Thirty Eight Years

Well, it’s been 38 years.  Now, I know that compared with some, that’s not a long time.  But 1974 seems to be so far away now.  Even having kids at home seems to be rather far in the past.  And, oh my, we can’t count on both hands the number of places we’ve lived in since then!  In fact, it takes almost three hands to make a good count.

There are mountains and there are valleys that appear in the last 38 years.  There are some level plains and some rainy periods.  There is a drought or two and there are some fierce storms.  But we’ve emerged from each of these intact, if not weathered just a little from the experience.

And we’ve also emerged more mature…in thought and in deed as well as in appearance.  We’ve mellowed over the years, and have found some ruts we like to inhabit.  But we also are yet willing to step out of them occasionally and try something new.  (Of course, moving as often as we have, we have to be willing to try something new from time to time.)

My partner in this life journey told me long ago that her home is wherever I am.  That brings about an immediate comfort and peace; yet it also brings on a responsibility to provide a place where we can “be”.  As I look back on these years, I see the hand of Someone greater than I working, leaning, nudging, and intervening to mold and shape and form.  There were times when I pretty much ignored that Someone.  There were times when I felt like I had nothing left other than that Someone.  And there were times when I felt He and I were truly partners in this life adventure, just as Pat has been my partner.

I surely look forward to whatever time we have in life.  There will continue to be mountains and valleys.  There will continue to be new things come our way.  There will continue to be ruts to comfortably walk in.  And surely, there will be yet another place to move to.  But the greatest hope is that there will continue to be that “partnership” with the One who knows, leads, saves, and loves.  Because THAT is the foundation; the basis; the rock upon which we live and move and have our very being.

Precious Lord, take my hand,

Lead me on, let me stand;

I am tired; I am weak; I am worn.

Through the storm, through the night,

Lead me on to the light;

Take my hand, precious Lord; lead me home

Words by Thomas A. Dorsey

Traditional Versus Modern

(This post will be a little longer than normal...sorry).

I was perusing some older documents on my hard drive this morning and came upon a letter I had written to a woman in western Kansas who had asked me some questions regarding Christian worship.  We were living in Topeka at the time, so my response to her was in writing, and I saved the response just as I have saved just about everything I have ever created (the last several years) on the computer.

We were talking about traditional versus modern worship.  You know, if you have any ties to Christianity and religion, that there has been for a long time a kind of “us-versus-them” mentality about whether we should worship traditionally, or whether some of the more modern aspects of worship can and should be used.  Sometimes the division goes along age lines…sometimes not.

I wrote a couple of paragraphs in my response to her that even today jarred me a little as I re-read them this morning.  I reprint them below for your perusal.  I’ve added and changed a few words to make the stand-alone selection more enjoyable and understandable.

Remember that in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, they considered their worship to be “modern”.  So whether it’s “traditional” or “modern” is, in my view, depending entirely on your point of view.  Are you looking at it from the 19^th century or the 21^st century?  And also understand that the worship we find in the New Testament was considered to be “modern”, even though nowadays it would be considered the pinnacle of “traditional”.  Although first century worship carried over some elements of Jewish worship (prayer, for example), it was a totally modern and new idea at the time.  That’s part of what Jesus is saying in His response to the Samaritan woman when he said that from now on his worshippers would worship in spirit and truth.

I really don’t think God cares if it’s considered to be “traditional” or “modern”.  God is not bound by time and thus is not bound by our ideas of what is old or new.  God even now is observing the worship of all believers in all ages, including all ages to come.  God even now is observing the worship of Moroccans, Assyrians, Egyptians, Australians, Moabites, Romans, Russians, Levites, Spaniards, Ethiopians, Benjaminites, Indians, Peruvians, African-American slaves, Babylonians, first century Gentiles, and innumerable throngs of Christians and God-fearers out of all ages and from all over the earth in all of the ages that ever have been and ever will be.  Does anyone really think He is sitting on His throne sorting through all of this worship and accepting only the “traditional”?  And if that is the case, how do we know what God considers to be “traditional”?  Why would he use white anglo 19^th century worship as the “gold standard” of what constitutes worship?  When you think of it in that way, it sort of makes our efforts at worship to appear rather feeble, doesn’t it.

It’s a good thing that God overlooks (I hope) a lot of our arrogance, pride, and feelings of superiority.  If He doesn’t, I suspect that we’re treading in rather deep water.

As for your specific question regarding change, I’m not sure if you’re asking about change to attract visitors, please the faithful, or a combination of the two.  But regardless of why you’re asking, I’m not sure we should even be asking the question.  I’m thinking we should rather be asking whether our worship is God-centered, God-focused, heart-felt, and from an humble and contrite people.

Isaiah 1: 10-17 is a wake up call for those who are more concerned about the mechanism and traditional-ness of worship than they are the condition of their hearts as they live and breathe.  Since I can’t say it any better than Isaiah did, I’ll close with his words.  One word of introduction; Isaiah very plainly says in the first nine verses that when he talks about Sodom and Gomorrah, he’s really talking about Israel, God’s chosen people.

¹⁰ Listen to the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom!

Pay attention to the teachings from our God, you people of Gomorrah!

11 The LORD asks, “What do your many animal sacrifices mean to me?

I’ve had enough of your burnt offerings of rams

and enough fat from your fattened calves.

I’m not pleased with the blood of bulls, lambs, or male goats.

12 When you appear in my presence,

who asked you to trample on my courtyards?

13 Don’t bring any more worthless grain offerings.

Your incense is disgusting to me,

so are your New Moon Festivals, your days of worship,

and the assemblies you call.

I can’t stand your evil assemblies.

14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and your appointed festivals.

They’ve become a burden to me,

and I’m tired of putting up with them.

15 So when you stretch out your hands ëin prayerû,

I will turn my eyes away from you.

Even though you offer many prayers,

I will not listen because your hands are covered with blood.

16 “Wash yourselves! Become clean!

Get your evil deeds out of my sight.

Stop doing evil.

17 Learn to do good.

Seek justice.

Arrest oppressors.

Defend orphans.

Plead the case of widows.”

To Whom Shall You Go?

I don’t know why…I have the urge to write today.  I have no topic in mind, but something within seems to want to get out, so I thought I’d just start writing and see where this goes.

I’m reading what would be called a study guide, but in practice could be read like a book.  It covers sixty nine verses of the New Testament in the book of Acts.  It’s the story of Stephen, widely believed in Christian circles to be the first martyr of the newly-established church.

Now, I’ve read this story a hundred times or more.  Those sixty nine verses consist primarily of a sermon given by Stephen at his “trial” in front of the Jewish leaders.  It’s a compelling story, but one from which I’ve never taken away very much in terms of modern application.  This author, John MacArthur Jr., takes a story that probably many of us feel like doesn’t have much modern application, and draws from it many applications, lessons, and truths, all relevant to life in the twenty-first century.

Christian scripture continues to amaze me.  I continually find life lessons, application, and truth in words I have been familiar with for most of my life.  I continue to find passages with meaning I have never thought of, or even heard of before.  And I continue to find a thread of consistency, perfection, and relevance that in my view could not have come about by chance or by good luck.

You may disagree.  That’s OK.  But I have yet to find any glaring inconsistency or any obvious falsehood, collusion, or deception that would cast doubt on the veracity of the Christian writings as found in the canon of scripture.  I know that I look at things through my “world view” of things, and I know that a perfectly unbiased opinion is not possible for me (or anyone else in the human race, for that matter).  However, I have always considered myself to have a measure of logical and objective reasoning, and do my best to apply it to those words I find within the canon.

Do I have absolute, infallible, unshakable proof of the reality that Jehovah God inspired the writing of the canon?  No.  Can I look at the evidence and from it make an educated determination sufficient to hang my eternal hat upon?  Yes.  I have examined other religions.  I have examined no religion at all.  And after it is all said and done, I have nowhere else to go; nobody else to go to; no place else to rest.  As John records Simon Peter’s response to Jesus’ question as to whether the disciples will also desert him as have many of the crowd, “To whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

I know this hasn’t been a blog to remember…but I feel better now, and hopefully can finish the MacArthur book today or tomorrow.  Meanwhile, whatever your persuasion, take another look at the God of the Bible.  Put away as much of your bias as you can, open your eyes, take a deep breath, and allow the words to speak to you.  After all, “To whom shall you go?”

Wondering No More

In church yesterday, we opened the services with a prayer.  The man who led the prayer prefaced it with a desire to pray specifically for one of our members who has spent over a month in a medical intensive care unit due to serious health issues.  The family of the patient was sitting directly behind us.  We had the prayer, then a scripture reading.  Following that, we had our first set of songs.

The songs that were selected this day were songs of praise, generally.  “Awesome Power”, “We Praise Thee, O God”, “How Great Thou Art”, and “He is Exalted” were some.  You get the picture.  I wondered as I looked over the listing of songs just how well they would go over with the serious and sobering opening of services, praying for Don (name changed) and requesting the continued intervention of God in his health and well-being.  I especially wondered how well the family would be able to participate.

I needn’t have wondered.  The singing coming from the row behind me was fervent, passionate, and whole-hearted.  I know there have been multiple times of the two-steps-forward-one-step-back syndrome with Don’s recovery, and corresponding disappointment  and encouragement.  I know things are tough in the family right now with a bread-winner not able to work.  I know lives have been turned upside down and a lot of things have been put on hold for the duration.

Yet there is a faith and hope in this family which transcends the immediate issues.  There is a peace and tranquility that is palpable.  There is a love for and reliance on a God who is very real and tangible.

Such a testimony is sometimes rare in these days of instant gratification and selfishness.  And such a testimony is refreshing, causing pause as we ponder the unponderable and attempt to know the unknowable.  We wonder if we could offer similar testimony to the goodness of God if we were in that same position in life.  And we thank God we don’t yet, anyway, have to find out the answer to that question.

I Have No Place to Go

I was watching the sad story out of Colorado on Sunday regarding the wildfire that is consuming thousands of acres in the northern part of that state. Evidently, there is some development in the area where the fires are burning, and several people have lost homes and buildings to a fire that moves at times as fast as 40 feet per second. The situation is dangerous for those living there as well as those fighting the fires.
One or two people who had been affected by the fire were recorded on camera talking about their loss. I was particularly struck by one woman who appeared to be about my age who was telling the photojournalist that she lost her house, then said, “I have no place to go.”
Think about that for a moment. No place to go. Now, she may have been exaggerating somewhat and may, upon reflection, truly had a place to go that night. But there is a real chance that she truly had no place to go. No family. No friends. No church. No place to go.
Most of us don’t live life that way. We cultivate relationships. We have family. We have friends. We have a church family that loves and cares for us. We are blessed with people in our lives who will look after us in some kind of tragic situation such as losing a home. But there are many people who have no one to turn to. There is no one they are close enough to that they can ask for help, or that would offer them help. They have no church, so they have no church family. They either have no family, or they have ostracized their family to the point that no one is willing to help them. They truly are alone.
And as long as things are going along OK…they remain healthy…the money keeps coming in…the job is steady…the weather cooperates…they can do OK. But when there’s a hiccup in the way of things and they suddenly have a giant in their lives that demands more than they have to give, things cave in. The hole gets deeper. The light gets fainter.
I wonder if this woman really had no place to go. If true, she is a sad and tragic example of what happens when we think we can go it alone…when we can do it ourselves…when we have need of no one. The last verse of the song “I am a Rock” by Simon and Garfunkel catches the reality of the sadness.
“I have my books And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor, Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock, I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.”

Advice to New Parents

I was going to write about a comment I heard on the news from a woman in Colorado, I think, who lost her home in a forest fire. I will do that, but not now. I just found out today that some friends who had been members at our church, but moved their membership some time ago, are new foster parents with the state foster care system. They have no children of their own and this is a new experience for them. The wife has written about their adventures these past seven weeks as foster parents on a blog.
As foster parents ourselves, I wanted to encourage them and even possibly be somewhat helpful. I sent what follows in a “thinking of you” card to them today.


Grant and Vanessa:

I didn’t know until today that you were foster parents with the state system. Congratulations to you for jumping through the hoops to become licensed, and welcome to a world of brokenness unlike any world you have seen before. Even if you have experience working with broken kids and families, foster parenting brings a perspective on this aspect of society that is virtually unknowable through any other lens.
We too were foster parents with the state before we became “real” parents. That was well over 30 years ago and some things have changed; the broken people do not. We were foster parents to both smaller children as well as teenagers (not being much older than teenagers ourselves). I’ll not bore you with stories and details, but write this to let you know we share your experience, emotion, joy and pain in ways most people cannot.

Some thoughts at random:
You will continue to wonder, at times, why you are doing this. That’s normal. Just don’t dwell on it too long, or take great pains to answer it.
You will think you’ve seen it all regarding broken people and families. Then something will come up that will overwhelm you with first time disbelief and the desire to deny the reality of the situation. Don’t obsess about it; rather get busy working with God to restore His creation.
You will never, ever forget those you care for. You will, even 35 years later, tear up when looking at the one and only photo you may have of a certain child.
You will probably never, ever hear from or know any updates about any of the children who were in your care and are now gone on. Even 35 years later, you will wonder where they are now, what happened to them, and whether or not they remember you.
The State has virtually no concerns regarding the bonding that takes place in a foster family between caregiver and those cared for. When it’s time to go, it’s time to go. Your opinions, although they may indeed be solicited and heard, carry little if any weight.
Guardian ad litem attorneys and juvenile/family judges sometimes severely disappoint. You may even wonder how they got to the positions they have attained. The system isn’t perfect.
The cloak of privacy rights covers a multitude of sins on the state level. You won’t be told everything. You won’t be told some things you will need to know. Be open and aware with new placements of needs and issues not told you by the state.
You will not make any money doing this. In fact, you will spend far more than you receive at times. That’s a fact of life.
You will give your hearts to these children; yet God will supply plenty of heart to more than make up what you’ve given away. There will really be enough to go around.
Know that you have a “great cloud” of folks who have gone before you who are surrounding you with love and encouragement.
Remember the special love of Jesus for those who are helpless, abandoned, sick, injured…those who society treads on, casts out, ignores, and exploits. Imitate Jesus in caring for “the least of these” and know that vengeance on those who commit these atrocities against these little ones will be sure and just. Know also that vengeance is not your job. Imitating Jesus is your job.

Jay and Pat

Redemption

A dear friend was having a bad day and a bad time. Things weren’t going well in her family, and it seemed like positive movement on the issues at hand was elusive to say the least. Not being able to do much of anything else, and feeling rather helpless, I responded to her email with what I hoped would be some encouragement. I’ve reprinted here, with some minor changes, and with her name changed, what I said to her in the hope that it might help someone else.
Janie, we face discouragement and difficulties at every turn, it seems. You encounter medical tests with bad results. You use up your financial cushion and expenses continue to mount. An addiction grabs on to one of your loved ones. You lose your job and have no prospect for other employment. Someone steals your identity. A friend turns on you with vile accusations. Life seems to continue swirling down the toilet. You face dark hours and darker thoughts in the middle of the night. The light of day leaves and the smothering darkness of despair and hopelessness sets in.
Then you get to hold a newborn. Or you see a nest of baby rabbits. Or maybe the hummingbird that has been hanging around hovers right in front of you one day, seemingly desiring to communicate somehow with you. You may see the marvelous web of an orb spider glistening in the sunrise. Someone sends you an encouraging note, by snail mail no less. You hear the unmistakable sound of Peter, Paul, and Mary on a CD. You hear of the selflessness of an ordinary person as he risks life itself to rescue another human being he does not know. Someone pays forward to you a good deed they had done to them a few days before. A young man opens the door for you at the post office.
All of these, Janie, and hundreds more, are God at work to redeem his people and his creation and "make all things new". (I am tearing up as I write this...I find the thought of God's love overpowering.) The same God who showed himself to Elijah (I Kings 19) when Elijah thought all was lost and all his work was for naught. The same God who loved the world to the point that he gave his son. The same God who "prepares a place" for us so that one day we can be with him and he with us.
I pray peace and wisdom for you and your family.

Glimpses

As I work in this vocation, I have the opportunity to catch glimpses of the lives of others as they navigate day to day. I get to see family dynamics in real time. I have the privilege of sharing joys and sorrows with others. I can interact with people on a level that is not often broached in ordinary life and living. I have a couple of observations regarding these “glimpses” into the lives of others.
First, I marvel at the resilience and toughness of the human creation. Even with all that this fallen creation can throw at the human race, I see marvelous adaptation, powerful reaction, and creative intervention. The human spirit was created to embrace life and be renewed by hope. We encourage and are encouraged. We love and are loved. We value and are valued. We cherish and are cherished. We give hope and are given hope. We encounter trial and we persevere. We are knocked down, and we get back up.
Second, I cannot help but see the hand of someone greater than we are intervening in the affairs and lives of humankind. Whether that hand is healing, protecting, encouraging, loving, arranging, ordering, or all of the above, the hand of who I call Jehovah God is apparent to anyone who has eyes and ears attuned to things beyond the immediate here, now, and present. One would have to be intentionally discounting the indicators and tossing away the signs to not pick up on these, perhaps the most compelling evidences for the existence of a Creator and God.
I am reminded of the words of the great apostle Paul. He tells the Corinthians in one of his letters what he believes and experiences as he continues his God-given work.
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you…Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”