Whose Voice Matters?

My mind often latches onto a very small happening or idea and then follows it all the way through what seems like a naturally developing story.  Some would call this daydreaming, I suppose.  Usually, I try to cut off these stories because they are rarely fruitful. But a few nights ago, God used one of my little "episodes" to provide some much needed insight and correction. 

I was convincing Oliver to put on a pull-up to go to bed and started thinking about how he might be embarrassed by that if he were to spend the night with friends.  And I imagined him coming home and telling me how his friends had made fun of him and how he'd been embarrassed.  And naturally, I saw myself telling him that he shouldn't worry about what they said; I say there is nothing wrong with wearing a pull-up at his age.  And I could feel what I really do feel sometimes in those situations - the desperate sense of "What can I do to make you understand that it is absurd for you to listen to the voices and opinions of your little 5 year-old friends over my voice?  My voice, what I say about you, is the voice you can trust! 

And then I had the overwhelming sense of God the Father playing my own words back to me from His perspective.  And those words are spot on.  Why can I not grasp the absurdity of my caring about what other humans say about me more than I care about what my God, my Heavenly Father, my Maker, my Judge has to say about me?  Ouch.

So many times growing up, we all made certain choices to "fit in," to get our peers to like us.  And oftentimes, our parents told us not to worry about what those people said.  They told us that in a few years, that wouldn't matter to us anymore or that we'd forget all about it.  Well, in eternity, you can bet we won't be concerned about what our peers said about us at work or at school or on the court or on the field or even on the stage.  Only one voice will matter.  And that voice of God is the only one that matters now.  It's just harder to keep that in mind right now when the things we experience with our five senses can seem to be so much more real and present. 

Psalm 56:4 says,

"In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?" (ESV)

God made this idea much more real to me recently.  I'm praying that He continues to do so for me and for you.

Redeeming The Time

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
-The Apostle Paul (emphasis added)

I heard a sermon tonight that was a sobering reminder of how really messed up the world is, and of how we've been so amazingly desensitized and lulled to sleep by our culture. When fewer than 10 in 100 teenagers believe in absolute truth, we are in bad shape. When that VAST MAJORITY of teenagers are having sex, we are in bad shape. When we aren't even trying to share our lives with these people in order to show them the freeing Truth of Christ's sacrificial DEATH and triumphant resurrection, we are in bad shape. God's heart breaks when He sees the sin around us. Why don't ours? Don't be a fool; people are cutting themselves off from God and choosing Hell over Heaven, people you know. Make the best use of the time.

Also, don't let me take this verse out of context, go read the paragraphs around it in Ephesians 5.

On Idolatry

I have been talking to a few friends over the past two months about something of a revelation/conviction God hit me with, and it appears that this issue is far more common than I originally thought. I have had four others confirm it so far, thus, I am now fulfilling my intention to put these thoughts into a blog.

When many of us think of idols, we tend to think of Old Testament times during which many of the neighbors of the Israelites (not to mention the Israelites themselves, at times) fashioned for themselves physical idols to worship. And then there are those who have been enlightened by good preaching or Bible-reading who realize that in the U.S. today, we may not have this type of idol per say, but we do have many things that we put before God and worship with our time and energy; some examples are sports, school, work, celebrities, video games, etc. Well, God convicted me, in October, I believe, of worshiping another sort of idol. It is difficult to describe really, but I will give it my best, as I now believe that many reading this will relate.

Do you find yourself always looking forward to things? Are you constantly thinking, "If I can just make it to the weekend," or "It's only three weeks until my family comes"? We do this with all kinds of things like retreats, vacations, holidays, graduations, and the list goes on. I found myself thinking these kinds of things about graduation, vacations, and eventually just weekends, but the times when I went in with that mentality, I always came out frustrated and discontented. The problem was a sort of idolatry. I was looking to an event or experience to provide me with contentment and fulfillment, and you should all now know where this is going. ONLY God can provide the contentment that we long for. Only he can satisfy that longing that runs soul-deep. There is nothing wrong with looking forward to something, but there is wrong to expect that something to provide you with joy. God is a jealous God, and he will let you become frustrated and unfulfilled if you try to fill his place with other things.

My good friend Matt Roe informed me that Pastor Mark Driscoll has spoken to this topic as well with good advice. When you plan, and when you look forward to things, always plan and look also to the day after. That helps put things in perspective. Graduation was great, but part of the reason I enjoyed it so much was that when I woke up the next morning, I wasn't surprised or disillusioned because graduation was over; I didn't expect anything from that day that it couldn't give me. What I woke to the next morning was the peace and joy of knowing an immutable God.

What happens when we live our lives looking forward is a cycle of disappointment that leaves us constantly counting on the next thing to sate us and constantly missing out on the present. It is a rather ingenious scheme (also mentioned in The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis) used to keep us from living a meaningful life.

Guatemala in my cup

I am now sitting comfortably on my couch with my back against three or four pillows of my wife's making. Beside me sits the wonderfully rich cup of Guatemalan coffee on which I have been sipping. And within me rests a deep-seated joy.

I have just eaten one of the best meals in my short 22 years of life. WOW. I came home tonight to the smell of quartered, butter-herb red potatoes cooked in one of the cast iron skillets Emily got this Christmas (boy do I benefit from that gift). While I was reading God's Word tonight, she finished up supper by grilling some fresh salmon she found on sale at the grocery store (she actually had it cut and then skinned it herself) and then cooking up some buttered green beans. On my plate at the table I found half a lemon from which I was to squeeze juice all over the beans, potatoes and fish. I was blown away. I got seconds and then some. It was certainly one of the best meals I have ever eaten, and my dear little wife was the chef. This was the first time she has used the cast iron skillet given to us by her parents and the really neat herb-chopping knife from Alaska given to us by Roy (I think that I had that up as a decoration, but it is apparently really sharp; who knew?). To top it all off, after I got up and took out the trash, she pulled freshly baked ginger bread out of the oven and starting heating up some apple cider with mulling spices. WHAT A WOMAN! WHAT A WIFE! If she did nothing else but cook like this and read her Bible and pray, I think I would be happy (ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much).

I am so amazingly content. And thank the Lord for Guatemalan coffee. It is my new favorite.

Unify

I wrote this over one week ago but am just getting to post it:

I have one friend currently in Ft. Lewis, Washington; he is training to become an elite soldier, and I miss him so deeply that it almost brings me to tears as I sit here alone with my coffee. I am with him in spirit. I have another friend in Ecuador doing construction to help the local Church there. I cannot wait until he comes home, but I am with him now in my thoughts and my prayers. My wife is 100 miles away visiting with and ministering to her family; I feel like half of me is missing from here, but I am still connected to her in my spirit. I pray for her safety as she travels home tomorrow. I also have friends less than 10 miles down the road at Georgia Tech. I wish that I could be with them now, encouraging them as they prepare for another week. But actually, I am with them, just not in my body. I pray for their focus to be on Our Father this week.

Satan seeks to separate us, not just physically, but spiritually. This theme is all through the Scriptures; it is his primary tactic in destroying the Church, and another friend in Louisiana just reminded me of that when he called to make sure that we did not grow apart because of the physical distance or the business of life. He has a beautiful knack for protecting against that. You see, we people can be miles apart or inches apart on this Earth, and we can be completely separated either way. I beg you as the voice of The Good Shepard: do not let the enemy separate you from the flock. It is then that he will find you vulnerable to his attacks. A severed limb dies because it does not get the precious blood that flows from the heart; this blood is what keeps it alive. However, one of the wonders of the body is that when a finger or even a whole limb gets severed from it, that part often lives if it is reattached quickly enough. Please, do not allow yourself to be severed, but if you do find yourself cut off, reconnect quickly and receive again the blood that gives life to this Body of Christ that is his Church.

Life Goes On

What a very simple truth. This is one of those phrases that my good friend, Justin Belew, would call annoying. It's one of those things that people say to you when bad things happen, but he would call it annoying because it is so very obvious. He would be right about that last part - this is a very obvious little thing. Your dog dies; life goes on. You get a flat tire; life goes on. You find out that you need a surgery that will cost several thousand dollars, and your insurance won't cover it; life goes on. And it does, but I think that we forget this in the very moments of life when we need to believe it most. Let me just go ahead and add the disclaimer here: I will probably come across as a stoic here, at least on the surface.

You see, we need to know when things are going badly that life goes on, and we need to actually take hold of that and internalize it, because the alternative is an unfortunate freeze. Some people call this the "woe is me" case. My wife calls it either beating yourself up or being a "drama king." Here is what happens: something at work goes terribly wrong; it isn't working out like it is supposed to; they aren't following the plan; you are going to look really bad, and you didn't create a backup plan. Immediately upon realizing this, you stress out and shut down because all you can think about is what terrible things are going to happen now. You are just dumbstruck by the horror or the situation, and you emotionally and mentally slump down and stare blankly at the corner as you accept all of the hopelessness that confronts you. Now get this: life goes on.

No matter how bad any situation gets, the sun is going to rise tomorrow (barring the Second Coming of Christ, which is a distinct possibility, but don't count on knowing exactly when that will happen), and it is going to rise with our without your approval. Even if you expect the consequences of your situation to extend for a month or more, there is going to be life beyond that month or more. And when that life comes, what are you going to be doing? Are you going to be sulking in your own self-pity, or are you going to embrace that new day and make the most of it? When things get bad, we have to accept as quickly as possible that sometimes, things are just going to be tough, and we have to immediately get our focus off of that and onto where God wants us to go from there. We have to look ahead and say, "Ok, Lord, I can't change this, but I can look past it and follow you onward."

I know, this sounds a bit like I am saying that we don't have time to feel the sadness and hurt and other emotions that often come with painful events and circumstances. I am not saying that. I am saying that we have to move on anyway. We have to look to the hope God offers us in that those circumstances are not the end of the story. We can still have joy and peace in the midst of pain, as long as we look to Christ to provide those things. It is when we focus our hearts and minds on the bleakness of our present surroundings and not on The Light of The World that we become frozen and numb. Don't freeze up; there are people out here who need you. Otherwise, God wouldn't be keeping you alive.

Now, for a change of tone, I know that someone will argue that there is an exception - "Randy, what about death. When someone you love dies, or when you are going to die, life doesn't go on. How do you deal with that?" Well, I deal with it the way God deals with it. I disagree. You see, when our bodies die, life goes on. NOT JUST FOR CHRISTIANS EITHER. If you are a follower of Christ, you have the hope that when your body dies, life goes on, with him where he is. There is no greater hope. Unfortunately, for the person who rejects God and his Son Jesus Christ, life still goes on. It just goes on in agonizing separation from God.

I feel that I may have rambled a bit here, though I hope that I have not, and I pray that God will use this post to move someone past the point of sulking and into action because when these circumstances end, God will still know how you acted, and all of the intense emotions will have passed. Do not be a slave of your changing circumstances; be a bondservant of your unchanging God.

Evidence

Ahh, and evidence for my last post can be found in Matthew 5:43-48

"'43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor^[g] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,^[h] 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren^[i] only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors^[j] do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.'"

Take him very seriously, and repent if you do not love like this.

also in Romans 5:7-8

"7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

There are many others; if you would like more, first study His Word, and if you still would like more, you can ask me through the comment thing here.

Emily is making biscuits right now so that I can put jelly on them and enjoy a tasty treat. I love her simply because God loves her, and he is my Source. But she is also making it really easy for me to like her at the moment. Thank you God for giving us the creativity to come up with biscuits and jelly and for giving us taste buds. Amen.

How do we love?

Let me just say that loving is hard, sometimes. It's really easy to love when your wife has just cooked you homemade ravioli that you know is going to put you in an Italian food coma of fullness, but it's harder when someone messes up at work and blames it on you. Why is that? Well, as usual, I think it's probably a good idea that we turn to God to figure this one out and to find our example for how to do things right.

If you don't get anything else from this post, get this: God loves people because of who HE IS. That excludes every other possibility. Let me just go ahead and say that if you ask, "but doesn't he also love people because of..." just cut yourself off there; I'm kindly saying, "no." There is NO other basis for God's love for a person than His Being. That is the point. now, there are a whole bunch of implications here. One set has to do with what that means for God's relationship with us. And one has to do with our relationships with each other.

I really want to focus in tonight on the second set. Do you find yourself often getting angry with other people and letting them see your anger in how you treat them? It's easy to do. Do you hold grudges against people? Do you give up on people and form an unalterably low opinion of them? Well listen, whether or not you respond to someone with kindness should have nothing to do with how that person treats you. Whether or not you love a person should not be based upon whether or not they love you. It should be based upon your IDENTITY as a Christian, and you, as a Christian, are IDENTIFIED with Christ. Thus, it flows that if God loves people because of who he is, we should love people in the same way - we should love people because God loves them, and he is in us. There are so many pictures of this and so many blatant statements of this principle in His Word.

So here's the deal, I love my coworkers because I am indwelt by the Holy Sprit of God, who is Love. I love my wife the same way. I love literally every human being, in accordance with God's command, completely regardless of any attribute or action on the part of those people. I behave toward each person as God commands me to behave, regardless of how each person behaves toward me. (A note: I am not saying that I do not rebuke or that I do not fight against sin. That is ridiculous and unbiblical and would reflect a misunderstanding of what it means to love.) What I am saying is that, even if I disagree with someone, and even if that person is cruel to me in an argument, I should not strike back in anger; I may debate, but I will do so without malice.

Christians, love all people, even those of the non-believers who hate you, ridicule you, and look down upon you as ignorant. Love them; DON'T try to find reasons to love them; that will produce false love. DON'T start by trying to find out reasons to like them; first, you need to tap into God's love and simply realize that, in this context, all humans are exactly like you; they are all people love by God because he is God. Do not water down Love by making it about anything else.

I love you all.

Judge not?

"Don't drop j's dude." I say this jokingly sometimes, but I've come to realize recently that there are some people around me who use this saying quite seriously. I was blessed enough this weekend to spend a good bit of time with my good friend Andy Jones, and somewhere in the midst of our weekend discussion, this issue arose: what do people mean when they say "Don't judge me."? We decided that what they actually mean varies depending upon the situation, but the common reference used to defend this statement is usually Matthew 7:1 in which Jesus says "Judge not, that you be not judged" (NKJV). So, the real question appears to be "what did Jesus mean"?

Well, Andy and I whipped out an interlinear Bible (Greek, Hebrew, KJV), a Strong's Concordance (the hefty one), and Andy's study Bible, prayed for understanding, and went to it, discussing as we went. The actual word used for judging in Matthew 7 carries the connotation of condemnation, not just discernment, which fits with what people seem to mean when they say, "don't judge me." It's more like saying "don't condemn me."

There is so much to be said about this passage that I will only touch on two pieces tonight. First, there are two distinctions to be made. The first distinction is between believers and unbelievers. We are not to judge unbelievers, those outside the Church. Paul makes this VERY clear in 1 Corinthians 5:12-14. What he also makes clear in this passage is that we ARE to judge fellow believers, those inside the Church. So, the first parity: do not judge unbelievers, judge believers. Read on.

The second distinction has to do with what's up in Matthew 7 - the distinction between our own human, self-righteous judgment and God's righteous judgment. This distinction is made clearer when Paul speaks to it in Romans 14. Christ, in Matthew 7, is saying something first about what judgment we are to exercise and second (in the verses following) about how we are to exercise that judgment. What he is saying about the first is that we are not to exercise our own judgment on others. Stay with me. I did not say that we are not to judge our fellow believers. I said that we are not to judge them with OUR OWN judgment. By rebuking our fellow believers when they sin, we are not judging/condemning them; we are merely delivering the message that God has already passed judgment on their actions. For instance, if you know that a friend of yours, a believer, is getting drunk on the weekends, it is your duty as his brother to rebuke him, gently, and in love. You are not actually "judging" him when you do this. You are using your judgment (discernment) to see his sin and to identify it as such, but you are not condemning him. His actions stand condemned already, for God specifically forbids drunkenness in His Word in Ephesians 5:18 (one of several places). Thus, as Paul explains in Romans 14, we are not to judge our brothers and sisters according to any standard except that by which God will judge us.

I think of it this way: if God expressly speaks against something, I am expressly against it and will "judge" that thing in believers. If God does not clearly speak against something, that thing truly is between that believer and God.

Be careful what you judge; don't put words in God's mouth just because you don't like something. And, on the other hand, be careful to inform your Christian brothers and sisters of God's judgment as expressly written in his Word because he commands you to do so (2 Tim 4:2 is one of several places God commands this).

In my next posting, I hope to touch more on how Christ wants us to exercise this judgment. That is what Matthew 7:2-6 explains. I also hope to make it a little more clear that it is ridiculous to tell someone, someone who is rebuking you for something that God specifically condemns (judges) in his Word, "don't judge me." If this is you, please realize that your brother is not judging you, and that even if he is, what he is trying to tell you is that God is judging your sin, and that's the only judgment that really matters anyway.

Oh my God, how can it be?...

How can God love me so much? How can it be that he would go about planning things out so far in advance so that they will work for my good? He is currently speaking to me and teaching me (not to mention refreshing me) through a book written by a not-so-famous pastor in 1892. I picked up this book almost two years ago in a little, hole-in-the-wall, antique bookstore in Chattanooga, TN when I was there for a weekend to see Emily's cousin marry. We were just walking along when we saw this old store and decided that it would be fun to browse. Well, I like old books (I know what you're thinking, and my answer is, "I have no idea."), so I picked up a few stories that I knew and two books that I'd never heard of, books that you've probably never heard of either. I stored them both away, and the other day, I had a few quiet hours that were not stuffed with planned events, so I pulled out Hours With a Sceptic. Oh my God, I am amazed at your planning and foreknowledge. No book recommendation can be better than a recommendation from the Holy Spirit, which is what this book most definitely was. Oh how God knows the details of the future.

And now, he is also ministering to my lovely wife and to me by bringing us fellowship that we have both so desperately needed lately. Today has been for me one of the most refreshing days in a very long time because God has reminded me, by the company and conversation of dear friends, the depths of both his knowledge of and love for me - me personally. There is much more that I would like to write, but I must sleep. I get to worship with the body of Christ in a very few hours. Thank God for that.

A Bit of Fear and a Lesson

Well, I am sufficiently nervous as a completely unforeseen and new opportunity approaches. Tomorrow, Emily and I will meet with a representative from a prestigious art school to take a tour of the campus and to talk about finances and opportunities at the school.

This started with a simple request for information. No wait, it actually started quite a while back in Emily's life when she thought that she might want to go to culinary school or some other type of art school. She thought a lot about it and just lately has allowed that dream to resurface in conversation with me. She found out about the associated costs and informed me of her findings. I just about passed out. She seriously wants to go to a school that would cost approximately double my yearly salary, just for tuition.

I really set myself up for this; you see, I told her the truth about a week before this. I told her that God wants her to know that he has big plans for her, that he actually has a specific plan and a specific purpose just for her - all she has to do is listen to him and join him in it, in what he is doing. I also told her that if God wants this for her, he can make it happen, no matter how impossible it seems, and then I let it slip: "I'm open to whatever God has for you." FOOL! Anytime you start speaking Truth, be prepared for God to have different plans than you have in mind.

Thus, she requested information from this school, and, instead of getting a nice, glossy packet, she gets a phone call/interview followed by a request for us to come have the meeting of which I wrote before. As my best friend Stephen would say, "Buckle up!" God is really making me nervous. He's making me think that I might actually have to consider this, that this (very expensive, not completely practical) dream of Emily's might actually be part of his plan. And here I sit, having already told her that, "I'm open to whatever God has for you."

There is no guarantee that this will amount to anything. Maybe it will just be a tour that shows us that this place is not the place for her. Maybe it will just be a meeting that provides great information to be archived for later use. But maybe, just maybe, God's plans are very different than mine. We shall see.

Off Kilter

So bad am I at blogging. I have been avoiding my blog for a time now, hoping, I think, to find some incredible new epiphany that would be worthy of blogging. It has finally occurred to me: this is just a blog. Thus, I am going to make an effort to post more regularly, with or without some sort of epiphany.

You see, my original thought went something like this: "I want to create a blog to teach people what God teaches me." The problem I encountered was just how public to make my blog. Should I tell everyone I know, put it on Facebook, or simply tell my wife and a few close friends. Then, I decided that I should consider the scope of such a blog. If I put this blog address on Facebook, I should certainly be a bit more judicious with content than if I were to tell only Emily. This battle still rages on in my head. There are little guys on the right side calculating the trajectory and speed of the energy pulses they are about to fire, while the guys on the left side have already begun guerrilla warfare, attacking through the amygdala. It's really rather interesting. Some simply call this internal conflict.

Still, no matter what I write about, I do not think that I'll be able to compete with my sister-in-law's blog. Emily and I crack up every time we read it. I used to wonder what went on in her head. Now I only wonder at what goes on in her head. (Up, tied it into my blog name; Ma will appreciate that.)

At this point I'm simply rambling and cannot find a good transition to lead into the fact that I hope my blog will be helpful to those who have questions. I hope it will be encouraging to those who are fighting the good fight but feeling weary (Psalm 147:18-19 to you). I hope that it will help empirical people see that our God truly is active in this world and that He lives (Psalm 142:5 to you). He has been blessing me lately through the Psalms. I've been memorizing His words more than usual because of it. Oh, how He can touch my heart when I listen.

Well, I am tired now, and I would like to be more with it tomorrow. I believe that it is, as my dad would say "bedtime for bonzos." Goodnight all. 'Night Dad.

Peace

Oh sweet peace. This is what I long for, and what, in my God, I find. Over the past several months I have come to know the deepest peace by coming to know my Father better. It is not that I know that He will make everything easy, or even that He will make everything "ok" by my normal standards. It is simply that I know that He knows always what is going to happen. That knowledge, combined with the fact that He loves me and wants only the best for me, is enough. It is really quite simple: If I know that God knows everything, and if I know that He loves me and wants the best for me (which, by the way is a deep relationship with Him), then all I have to focus on is obeying Him. He will guide me in the right direction. He will help me make the right decisions and do the things that will end up best for myself and others.

It is my belief that stress comes simply from uncertainty. This is the thing that in school, in business, in life, we are always trying to eliminate. But, for those who know God, there is no reason to expend all of this extra effort trying to eliminate all uncertainty. If you learn to rest in the knowledge of which I have spoken, your uncertainty in this world is o'ershadowed by your certainty of God and of his love. Simple. And that is peace. If you have not known this rest, it is because either you have not known this God or you have subsequently rejected the idea that you should believe and obey Him.