latches onto, they are his. Do you want to leave them in your soul?
Jesus declared to a man born blind "You are forgiven" and released the sin frags from his soul. Then he declared "You are healed" and released the illness that no longer had a hold on the man's eyes. This man, once blind and sin stained was now "reset" to God and the world.
James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
