Advent – The Improbable Story of Hope

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In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:1-4, NLT

Oh, the sights and sounds of Christmas: honking horns, crowded stores, blinking lights, and Chick-fil-A peppermint milkshakes! You will never know what you may encounter in this festive season. I’m not sure if Pastor Greg Laurie’s story in his book, A Time to Worship happened at Christmas but I could see it happening at that time

“I read a story of a woman who had finished her shopping and returned to her car to find four men inside it. She dropped her shopping bags, drew a handgun from her purse, and with a forceful voice said, ‘I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!’ those men did not wait for a second invitation. They got out and ran like crazy! The woman, understandably shaken, quickly loaded her shopping bags and got into the car. She just wanted to get out of there as fast as she could. But no matter how she tried, she could not get her key into the ignition. Then it hit her: This isn’t my car! She looked, and indeed her car was parked four or five spaces away. She got out, looked around to see if the men were near, loaded the bags into her own car, and drove to the police station to turn herself in. The desk sergeant, after hearing her story, nearly fell out of his chair laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four men were reporting a carjacking by a woman with glasses and curly white hair, less than five feet tall, and carrying a large handgun. No charges were filed.”

Improbability – “the condition of being improbable. Something improbable.” (American Heritage Dictionary) In so many ways this word could define Advent as we approach the birth of Jesus. Advent may look different in the various Christian traditions but each carries the anticipation of the coming Messiah. So why improbable?

Let’s go back to the beginning, the beginning as in Adam and Eve. They had a nice life in the Garden, but even more, they walked with God daily. Then one day life changed when they decided maybe there was something better instead of just being gardeners. Somehow, they forgot how God had blessed them, and neglected His promise to them, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food. And it was so.” (Gen 1:29-30) They wanted more, they wanted life without God.

Improbable that they would believe the lie, but the lie they did. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has He really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?…The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:1,4 NASB2020)

It is a lie that cost them and us deeply but cost God even more. In that moment Adam and Eve lost their intimate relationship with God. “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Gen 3:8-9)

Advent is the improbable story of hope. Advent is the story of God bringing hope again to our dark world. Advent is God’s story of redemption, life, and re-creation.  Adam and Eve were banished from the garden but not from God. “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” (3:21) In their darkest hour, God didn’t abandon them but took it upon Himself to cloth them and go with them. I don’t know if Adam and Eve looked back as they walked out of the garden but if they did, they would have seen a faint flame of hope being lit that day.

Adam and Eve left the garden that day and began a journey that would take them into a new place of challenges, hardship, and loneliness. Sin left a deadly mark that day that would cost God everything.

Advent is the longing for and looking for the Redeemer that will restore us and redeem us out of the darkness. Izwe Nkosi writes, “Advent is a season of waiting and desiring, and of hope-filled longing as I invite Christ, the light of the world to come again into my life and into our beautiful but dark and broken world. Light of life, illuminate my darkness.”

Advent – The Improbable Story of Hope became probable because “God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” –John 3:16

“May my peace and perspective be renewed in the busyness of this season.

May my hand be free enough from spending and acquiring to receive Your gift.

May a little of the wonder and magic of Christmas awaken the child within me today.

And may God’s word feed me and His Spirit lead me into the week and into the life to come. Amen.”  (adapted from Sabbath blessing, Pete Greig)

God is great!

Creating Space for Advent

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The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. Lamentations 3:25-26 (ESV)

Time to relax, put up your feet, and loosen the belt, Thanksgiving is over. Sorry to tell you but the rest is short-lived. The official race has begun toward Christmas! You can’t help but feel a bit of anxiety at the very mention of Christmas, even though you may love the season. Somehow the lists start making lists in your head. How am I going to get all the stuff done? How can I ever get all the presents bought, the cards sent out and the food prepared? The calendar is filling up with this event, that party to attend, and all the Hallmark Christmas movies to watch.  Since Advent is still a week away, maybe we need a pre-advent Advent to prepare us for Advent. Maybe this pre-Advent week can permit us to catch our breath and slow down before the Christmas rush.

92-year-old Alfredo Aliaga just hiked the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim in October. Hiking 24 miles with more than 10,000 feet of climbing most likely allows a person to slow down and reflect. However, it also puts you into the Guinness world record by becoming the oldest person to complete it.  Maybe your pre-advent slowness will not put you on the Rim-to-Rim but it could open your eyes to the wonders of God as we prepare for the coming Messiah.

British pastor Pete Greig writes, “Isn’t it extraordinary that Jesus never hurried? With just three years to save the world, He still made time for fishing trips, picnics, and parties, which means that He was officially less busy than most pastors.” Finding moments of slowness can allow our souls to catch up with our bodies reflecting that “This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 NLT)

What if we use this week to find ways to slow down? There is a temptation to go as fast as we can during this month since we have so much to get done. Amid our mad rush, we easily overlook the beauty and joy leading up to Advent. Japanese Christian and theologian Kosuke Koyama calls God, “The Three Mile an Hour God”, not because God doesn’t move fast but because He slows down to our speed.

“God walks ‘slowly’ because he is love. If he is not love he would have gone much faster. Love has its speed. It is an inner speed. It is a spiritual speed. It is a different kind of speed from the technological speed to which we are accustomed. It is “slow’ yet it is lord over all other speeds since it is the speed of love. It goes on in the depth of our life, whether we notice or not, whether we are currently hit by storm or not, at three miles an hour. It is the speed we walk and therefore it is the speed the love of God walks.” (Kosuke Koyama, Three Mile an Hour God)

Who better to teach us to walk three miles an hour than Jesus? I am sure Jesus had things to do and places to be but by walking three miles an hour, a hopeless and desperate woman was able to reach out and touch him. “And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.” (Luke 8:43-48) If Jesus had been going as fast as we do from one store to the next, the woman, in her physical condition, wouldn’t have been able to catch him.

Jesus could hear Bartimaeus cry for help because he always walked at the speed the love of God walked. “Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” …” What do you want me to do for you? The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.” (Mark 10:46-52) Bartimaeus could now walk at the speed the love of God walks.

Creating space to wander a little this week may be the best preparation for the coming Advent season. Could it be we find space to walk at the speed that God walks? It will not be easy with kids back in school, back to work schedules, weekly routines, and the rush of the holiday season starting. Yet in finding moments where we can saunter a bit, especially outside, we will enjoy a refreshed and restored soul. Henri Nouwen writes, “We have to fashion our own desert, where we can withdraw every day, shake off our compulsions, and dwell in the gentle healing presence of our Lord.” (from The Way of the Heart)

The late Calvin Miller wrote, “It’s the road that defines my day, and yet it isn’t. I know where the road is going, but I have lost all interest in the scenery. I know if I could meet some of my fellow travelers around a campfire, we would likely become good friends. But I am shut up in that modern monastic cell called the automobile. And there I listen to Christian music. And there I pray, with eyes straight ahead, for all that makes a multitasking disciple grow quiet and whole in a buzzing, honking, rubber-on-concrete world.” (from the Path of Celtic Prayer)

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper rev’rence, praise.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace. (lyrics Dear Lord and Father of Mankind-John Greenleaf Whittier)

Be blessed as you journey through this week and may you find moments to walk at the speed of God.

God is great!

 

 

 

 

Cultivating One’s Mind for Thanksgiving

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Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5 NIV

What comes to your mind when you think about Thanksgiving Day? For many, it will be family gatherings, lots of food that you get only one day a year, and lots of laughter. Singer Amy Grant writes, “Thanksgiving Day is a good day to recommit our energies to giving thanks and just giving.”

Thanksgiving is rich in traditions spanning the generations, traditions beyond food and family to such things as football games and parades. The Detroit Lions have played continuously on Thanksgiving Day since 1934 except for five years during World War II. Naturally, Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t include watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade which has been part of the celebrations since 1924. Now for the truly brave at heart, there is Black Friday to end the celebration. Black Friday allows those brave hearts, who venture out into the malls and shopping centers of America, to be part of an indescribable shopping frenzy.

Memories are embedded into our minds as we reflect upon Thanksgiving celebrations from the past. In these past Thanksgivings, we set aside time to remember the gifts of gratitude, love, and fellowship in our lives. Author Jonathan Safran Foer wrote, “Thanksgiving is the holiday that encompasses all others.”

The third stanza of Edgar Albert Guest’s poem, Thanksgiving reflects well on cultivating your mind for Thanksgiving. Guest has been called “the poet of the people” as his poems presented a deeply sentimental view of everyday life.

Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;

Oh, but we’re grateful an’ glad to be there.

Home from the east land an’ home from the west,

Home with the folks that are dearest an’ best.

Out of the sham of the cities afar

We’ve come for a time to be just what we are.

Here we can talk of ourselves an’ be frank,

Forgettin’ position an’ station an’ rank.

 

Cultivating One’s Mind for Thanksgiving looks beyond the superficial traditions. I enjoy the football games on TV and watch some of the Macy’s Day Parade but what counts is family, faith, and fellowship. Through the years we all have planted memories into our minds from the countless Thanksgiving meals as we gathered around tables, chairs scattered throughout the house or anywhere we could find a space to sit.

I never could relate to Charlie Brown’s quip, “I can’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner. All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast.”  Growing up in Oklahoma, our little four-room home became Grand Central Station as family and occasionally a few strangers gathered. Whoever came found a place at the table to enjoy a feast that my Mother lovingly and skillfully prepared.

Cultivating One’s Mind for Thanksgiving looks for ways to express gratitude. However, to truly express gratitude it has to come from a mind that knows God as the ultimate giver of gifts. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

John Milton wrote, “Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life.”  It is in this time of thanksgiving that we express gratitude, not only for what we have but for what we are becoming. We come to where we can “Taste and see that the LORD is good, blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” (Ps 34:8).

Cultivating One’s Mind for Thanksgiving needs to have a mind that is filled with the only One worthy of Thanksgiving. “The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.” (Norman Vincent Peale) As our minds become focused on God, we can then say “I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.” (Ps 63:5)

Centuries before the American version of Thanksgiving, David proclaimed a call to set aside time for a celebration of thanksgiving as the Ark was finally coming home to Jerusalem. “After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each Israelite man and woman.” (I Chron 16:2-3 NIV)

David closed out the celebration with a prayer of praise, ending with the words, “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior’ gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.” Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the LORD.” (I Chron 16:34-36)

Cultivating one’s heart, soul, and mind for Thanksgiving Day can draw us closer to family, friends, and most importantly to God. Hopefully, as the days were marked off in November you have found sacred moments to reflect upon being thankful. “To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven.” (Johannes Gaertner)

Happy Thanksgiving Day.

God is great!

Cultivating One’s Soul for Thanksgiving

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Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100 NIV

There are just some songs, regardless of musical genre, that would easily fit into the category of nostalgia.  “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” would be one of them.  I wonder if Bing Crosby ever imagined that his song would be one of those at the top of the nostalgia category nine decades later. Naturally, there are always new songs coming out during the different holidays, some will be classics, and others will quickly be forgotten. I am unsure if Carrie Underwood’s, Stretchy Pants fun song will top Bing Crosby but the words speak truth.

So bring on the turkey, potatoes, casserole dishes
‘Cause I ain’t messing around with them buttoned up britches
You got them skinny jeans on, girl, I feel sorry for you
‘Cause I just tried everything, and I’m going back for round two (from Stretchy Pants song by Carrie Underwood, https://youtu.be/Eo5ZLdbcZsk?si=OE5_klcJrnUiMQNv

There is no doubt that the Christmas season dominates the music scene, according to Blokur, there are 9,274 songs with Christmas in the title. (from the article, How Many Christmas Songs, Phil Barry). Stretchy Pants may be an appropriate song for Thanksgiving Day but does it Cultivate One’s Soul for Thanksgiving?

Cultivating One’s Soul for Thanksgiving requires us to look beyond what we have to the Who that has our lives and is worthy of Thanksgiving. “Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” (Psalm 115:1 NIV) We live in an age when we like nice and tidy cubicles to define our lives; How can I be thankful when I am in pain? How can offer praise when I am anxious about tomorrow? However, it was in the mystery and the challenges of life that the Psalmist wrote of thanksgiving often nested amid lament.

Cultivating One’s Soul for Thanksgiving doesn’t happen on one day of the year. Sitting around the table on Thanksgiving Day is a great time to reflect on what you have to be thankful for but not if you haven’t cultivated the soul’s thankfulness the other 364 days this year. Retired minister Fred Gulley writes, “Neither original authors, nor commentators, nor translators delayed thanksgiving until a special occasion or a red letter calendar day. Any day, every day, was considered an opportunity to be grateful for abundant blessings and to express personal thankfulness.”

Cultivating One’s Soul for Thanksgiving is about learning to be thankful. November may be the transition month to Christmas but it is also National Gratitude Month. Research has shown that the simple act of expressing gratitude has a major impact on mental health. “Studies have found that a single act of thoughtful gratitude produces an immediate 10% increase in happiness and a 35% reduction in depressive symptoms. These effects disappeared within three to six months, which reminds us to practice gratitude over and over.”  (National Council for Mental Wellbeing)

Professors Bob Emmons of UC, Davis and Michael McCullough of SMU launched a series of studies on gratitude.  Professor Emmons noted that “People want to be happy, but they believe it’s objective life circumstances that will make them happy—a new car, a raise, a new lover. Actually, it’s the framing of events and experiences—not the events themselves—that make us happy. It comes down to attitude.”

The writers of the Psalms understood the necessity of gratitude centuries before the current awareness of keeping a Gratitude Journal. As you are cultivating your soul you learn that “Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.” (Psalm 112:4)

A lot of folks will be traveling over the next couple of weeks as they gather with families and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. The TSA reports that “the busiest travel days of the year are usually the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after Thanksgiving.” (AFAR) As you gather around the table this year, let it be a Holy Ground moment for your soul to gently rest as you “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136)

Johnny Cash understood the importance of gratitude after his career and life were almost destroyed by a serious substance abuse problem. Through all his lows, he never abandoned his faith. Lesli White writes of Cash, “In his final days, despite moment-by-moment battles with diabetes, glaucoma, asthma and a progressive, debilitating case of autonomic nephropathy which pretty much confined Cash to a wheelchair during his waking hours, the Man in Black was anything but in a black mood. In fact, he was celebrating his life and his redeemer while he could.”  Johnny Cash Cultivated His Soul for Thanksgiving.

I’m grateful for the laughter of children
The sun and the wind and the rain
The color of blue in your sweet eyes
The sight of a high “ballin” train
The moon rise over a prairie
Old love that you’ve made new
This year when I count my blessings
I’m thanking the Lord He made you
This year when I count my blessings
I’m thanking the Lord He made you   (Johnny Cash, Thanksgiving Prayer https://youtu.be/egIB7tYW80M?si=YU-_CLsOUMLj9Q1J )

Cultivating One’s Soul for Thanksgiving leads to a beautiful testimony of being able to “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (I Chron 16:34 NIV)

God is great!

 

Cultivating a Heart of Thanksgiving

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Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1 (NIV)

Cultivating a heart of thanksgiving could easily symbolize the lives of Lin and Peter Calvert. These two young, starry-eyed New Zealanders met in medical school and were married in 1949. Friends and family assumed these two graduating doctors would set up a medical practice that would bring them wealth and comfort. Instead, they moved to Papua New Guinea in 1954 with the London Missionary Society to serve at the Kapuna Hospital, a place that would be their home for the next seven decades.

Lin Calvert, better known as Grandma Lin, would literally touch the lives of generations of residents delivering over 10,000 babies during her 60 years at Kapuna, saving countless lives through an aggressive treatment of tuberculosis and encouraging immunization against deadly diseases, such as measles and cholera.  One resident said of Calvert, “She didn’t show partiality toward those who received her love: young, old, rich, poor, foreigner, or local. If Grandma could pour love into a person, she would. Calvert said in a 2019 interview, “Not many people stay 60 years, but the longer you stay, the less dogmatic you get, the less proud you get, and the feeling is, it was all God anyway who did it. All the good bits were him.”

Grandma Lin was buried next to Peter on the grounds of the hospital where they had devoted their lives. Fellow doctor Neil Hopkins said of Lin Calvert at her funeral service, “She was wholeheartedly devoted to honoring God and living for Jesus through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.” (Erin Foley – author of Kapuna: How Love Transformed a Culture)

The Calverts most likely could identify with the answer that Richelle Goodrich gave to the question, “What are you most thankful for?” Goodrich replied, “Being too blessed to have any hope of answering that question.” The Calverts learned that cultivating a heart of thanksgiving was life-changing.

November has become the placeholder between Halloween and Christmas or so it seems. Halloween has dominated the month of October with Christmas seemingly starting on November 1. Americans spent approximately $12.2 billion on Halloween this year and spending forecasts for Christmas are projected to reach $1.1 Trillion. Yet during November’s busy days, somewhere between the Christmas trees, football games, and lavish feasts, you can find the one day officially set aside by law as a day to give thanks.

Though Thanksgiving is most often identified with the United States, it is not the only country that has set aside a day to be thankful as numerous other countries have a similar day to give thanks. Setting aside one day sounds great but it should not be the only day devoted to Thanksgiving. The other 364 days should be filled with thanksgiving.  Countless Scriptures can be found encouraging you to daily cultivate a heart of thanksgiving in your life.

Cultivating a heart of thanksgiving reminds you to keep your focus on God. “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (I Chron. 16:34) It is so easy to become discouraged and fearful as the daily onslaught of news brings a sense of hopelessness. It is only through your focus on God that you can maintain a sense of hope and courage. Focusing on God through thanksgiving and praise allows you to reorient your thoughts and most likely your priorities. Jim Elliott wrote, “I pray for you, that all your misgivings will be melted to thanksgivings. Remember that the shadow a thing casts often far exceeds the size of the thing itself (especially if the light is low on the horizon) and though some future fear may strut brave darkness as you approach, the thing itself will be but a speck when seen from beyond. Oh that He would restore us often with that ‘aspect from beyond,’ to see a thing as He sees it, to remember that He dealeth with us as with sons.”

Cultivating a heart of thanksgiving brings peace. It is through this cultivated heart of thanksgiving that peace dominates your life. You courageously say, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15) G. K. Chesterton wrote, “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

Cultivating a heart of thanksgiving brings joy. Paul writing to the believers in Thessalonica, encouraged them to “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (I Thess 5:16-18 NIV) Lydia Brownback writes in her book, Joy: A Godly Woman’s Adornment, “How can we help what we feel? We just can’t muster up joyful feelings; that’s true. But we can rejoice, which sooner or later leads to joyful feelings. Rejoicing is not a feeling. It is joy in action. It is the humble willingness to offer God praise and thanks in all things, regardless of how we feel at the moment. “

You may not be able to change the tone or focus about Thanksgiving as the busy preparation for Christmas overwhelms you pushing Thanksgiving Day out of the way. You may find Thanksgiving Day is overshadowed by lots of activities and events out of your control. However, with a bit of effort on your part, you can begin cultivating a heart of thanksgiving even amid the craziness.  Thomas Merton wrote a poignant warning that “those who are not grateful soon begin to complain of everything.”

I hope you find as you cultivate a heart of thanksgiving, the gift of rest and joy. Warren Wiersbe writes, “The Christian who walks with the Lord and keeps constant communion with Him will see many reasons for rejoicing and thanksgiving all day long.”

“For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.” (I Timothy 4:4-5)

God is great!

 

 

Who Is My Neighbor?

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But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:29

Neighbors in Lebanon, Oregon probably wouldn’t agree with Carl Sandburg’s quote, “Love your neighbor as yourself; but don’t take down the fence.” Neighbors realized that Rebecca and Michael Kerrigone’s house desperately needed to be painted but the Kerrigones were unable to get it done. While the couple was gone visiting family, the Lebanon football team along with local and non-local neighbors joined together to get the massive painting project done before the couple returned home.

“I would have to say this is an incredible thing that you have done for us and I am so grateful and astonished, and it’s just an amazing thing. This huge outpouring of love for us is just something that’s going to sustain through coming months and years, and it’s just a beautiful thing,” Kerrigone said.

Edward Rust’s definition of a good neighbor is, “someone to be trusted; a courteous, friendly source of help when help is needed; someone you can count on; someone who cares.” Proverbs gives us warnings on how to treat our neighbors. “Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you.” (Prov 3:29). Paul would later write in Romans for us, “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Rom 13:10)

Jesus listened intently as a religious leader and expert in the law gave a beautiful summary of how to inherit eternal life to which Jesus simply told him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.” Case closed! However the man realized he didn’t like the possibilities of his answer, so he probed a little deeper with Jesus, now exactly “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-37)

Neighbors come in all shapes, forms, and likeability so we can understand a little of why the religious leader wanted to get a better definition of who is a neighbor. We may have had neighbors who don’t mow their grass every week, play their music extra loud on the weekends, or cook some “strange” foods that have a pungent odor. Yet Jesus understood it is not those little peculiarities that the religious man was talking about, nor what we may be thinking.  Jesus confronted a much deeper issue related to the question.

Jesus didn’t try to answer the question with a lengthy dialogue or lecture, he told the man a story. Jesus shared about three men heading home from Jerusalem when they came upon a beaten, robbed, and bloodied man beside the road.  The man was totally unknown to any of the men so how could this man be their neighbor? The first one, a priest, didn’t even slow down as he walked past the body. The next man, a religious worker, slowed down but kept on walking. The third man, who was considered an outcast as far as society was concerned, slowed down, took time as he treated the man’s cuts, and carried him into the next town for additional medical care, at his own expense. Jesus looked at the religious leader and simply asked the question, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor?”

Jesus’ penetrating question to the religious leader, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor?”  forced the man to come to terms with who was his real neighbor. It is a question that every generation has had to come to terms with, including our generation. C. S. Lewis wrote in Joyful Christian, “Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”

The religious leader had the same problem of defining “who is my neighbor” as we do in our current culture.  D. L. Mayfield writes, “One of the sad truths is that many of us live lives where we only interact with people who are similar to us—from the same ethnic background, or socio-economic class, or religion, or even those who have similar interests. Often we go to the same schools, churches, neighborhoods, and even grocery stores of people who look, act, and eat like us. Think about creative ways you can change even one of those factors—and see what happens!”

For over three decades, Mister Rogers invited viewers to be his neighbor as he opened his front door singing, “It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood, A beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Please won’t you be my neighbor?” (lyrics written by Fred Rogers, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Mister Rogers’ iconic neighborhood captured the essence of a neighborhood that has slowly disappeared. There was a time when a simple American tradition created a unique sense of Mister Rogers’ neighborhood and that was the front porch. Regrettably, as technology has advanced, Americans have retreated from their front porches away from neighbors. This has contributed to creating isolation and suspicion among neighbors. The front porches of yesteryears allowed neighbors to connect, and enjoy fellowship and offered the gift of slowing down. As folks sat on their front porches, neighbors were no longer nameless, faceless homeowners but people we could talk to, share stories with, and most importantly, ‘love our neighbors as ourselves.”

Unfortunately rediscovering the lost art of porch sitting alone will not change our culture. What it can do however is create space for us to slow down and think about what it means to be a neighbor. “Passive righteousness tells us that God does not need our good works. Active righteousness tells us that our neighbor does. The aim and direction of good works are horizontal, not vertical.” (Tullian Tchividjian)

Jesus gave some amazing front porch wisdom that will change our culture, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40 NIV)

God is great!

A Simple Cup of Cold Water

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Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? James 2:15-16 (NIV)

Barbara was struggling to get up the stairs of her son’s Washington D.C. apartment building carrying a couple of bags of groceries. There was no elevator and she was dealing with orthopedic issues; how would she make it? A total stranger would make a difference in her life that day. Unnamed and unknown, a DC Metro bus driver, got off her bus, came over to where Barbara was carrying her bags, grabbed them, and carried them to the top of the stairs. (1440 Daily Digest)

John Sotelo was just doing his job stacking cases of water in a Clovis, CA Costco when he saw an envelope lying on the cases. To his surprise, it contained $3,940, a nice day’s work except he knew it wasn’t his money. He immediately informed his supervisor and they were able to find the person who dropped it, returning the cash to the woman. (USA Today).

IHOP server Tulio Maldonado got a much-needed lift and surprise when the $1,000 Breakfast Club of Saugus, Massachusetts happened to be at one of the tables. The group of 10 friends gathers every couple of months and surprises their server with a huge tip, at least $1,000. Club member Jeffrey Paris said, “You don’t need to be a millionaire or famous celebrity to make someone’s day. I’m pretty sure this guy will never forget this.”  (WCVB News)

An act of kindness, does it make a difference? Princess Diana said, “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward.” Jesus said it better, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” (Matthew 10:42)

There are countless studies and articles on how and why our current culture has become so angry and suspicious of others. A new level of mean-spirited hatefulness has risen in the country. I’m sure you can find any number of reasons for the cultural crisis depending on your point of view. However, we can learn a few lessons from the early church on living in a hostile society.

The modern church is often characterized by having the best-educated leaders in church history, magnificent edifices to meet in on Sundays, and tremendous financial resources. However, statistics reflect massive declines among all denominations – a trend that is especially true in the United States and Europe. In comparison, the early church was characterized as being poor, powerless, and politically marginalized, yet it changed the course of the world. Sociologists estimate that Christianity grew at an incredible 40% per decade from this rag-tag band of 1000 or so followers to more than 34 million Christians by the third century.

Luke writes of the early Believers in Acts “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:44-47)

Compassion characterized the early church members as they lived in their hostile and doubting world. Jesus wasn’t just a slogan for the early church, He was the reason for existence. The Good News of Jesus really did become Good News.

“Christianity served as a revitalization movement that arose in response to the misery, chaos, fear and brutality of life in the urban Greco-Roman world…To cities filled with the homeless and impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachments. To cities filled with orphans and widows, Christianity provided a new and expanded sense of family. To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity. And to cities faced with epidemics, fires, and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective nursing services.” (Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity)

I am not sure that just one act of kindness will turn the tide of cultural hostility but millions of acts of kindness could create a tidal wave of change. “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” (Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu)

It was these acts of kindness moments that took a poor, powerless, and politically marginalized group of men and women to change the world. Their love and compassion created an openness to talk about Jesus and the hope He brought. Roman emperor, Julian the Apostate was so impressed by the selfless acts of Christians that he wanted his pagan priesthood to imitate Christian institutions and practices. Early church historian, Eusebius recorded that “All day long some of them (the Christians) tended to the dying and to their burial, countless numbers with no one to care for them. Others gathered together from all parts of the city a multitude of those withered from famine and distributed bread to them all.” (Matt Crawford, Biblemesh)

This small band of resurrection-focused and Spirit-filled Believers took the words of Jesus to heart as they impacted their communities. These early Christians didn’t just make a difference in their homes, communities, and countries, they made the world a different place.

I think we can agree that changing the landscape of our current society will not be an easy task. However, we do have some good examples from this group of poor, powerless, and politically marginalized men and women in the early church who literally shook up their culture. Could it be that simple acts of kindness might be one small step that is needed to open the door to change? It’s worth a try!

God is great!

Living in the Aftermath

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A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. Matthew 2:18 (NIV)

“Yes, Aslan,” said both the children. But Polly added, “But we’re not quite as bad as that world, are we, Aslan?” “Not yet, Daughter of Eve,” he said. “Not yet. But you are growing more like it. It is not certain that some wicked one of your race will not find out a secret as evil as the Deplorable Word and use it to destroy all living things. And soon, very soon, before you are an old man and an old woman, great nations in your world will be ruled by tyrants who care no more for joy and justice and mercy than the Empress Jadis. Let your world beware. That is the warning.” (from The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis)

C.S. Lewis was no stranger to evil. As a young soldier, he experienced the ravages of war when he was seriously wounded by a mortar shell in World War 1 and lost two of his colleagues including his beloved sergeant, Harry Ayers. He would later write in The Weight of Glory, “War creates no absolutely new situation: it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it. Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun. We are mistaken when we compare war with “normal life.” Life has never been normal.”

If Lewis experienced the horror of evil up close, how much more so did he experience hope through Christ? His faith would shape and mold his thinking allowing him to see through the curtain of evil’s darkness. I wonder as he wrote the story of Lucy, Peter, Susan, and Edmund finding their way through the wardrobe that Lewis knew the fight against evil would be difficult. As the children entered the land of Narnia, an imaginary land ruled by the tyrannical White Witch, they would encounter evil. As one character in the story said of Narnia, “always winter and never Christmas.” The four siblings experienced a new life as they encountered the great lion, Aslan, and through their journey with him, defeated the White Witch and freed Narnia from her power.

On October 7 at 6:30 in the morning the nation of Israel again experienced the reality of “life has never been normal.” The nation was slowly awakening having begun Simchat Torah celebrations the previous sundown. Instead of a day of continuing celebration, they would hear the air sirens bellow as hundreds of rockets were fired into the heart of Israel. They would find thousands of Hamas militants had breached the border, launching a house-to-house terror campaign. “An Associated Press reporter quotes an Israeli army general who stood amid the wreckage of the village: “You see the babies, the mothers, the fathers in their bedrooms and how the terrorists killed. It’s not a battlefield. It’s a massacre.” (Jim Denison, Denison Forum)

The days following the initial attack continue to find a world in mourning, disbelief, and sadness. The images of war and evil on our TV and computer screens can sedate us into a false narrative that we can’t do anything about the situation.  We don’t see how we can make a difference in a situation miles away. However, German pastor Martin Niemoller’s words seem appropriate for this current crisis. Niemoller didn’t think he could make a difference until he realized his silence made him part of the evils of Nazism. His words about guilt and responsibility continue to call us to conviction and action decades later.

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

 

What can we do?

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122) “May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.”

Pray for global leaders to have godly wisdom. “By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just; by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth.” (Proverbs 8:15-16)

Pray for those in positions of leadership to be called merciful and peacemakers. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:7,9)

Pray for the de-escalation of the conflict, against those who have a vested interest in escalating the crisis and causing untold suffering. “He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” (Mark 4: 39)

Pray for the victims of these atrocities. “We have escaped like a bird from the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.” (Psalm 124:7)

Former President Ronald Reagan once warned, “When men try to live in a world without God, it’s only too easy for them to forget the rights that God bestows.” “Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.” (Psalm 125:1-2)

The great hope we can share and the hope we have is in Christ. Though it seems we are in the midst of “winter” days, when all the world seems to be in chaos “Christmas” has come. We can confidently pray for the families in Israel and the powerless in Gaza. We can expect more of our political leaders because ultimately they are under the control of God.  We can be part of God’s Kingdom that “His will be done on earth as in heaven.”

God is great!

“Peace be on Israel” (Psalm 125:5b)

 

Jesus’ Invitation

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Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.” Matthew 14:25-26

You just ordered your tall Pumpkin Spice Latte, extra hot, skim milk, one pump with no whipped cream but as you are heading toward your chair to savor your drink, you notice someone familiar. You know you’ve seen the young woman before but from where? She is not from work, not from your church, and doesn’t live in the neighborhood but you know you know her. I am sure that is how a lot of customers felt on a Saturday morning in an LA coffee shop when Kelly Clarkson shocked everyone with an impromptu flash mob performance of her new song from her upcoming album. You never know what surprises await you in life!

Surprised was most likely how Zacchaeus felt on that warm, sunny day when Jesus found him up in a tree on a dusty road to Jericho. The story about Zacchaeus is familiar to most people since most of us have probably sung his theme song at one point or another. “Zacchaeus was a wee little man; And a wee little man was he; he climbed up in a sycamore tree; For the Lord he wanted to see; And when the Savior passed that way; He looked up in the tree; And said, ‘Zacchaeus, you come down; For I’m going to your house today!; For I’m going to your house today!’; Zacchaeus was a wee little man; But a happy man was he; For he had seen the Lord that day; And a happy man was he; And a very happy man was he”

You can thank me later for putting those words in your mind that will keep popping up all day long!

It had probably been a long time since Zacchaeus had heard his name without someone spitting on the ground as they said it. The Bible doesn’t tell us why Zacchaeus decided to become a tax collector. Maybe it was the only job he could get at the time or he knew he could make money by being one. Whatever the reason it had been a long time since Zacchaeus had lived up to the meaning of his name: pure and innocent. Yet on this particular day, while hanging onto a tree limb, he heard his name, not laced with profanity, but with love.

“When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.” (Luke 19:5-6 NIV)
Jesus was no stranger to pulling off impromptu flash mob performances. Months earlier Jesus had been walking through town and stopped at the tax collection booth where Matthew worked. Unlike Zacchaeus who had made the effort to see Jesus, Matthew kept working, that was until he heard his name and an invitation, “Follow me.” Matthew was surprised but it didn’t take him long to put down his pen and leave behind his lucrative profession to follow Jesus. (see Matthew 9:9-13)

What do you do when you hear the new song that Jesus invites you to sing? You throw a party! “While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples.” (Matt 9:10). If you are a Matthew or a Zacchaeus then your list probably will not include the social elite, the powerful or the “righteous” but they will include people you want to hear Jesus’ new song.

It is incredible how many stories there are about tax collectors in the Bible! Jesus had told a parable in Luke 18 comparing the self-professed righteous religious leaders with a tax collector. The religious leader prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” (v11-12). However, the tax collector stood at a distance and pleadingly prayed, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” (v13)

Guess which one had center billing in Jesus’ story? “I tell you that this man (the tax collector), rather than the other (the religious leader), went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (v14)
“When people are empty of Christ, a thousand and one things come and fill them up: jealousies, resentment, a worldly outlook, worldly pleasures. Try to fill your soul with Christ so that it’s not empty.” –St. Porphyrios

When Matthew heard his name called by Jesus, he closed up shop and followed Jesus. When Zacchaeus heard his name called by Jesus, he climbed down from the tree and went with Jesus. Overwhelmed with grace, he changed his business practices as he made right the wrongs he had done to others.

Tax collector, sinner, and outcast may have been considered synonyms among the religious and elite society of Jesus’ day but not for Jesus. Jesus looked into a booth and invited Matthew to finally come home. Jesus looked up into a tree and invited Zacchaeus to finally come home. We may have someone or a group in mind that is our synonym for tax collector. However, Jesus doesn’t because he is looking into the nooks and crannies of life with the same invitation of hope and life, “Follow me”

God is great!

Life on the Roller Coaster

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The LORD is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 (CSB)

Deep down you knew it was stupid but you did it anyway. What is that? Walking down a platform, letting a total stranger buckle you into a metal car, and hearing the words, “Keep your arms inside the car!” You just paid good money to spend the next minute of your life going up and down the tracks of a roller coaster. Roller coasters – the iconic symbols of amusement parks around the world. The brainchild of LaMarcus Thompson who designed and built the first roller coaster which opened on June 16, 1884, at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. For a nickel, the riders could scream and yell as the cars reached the breathtaking speed of 6 mph.

Fast forward a few decades when the Kingda Ka opened in 2005 becoming the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the United States reaching a height of 456 feet and traveling at a max speed of 128 mph. For 50 seconds the riders get to experience terror, thrill, and whiplash in their bodies as they are plummeted and jotted through the tracks of Kingda Ka.

Once the attendant bolts you into the car you know the experience will quickly end. Even though your roller coaster ride will create inner turmoil, there will be an end when you step back onto the platform. Unfortunately, life can often resemble a roller coaster ride!

There are days when you feel like you stepped into a roller coaster car and before you could settle, you were flying through one turn to another. The emotions and stress seem to overwhelm your inner soul. Last Saturday brought the excitement and joy of celebrating our youngest granddaughter’s first birthday only to find myself this last Friday standing at the gravesite of my brother. Life seems too often filled with roller coaster days, weeks, and months.

Jesus anticipated that many of our days would feel like roller-coaster days. During his watershed sermon in Matthew (Chapters 5-7), part of his message was to encourage his followers not to worry but to trust God. If God can provide for the birds of the air, you can know you are more valuable to Him than any creature of nature. Jesus closed the section with the words, “Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt 6:34)

For most of us, we can ride the roller coaster and get off, even if our heads are spinning. We take to heart Paul’s word in Philippians “Don’t worry about anything… (Phil 4:4-7), or Peter’s encouragement to “cast all your cares on him, because he cares about you.” (I Peter 5:7). David who lived a roller coaster life was able to write, “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” (Psalm 55:22)

However, there is a growing segment of the world that is finding it hard to get out of the roller coaster car. Issues of mental illness, traumatic stress, substance use, hopelessness, chronic pain and illness, social isolation, or feeling like a burden to others plague an increasing number of people annually. For many the only way off of the roller-coaster is through suicide.

Dr. Kathryn Butler writes, “For millions of people across the U.S., and multiples of that number globally, the horror of death seems a better alternative than the slings and arrows of this life…As stewards of the greatest message of hope in history, churches are uniquely positioned to minister to those grappling with thoughts of self-harm.”

The problems that confront people leading to the hopelessness of suicide are not new societal issues. One of David’s leading advisors faced the reality of what was coming and scripture says, “When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He set his house in order and hanged himself. So, he died and was buried in his father’s tomb” (2 Samuel 17:23)

September was National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in the United States and the UN World Health Organization (WHO) declared September 10 as World Suicide Prevention Day. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there is one death by suicide every 11 minutes. Every segment of society confronts suicide but there is an alarming growth among our nation’s children and teenagers.

God is here for those who find themselves on a roller coaster ride and for those who can’t seem to get off of the ride. God reaches out with hope as the Psalmist captures in Psalm 147 when he writes, “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” (v3)

Frederick Buechner writes, “What Genesis suggests is that this original self, with the print of God’s thumb still upon it, is the most essential part of who we are and is buried deep in all of us as a source of wisdom and strength and healing which we can draw upon or, with our terrible freedom, not draw upon as we choose…The original, shimmering self gets buried so deep that most of us end up hardly living out of it at all. Instead, we live out all the other selves which we are constantly putting on and taking off like coats and hats against the world’s weather.”

Helping someone find their “original shimmering self” may not be easy. It takes time as we learn to listen, to pray, and to care for people in their deepest places. Reaching out a hand to help someone step out of the roller coaster car is part of being a soul friend. There may come a time when we need to sit with someone and encourage them to text or call 988, the suicide prevention number that is open 24/7.

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding. He gives strength to the faint and strengthens the powerless.” (Isaiah 40:28-29)

Together we make a difference because we have a God who can!

God is great!