Reflections - Weight Loss and Exercise Walking

This is going to be a potpourri of miscellaneous thoughts - nothing particularly profound, but hopefully some helpful things. I have to leave it to any readers to know what is healthy for them and what works for them (e.g., if you're a diabetic, I'm not giving you the OK to go nuts with some carbohydrate-laden food or beverage).

Losing weight is simple on the level of concept. Over time, if you systematically burn off more calories every day that you eat, you'll lose weight. Now, your body plays tricks during that time, so the weight loss won't be a nice smooth-sloped line or curve that exactly tracks your net burn-off, but over time it will happen just as it should. The hard part is doing it, systematically, over a long time, not letting one's progress or lack of progress affect what one eats and does. It's very "simple", you just have to eat carefully and work your butt off.

Being careful how much you eat is likely to work better than trying to utter stop something you love. If you love Coca Cola or cheddar cheese, trying to cut those out entirely is likely to set you up for going nuts and giving up. Having the something you love with appropriate frequency and in appropriate amount for how much you should eat is better - in the near term, as you are less likely to go nuts or give up, and in the long term, as you are forming new habits for the rest of your life.

Potatoes are good - in proper amount a frequency. Similarly, being a potato - a couch potato - is something that should be done appropriately (Is that fitness heresy?). Make couch-potatoing something you do for occasional relaxation, not your way of life. And move …

Moving more is a euphemism for “exercise”. But pretend you didn't hear that, and don't think of what you do as the E-Word. Your moving can be a lot of different things, and the biggest thing is to do what works for you, what you can do several times a week, and won't put you in the hospital or bankruptcy. So, running, walking, kick-boxing, stationary bicycle … what works for you? I'm not young, my starting point was being very out-of-shape, and I'm not rich. And the climate where I live is fairly mild. Put those together, and walking works for me. It's almost free (do get good shoes!). I walk in the neighborhood where I live. Preparation is quick - change clothes and go out the front door. Walking time is easily changeable as I get better or have other things to do.

You can lose weight by eating more carefully. Or you can lose weight by moving more. You'll do better by doing both. And it's important to realize and remember that this is not just something you do for a few weeks or months. You should be forming new habits - eating and “moving”, because you don't want to go back to where you were. Develop the proper balance of enjoying what you eat while being careful of how much. Develop new interests – sports, working out, doing things with friends, whatever works and interests you. I've gone from walking as something I can do 20 or 30 minutes at a time 3-5 days a week to much longer walks and walking in “runs” as long as a 10K or a half-marathon.

Boast or Declaration of Dependence?

Maybe it's just me, but I've usually thought Psalms like Psalm 27 were David boasting, "God is on my side!" Maybe there is a little of that (or maybe not), but David didn't address his Psalms to the Philistines, Ammonites or other nations that were Israel's enemies. Rather, David's Psalms were at once personal reflections - David speaking to himself - and addressing his own people, Israel.

David was reminding Israel and himself of two intertwined facts. First, Israel and its king were dependent on God. Whatever strength and skill they might have had, those alone were not sufficient to be victorious over Israel's enemies. Second - something which David acknowledged and praised - God had shown Himself strong and reliable.

In the same way, we Christians must constantly remind ourselves and each other that we cannot rely on and be guided by our own wisdom and strength. Neither are sufficient. And we must remember - it is so easy to forget in the face of difficulty - that God is wise, strong, sufficient and reliable. We must rely on God.

Being Too Comfortable Isn't Good

I'll say it blunt and up front. Human beings just don't do well when they are comfortable. I'm not saying that abject poverty or utter misery are good things. What I am saying is that good times seem to bring out undesirable things in people.

The Book of Judges shows this over and over. It chronicles multiple cycles of Israel getting comfortable, turning away from God, coming under judgment, and then repenting and being delivered. It's tempting to ask why they never learned, but each cycle played out over 2 or 3 generations. The lessons learned the hard way by one generation just didn't get passed on to the next generation or to the one after that.

In one sense, the Book of Judges is one of the more depressing books in the Bible. In others, though, Judges shows us, mirror-like, important things to know - things about ourselves, things about God. As I said above, we humans tend to handle comfort and prosperity poorly. We think we accomplished it. We think we are control of our corner of the world. When we do what is “right in our own eyes”, we show very clearly how poor our moral eyesight is (putting it nicely). When we get into such a state, God allows – or even brings into our lives – things that remind us, unpleasantly, that we are not gods – our power is puny, we are not in control of much of anything, and we receive the consequences of our moral blindness. Like I said, none of that is pleasant. But, God also loves us. And when we turn in repentance to Him, He accepts us and brings restoration.

As frustrating and depressing as the Book of Judges is, I sure am glad it gives us that knowledge about God's character and how He acts!

Theism Is Incomplete

Briefly thinking on ideas of how the universe began, life began, and how humans came to be …

Materialism can't explain how the universe came into being. As appealing as the Big Bang theory might be, the physics of it don't work (in fact, the singularity that supposedly produced the Big Bang is a state in which laws of physics don't exist/apply) and it can't explain why the physics of the universe are suited for life. Nor can the laws of physics and chemistry of this universe explain how life began or how it evolved from "simple" single cells to humans. In fact, Physics and Chemistry (what we know of them) are quite hostile to life as we know it coming into being by chance and to life evolving, unaided, from “simple” to more complex. For that matter, the single-celled animals humans tend to regard as “simple” - may have been taught to be “simple” - are in fact extremely complex, highly adapted to their niche in nature, and often highly adaptable.

Theism can explain the origin of the universe and how life began. God "spoke" and everything was there; God's words were the true “Big Bang”. The complexity and intricacies of the universe proclaim that the universe was designed and created! The problem hypothetical Theism has is the classic Problem of Pain - evil, catastrophes and disease. The Problem with Pain may be stated as a question: Why would an omnipotent, good, God create and tolerate a universe in which pain exists? This is a good question, one for which mere Theism is not sufficient to answer. Theism is what can be inferred from observing creation. We can observe the fact of evil, catastrophes and disease, but we cannot observe how those might be consistent with the existence of a Creator. That leaves two possible answers to the Problem with Pain question. One, that God does not exist, the answer toward which the askers often are leading doesn't work either (as pointed out above). The other answer is of a kind that humans tend to find unsatisfying and frustrating: “I don't know.”

Christianity goes beyond simple Theism. Christianity's God has spoken to mankind. God has “spoken” in nature - letting those willing to recognize and acknowledge it know God exists and created nature. Christian theologians refer to this as “General revelation”, as it is generally observable. This is the revelation on which Theism is based. God has also spoken more directly - and at some length - in what Christianity calls the Bible. Christianity's God informs mankind that the universe was created good, but was changed. Mankind was created with the ability to choose good or evil - to obey or disobey the Creator - and was given stewardship of the world. Mankind chose evil, thereby letting evil into the universe. Some evil is inflicted by people on people - usually others, but sometimes on themselves. Humans still have considerable freedom to act for evil or for good; monsters like Stalin or Hitler illustrate the fact that this freedom can be enormous. Less well understood is that the universe is no longer good, and therefore catastrophes and disease happen. God has not revealed what limitations He may place on human evil nor natural “evil”, nor on what basis He might intervene. As unsatisfying as that might be for some, Christianity does provide an explanation the existence of evil (pain). The explanation may not make some people very happy – who likes knowing that they are tainted to the core of their being with evil? Human history bears out – ad nauseum, almost ad infinitum – the accuracy of that Divine diagnosis. As for what we don't know about how/why God acts when evil, could it be that our Creator wants us to trust Him when we experience evil? To remember and rely on Him that He is with us as we go through it?

Appropriately Loving the "Unlovable"

Some people are easier to love than others. Our family and friends are easy, usually. The elderly, children, the disabled maybe less so, but not by much (if at all). You know the "Ouch!" is coming ... wait for it ...

Jesus didn't say to love most of our neighbors, or that certain people are exceptions to His command. If Jesus died for a person - and we know He did, regardless of the person - we are to love that person. There's no escape hatch. That command includes people in the custody of the justice system. That command includes people who are destroying themselves - drugs, drinking and more. That command includes the "monsters" of our time (seriously, if Paul had a chance to preach to Nero, do you think he would said, "No! You aren't worthy!").

Obviously, some of that is hypothetical. How many Christians are likely to come face to face with Bashir Assad of Syria or Kim III of Korea? But it means that we should bring practical love to “unlovable” people with whom we do have contact and opportunity. And it means that we should pray for the monstrous, that their destructiveness would be overcome, of course, but also that God would change their hearts. Along those latter lines, God's had some “kids” whose BC lives were pretty monstrous.

Loving at a distance is relatively easy (though not necessarily without value) – good feelings, maybe a contribution to a relevant charity. It's when the “unlovable” person(s) are nearby or friends/family where it gets tough. Then it means giving time. It can mean giving money or things to that person. It can mean rubbing elbows with that person, when they are being self-destructive or ungrateful or just generally abrasive and sharp-elbowed. It means loving intelligently, a 5-gallon bucket of worms. Does intelligent love mean bailing some one out of a problem? Or might intelligent love mean letting that person experience the consequences of self-destructiveness, and “being there” for them as they walk through it? To ask is to answer … yes, and we will always be making those choices with our limited understanding.

The Helpless, the Impaired, and Societal Compassion

I've written before about how society's and God's views of the value of a human being are quite different. Society looks at stuff like a person's wealth, career, perceived intelligence, athletic abilities, outward beauty. God set that value at the life of His Son Jesus.

Using society's standards, certain people aren't worth very much: people with physical or mental limitations or infirmities; old people; children and babies (and stay-at-home Moms, but that's a whole different post!). These are all people who society deems not to be contributing to society - goods and services and/or prestige. And in those terms, they don't, and in fact "take" from society.

But even on just a human level - ignoring things eternal and God's view of His creatures - the elderly, children and the mentally or physically disabled or infirm actually give societies something greater than what can be measured in money or prestige. These "helpless" people cause others to see beyond themselves and their own welfare, to care about and care for people less able or unable to care for themselves. A society replete with people who care about and for others is far more rich than a society of people narrowly focused on their own wealth and interests. And far more pleasant.

Walking a Half Marathon

Last Sunday I walked in the San Jose Half Marathon, with a finishing time of a little over three and a half hours. That's not exactly spectacular - some people were finishing before I reached the half-way point. But it was significant for me. Two years ago I was 65 pounds heavier, and very out of shape. A year ago briskly walking 3 miles was a bit of a challenge. I thought attempting a half-marathon was not a realistic idea. With encouragement from my wife and son, and with the experience of preparing for and doing a 5 mile event last spring, I decided to take the available 6 months to work up to what I did last Sunday. This is the kind of thing about which I don't mind being wrong. Thanks, family!

A Different World ...

It recently struck me how much things have changed in US culture in the past five decades (most of my life span thus far). When I was growing up (insert dinosaur joke here), I cannot remember even one school mate whose parents were divorced. Not one was the child of a never-married woman. None, and none. And in all the school years when it might have happened, I can remember just one girl who got pregnant.

If recent common "stats" are to be believed, on the order of half the kids in an average public school classroom today have gone through their parents getting divorced. More than 3 in 8 were born to unmarried mothers (3 out of 4 in some areas!). And on the order of 1 in 3 girls will become mothers during their teen years - not necessarily all unmarried or during their school years. Even more will have one or more abortions, killing their child (not necessarily knowing that is what they are doing).

This is a very different culture than that in which I was raised! These aren't numbers in columns. These are children wounded by divorce. These are children who have half of what used to be normal parental input - wisdom, love and care. These are children raised without knowing what a secure relationship or a stable marriage looks and feels like. These are children who will be having children, raising children, while themselves needing to grow up. All these traumas were the second-hand experiences of my (now grown) children. Further, these are the experiences and expectations that have molded the current and coming generations of parents, what they have and will communicate to their children. Their experiences are so different from mine that I almost feel like I'm a different sub-species of human.

My Life Really Is in God's Hands!

I hesitate somewhat to post about this as it's yet in process and involves people I know and love. I'm not the person going through the things I allude to, nor one of the persons most affected by them. But this is something that is both stirring my thoughts and emotions ... God is working in me through it. I pray no one is hurt by my posting some of my thoughts ... I'm not aware of anything potentially hurtful in what follows.

A friend who has for years been very healthy and very active is now going through an unexpected serious health problem. While he has taken very good care of his health - better than I have until recently - he may soon see face to face with the God he has long served. The unexpectedness and suddenness of this is likely disturbing to him, and probably even more so to his wife. I'm sure this is not at all the kind of thing they expected for this time in their life together.

Taking care of our bodies (as he has) is right, it's taking care of something given us by God. But ultimately none of us has control of our lifespan - my body is impacted, internally and externally, by sin - my own, that of others around me, that of the entire human race going back to Adam. The One Who does have control over my life is God, and I have to trust Him in and with whatever life brings, regardless of my expectations. God ultimately cares and knows more than I do about what is good for me. That's easy to write; doing it when stuff is happening around (or to) me is challenging!

Surest Knowledge

I recently read this comment about Scripture from Wayne Grudem:

… this God who is omniscient (all-knowing) has absolutely certain knowledge: there can never be any fact that does not already know; there can never be any fact that would prove that something God thinks is actually false. Now it is from this infinite storehouse of certain knowledge that God, Who never lies, has spoken to us in Scripture, in which he has told us many true things about himself, about ourselves, and about the universe that he has made. No fact can ever turn up to contradict the truth spoken by this one who is omniscient.

Thus it is appropriate for us to be more certain about the truths we read in Scripture than about any other knowledge we have. If we are to talk about degrees of certainty of knowledge we have, then the knowledge we attain from Scripture would have the highest degree of certainty: if the word “certain” can be applied to any human knowledge, it can be applied to this knowledge. (Systematic Theology, by Wayne Grudem, 1994 and 2000, Chapter 7, Page 120)

This challenges me! Not because I disagree with what Grudem said, but because I hadn't thought about knowledge and Scripture in those terms. It's one thing to acknowledge: my knowledge is limited; God's knowledge is not limited; my abilities to perceive reality and gain knowledge are limited and imperfect; God already knows all there is to know. It's another, challenging, thing to commit oneself to accepting Scripture as true even if Scripture contradicts what I think I know or believe to be true/right. Do I really believe God knows all there is to know? Do I really believe God is good and a truth-teller? Do I really believe that Scripture is truth God chose to reveal to mankind? Dare I believe that God might actually know some matter (or me!) better – more correctly, more completely – than I?

The Value of a Person

A person is not what they do. The value of a person is not the things they do to put food on their table, clothes on their back and a roof over their head. What one does, one's career/job is "valued" by supply and demand, and is changeable by fashion, need for the skill, the number of people who can do it and technology. Also, one can change one's career. Who would think a career change changed a person's value?! None of those affect the value of a person. Indeed, no man or woman can determine or change the value of any person. Only God can do that, did that. The value of a person - famous or obscure, powerful or master of none, genius or mentally handicapped - is, as trite as it sounds, Jesus. God set the value of each person at His Own Son. Maybe we should remember that when we look on another of less prestigious calling or glamorous appearance! Or when we reflect on our own value.

Fences and Walls

I was thinking yesterday, recalling a Christian song from the 1970s:

Good fences make good neighbors,

But a fence the church don't need.

And the Spirit's moving in the world

To bring His Body back in unity.

Fences and walls have their place and use, but the church, the Body of Christ, is not such a place. The fences the song spoke of are the excuses and pretexts Christians too often use to avoid acknowledging their brothers and sisters in Christ, to avoid fellowshipping with them, and to avoid serving God together. The song does not envision a Scripture-ignoring-and-denying Kumbaya-fest, just the kind of love, fellowship and shared service Jesus envisioned and commanded for His people.

The kind of walls I spoke of are deeper, walls we've each built within us, to isolate and "protect" us. Too often we put up prettified walls, facades we imagine make us look nice, cool, spiritual, together and so forth. By keeping people from knowing us, the real us, we evade real spiritual growth and real fellowship relationships. Growth comes in acknowledging what we are - imperfect and unique - and letting others be God's helpers and our partners in changing us, making us more like what God wants us to be. Growth comes in providing that very same loving service to our brothers and sisters - rather difficult if we are busy hiding.

Can we work a bit at tearing down some of our fences and walls, OK?

A Couple of Stray Thoughts

Those who don't take themselves too seriously are disappointed less often.

Utopian schemes – e.g. socialism, anarchism, anarcho-capitalism - ignore or deny that man is deeply flawed (or as Christians say it, sinful). This lesson was writ large in the blood of 10s of millions throughout the 20th century. Will we read, learn and take it to heart?

"Fearfully and Wonderfully Made ..."

An incredible universe - immense

The tiniest cell - a universe of intricacy

Knowledge and discoveries that could enthrall for life

Knowledge and discoveries that should ...

... lead me to the Designer

... cause me to worship the Designer

... birth in me a desire to seek and know ...

... the One Who designed ...

... the One Who made ...

... the One Who loves ...

... me

Through, Not Out Of

God has promised to be with, to provide for, to bless us. He has not promised to shield us from all suffering and difficulty. But He will bring us through all, sometimes by His "simple" love and grace, sometimes by expressions of His awesome power.

Miracles - Breaks in the Natural Order or Glimpses of What was Intended to Be

People, including Christians, are so accustomed to the way things are that we understand what we see to be the natural order of things. Not just in the present tense, but for all time past, back to the beginning of this universe, this space-time continuum. We think the way things are is the way God created and intended things to be. Christians, at least, should know better. God did not intend mankind to be sinful, yet here we are. And when Adam sinned, he not only brought sin to his descendants, but the nature of the very universe was changed.

Because of our incorrect view of things, we struggle with miracles, with what they are. Is God "violating" natural laws? Is God rending and patching the fabric of the space-time continuum? How do miracles not make a mockery of an orderly universe?

Could it be that the problem is not with God interfering with or violating the natural order, but of us not understanding What/Who God is? And what God intended to be the natural order of things without sin? The very nature of the universe and its relationship with God changed by sin. The universe was no longer entirely "good". While not rendered alien or an outsider, God no longer maintains the universe in the same way as before man's sin. Death entered. Pain entered. Disasters became part of the "natural" order.

Miracles are displays of God's might. Miracles demonstrate God's sovereignty. Miracles are exertions of God's creative power. Maybe, just maybe, could miracles be glimpses of what God intended to be the natural order?

Making Christian Unity Personal and Real

About a year ago I wrote a series of blog posts about the bases for Christian unity. Understanding Christian unity intellectually is important, but not an end in itself. But it is an important step. Truth needs to travel that 12 inches from the head to the heart, and then those several feet from the heart to the hands and feet. More simply, it needs to be made real, active.

So, how to discern a real believer from a "Garage Christian" (a person who is like a man standing in a garage claiming to be a car)? A caveat is important at this point. No human can truly and completely know another human's heart. So any conviction I might have about whether or not another person is a believer must be qualified by my acknowledgement that, "I might be wrong."

I can listen to what a person says. I can see what a person does. So if some one tells me that they believe in Jesus as their Savior, with apparent understanding of what that means, I tend to believe them. And I consider what I know of their manner of life, whether it is consistent with their profession of faith (keeping in mind that every Christian is a work in progress). If the understanding and consistency are there, I view that person as my brother or sister in Christ. I'm open to fellowship with that person, to working with them in ministry, as appropriate with what is being done.

In terms of real interactions with real people, this can (and has) challenged my prejudices. For example, I disagree with many teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. The disagreements are, in my understanding of Scripture, real and substantial. At the same time, my interactions with Catholics have forced two conclusions on me - things I would have acknowledged intellectually, but which became real through those interactions. First, there are are true believers - my brothers and sisters in Christ - among Catholics. Second, a believer is a believer, regardless of the sign in front of the building where that person goes on Sunday morning. I know, really profound! Fellow believers deserve my recognition, fellowship and aid in ministry - as those are appropriate. There are no second-class or junior believers. Obviously, there are areas where we would disagree, areas of fellowship and ministry where I could not participate (nor they with me). But that is NOT an excuse for avoiding that brother or sister!

I know, it's tough! I might have to (eek!) think. I might have to understand and be able to express what I believe. I might have to learn from that fellow believer. And by recognizing, fellowshiping and aiding, I may be forcing similar experiences on that fellow believer. Welcome to the Body of Christ! Doing it is much harder than reading about it. That's why we need Christ and the Holy Spirit living and working in us!

When Might-Have-Beens and Reality Collide

At my current employer, quite a few people have been there 20, 30, 40, even 50 years. I'll admit having felt a twinge of something close to envy. Since 1993 I haven't been at any employer as long as 4 years. The idea of 30 or 40 years of "stability" had a certain appeal. Last evening I started thinking of all the employers I've left or who have left me.

I've been laid off 5 times since 1993, so, obviously, staying longer at those places wasn't an option. Two of those 5 companies have either essentially disappeared or so changed that, either way, I would probably still have been laid off, just a few years later. Of the other three, one was so marginal that its survival is an ongoing uncertainty - a layoff looking for its time. And a fourth, the 75-mile daily round-trip commute was getting really old (though I liked my work, the company, its products and its people) - not a good long-term prospect.

Of the three companies I left of my own volition, two are essentially gone, and I would have been laid off (due to hard times or moving the company's operations), just later. And the third, well, I had lost faith in the quality of its product, tried and failed to drive a meaningful investigation into its quality, and I was miserable. So, none of those companies was a reasonable chance for a long-term stay.

Might-have-beens fare poorly in the face of cold, hard, rational, examination. God really does know best - in guiding our choices and in making our "choices" for us.

Priorities & Tools

One morning as I was walking I was thinking about priorities in my life. I thought of the standard ordering of such things: God; family; friends; ministry; career. Very cool ... God and people are ahead of ministry and career. Good priorities? Well ...

How about a different organizing principle? God, and God's purposes! God's purposes for us. God's purposes for our family. God's purposes for our friends. These are a better order of priority, from our greatest area of influence to the least.

What about ministry and career? Ministry isn't something a few people do in front of a congregation on Sunday mornings. It's God using you however, wherever, whenever. Your career is a place where you develop friend relationships and earn the means for living and ministering. Ministry and career are tools and arenas for accomplishing God's purposes, not items somewhere low on our list of priorities.

Responsibility for Generosity

Jesus' commands to charity are very real and serious, but are addressed to believers, and through His Apostles' letters, to church congregations as communities of believers. His commands bind believers and churches - as individuals and as communities. However generally beneficial being generous may be for humans generally (also as individuals), Jesus' commands are no justification for taking and giving away other people's money or freedoms. Inducing government to take non-believers' money and freedoms under the guise of obeying Jesus' commands to charity is theft and a cloaked shirking of personal responsibility.

But It Hurts!

Better theologians and philosophers than I (not exactly a high standard for comparison!) have addressed the "Problem of Pain". I'm not about to try to offer great new insight into that question. Adam acted for all mankind in rejecting God. That is our inheritance from him. His sin changed humanity, and changed the world in which we live. "Man's inhumanity to man," is just that, humans being what they are and as bad as they decide to be. Similarly, "natural disasters" are the natural result of man's rejection of God's lordship of creation, not "acts of God".

God has "honored" man's rejection of God. He does not force Himself on us or micromanage the world, but God has not given up on working in creation. Man brought pain into this world - death, sickness, cruelty, disasters. God uses these various sorts of pain. Our pain breaks through our self-deluded, prideful, self-sufficiency. If we listen, well, pain drives us to seek and trust in the One Who actually is sufficient. Further, and better, our suffering, endured and learned from, makes us able to bring comfort and wisdom to others going through the same pains. Jesus redeemed us from eternal death with His death on the cross. In His working in our lives, He redeems our pains.

Am I Prepared to Give an Answer?

1 Peter 3:15 famously instructs believers to be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks us for the hope we have in Christ. Christians tend to see this in terms of serious or hostile challenge, heavy duty apologetics. And that certainly is part of what Peter meant. But for most Christians, difficult challenges are rare, and a small part of Peter's meaning (small in proportion, not significance).

The more frequent application of this verse will/should be ordinary people asking why we are nice, honest, kind, serving. Hopefully our lives are such as would prompt such questions! It's such a "simple" question, but have we given it any thought? I've been asking myself that question. I've read all kinds of books about Creation vs. Evolution, abortion, and certain religious groups, but I honestly haven't given the thought I should to answering a merely curious, "What is right with you?" question.

Creatures "Owning" Something Created?

Can a human, a creature, really own some other created thing? I don't mean in the sense of human governments and laws. I mean an intrinsic, durable ownership. The stuff we usually think we own can rot, can be taken from us, can be made obsolete, can be spoiled, ruined or destroyed. Or we might die, and our stuff continues on in space and time. Further, how can we be sure we are not the ones who are, in fact, owned by "our" stuff? In all these exigencies, what happened to our being the ones who own things? To truly own something, mustn't the owner be something qualitatively greater, something that transcends, that which is owned? We humans are made of the same stuff, subject to the same physical laws, as the things we like to think we own. What human being, then, really owns anything?

There is One, of course, Who is greater than us and the things around us, Who made us and all things. He is the One Who can truly own ... without being owned ... neither spoiling nor spoiled.

Paradoxes in Christ

Salvation ...there is nothing I can do to earn or keep salvation, yet God will not force salvation, saving faith, on me. Am I somehow "allowing" God to create that saving faith in me? Is doing vs. allowing a distinction without a difference? I could throw my hands up in frustration. Instead, I believe ... God "understands" how He works it all out.

Obedience ... I am flawed. I am told to obey God, I am responsible for what I do, but in truth, nothing I can do is truly good. Again, I could give up, but I choose to obey and will let God make good my imperfect.

Serving ... God has given me intelligence and abilities, and I am responsible to use them in serving Him. My abilities, my motivations are flawed, marred by sin. Nor are they adequate to the task of serving God. Still, I will serve, trusting God for power and the results of my service.

Christians in a Nation Turning from and Turning on God

More and more, I'm sensing that Christians in the US could soon be experiencing something they have pretty much never before experienced. The US has from its beginning and its roots had at the least a generic Christian culture. Not that all Americans, ever, have been practicing believers, of course. That accommodating attitude - cultural and governmental - toward Christianity, however, looks like it is changing!

Just as Egypt had its generation who didn't know Joseph and turned against God's people, the US has people who don't know Jesus - or care to - who are beginning to dominate US culture. And to turn it against Christians. Many schools and universities are now exerting themselves to silence and suppress Christians, when they can get away with it. Regulations governing and defining the required the training for some professions are being rewritten to force on Christians choices between violating their faith or leaving their profession. Many social services people view Christian belief as supporting suspicion of abuse when parents are accused of child abuse. Cities and towns are using zoning ordinances and permit processes as means to block or severely limit the building and expansion of churches. Hostile neighbors are using police and bureaucrats to twist zoning ordinances to prevent Christians from hosting Bible studies and prayer groups in their homes.

All these things, sadly, are not outlandish "possibilities" conjured by my fevered imagination. Would that they were! These are all based on recent news stories and court cases! Let's call this what it is ... dare to use that ugly "P" word ... Persecution. We are a far from lions and arenas - hopefully very far, and will never get to its modern equivalent. But US Christians are, I think, seeing the beginnings of real persecution.

US Churches and Christians cannot afford to ignore which way societal winds are blowing. These trends are not irreversible, but that will require prayer, much work and much prayer! As those efforts play out, to whatever end, Christians need to keep aware of reality and be prepared to fight, evade, and use creative ways to bypass the efforts of would-be persecutors. Churches need to have "Plans B, C, and D" in mind, even in operation, to neutralize attacks on leadership and facilities usage.

Does that sound paranoid? Sadly, I think it's prudent to recognize, be prepared for and be ready to respond to reality and realistic possibilities! Of course, such things need not come to be. Christians need to be praying! We can do all we can - and I'll get to that - but the One Who has, and can again, defeat anything the world can throw against us is God. If we rely on ourselves, we will be defeated; if we rely on God, victory will be His!

That doesn't mean we sit back and do nothing! The precautions alluded to above should be taken. Done properly, they will enhance the life of the church, and often are (or enhance) things churches should be doing anyway! Churches and Christians need to use their rights fully - being careful to obey laws that are right - and not be intimidated into foregoing those rights by the prospect of opposition from unrighteous people. Churches and Christians need to become involved in their communities, not retreat into their buildings and homes. Churches and Christians need to make themselves visible in their communities, and necessary. Being visible - known, not a mystery - will make it much harder for would-persecutors to demonize Christians. And being visible and necessary is something Jesus commanded His followers to be.

Two other key strategies are to spread leadership and ministry responsibilities among more people, and to become less dependent on a particular building. In more difficult times, flexibility strengthens the church and makes it less vulnerable to attack. Spreading leadership and ministry responsibilities limits the effects of an attack on one leader. Flexibility in meetings and meeting places similarly limits the effect of losing a facility. In good times, those strategies have significant benefits. Spreading leadership and ministry responsibilities means more can be done, better. And spiritual growth among congregation members is encouraged. Flexibility in meeting places, especially in increased usage of members' homes, will similarly foster spiritual growth and closeness of fellowship within the congregation.

Persecution, if it comes, will not be pleasant. But persecution, if it comes, will make the church stronger. What happens is not something we can control. But we can strive to be what Jesus wants us to be, grow into what He wants us to be, and trust Him to lead in and fight our spiritual battles.

Costly Love

Love cannot be bought with money. It is too precious and costly. A living love costs the lives of the lover and the loved.

Hands & Feet, Heads & Hearts

Christians' hands, feet and mouths need to be moved by our heads and hearts. Communication between head and heart should be two-way, and informed by God and His word.

What Jesus' Resurrection Means to Me

The world has never had a lack of thoughtful moral philosophers. Many have had useful and thoughtful insights. Many claimed to offer insights of spiritual significance. All are dead or will die ... except for one. Jesus was a great teacher, offered great insight into what humans really are, pointed to what He said was the right spiritual path, and claimed to do and be much more than just a great teacher. He claimed to be God, the Son of God. He claimed he would save from their sins as many as would believe in Him. He claimed to be the path to God and eternal life. Like all the other moral teachers, Jesus died - a horrible death. Unlike any other moral teacher (or any other human being), He didn't stay dead.

That's what sets Jesus apart from both the other moral teachers and delusional people who claim to be God! Jesus' resurrection was the seal of the authenticity of all He claimed to do and be! Jesus is God! Jesus had the authority and power to do all it took to save me from my sins, to reconcile me to God! Jesus' resurrection showed that life doesn't end with death, that for those united with him by faith will also be raised from the dead, to spend eternity with God. And Jesus did all this, not because I was such a wonderful person, not because I deserved it. Let me be clear … I did not deserve what Jesus did for me! Jesus did what He did simply because He loved me, and every other equally undeserving human being. Jesus' resurrection is the culmination of the process that gave me eternal life. Jesus resurrection is the pinnacle of 33 years of a life of proving that God, the Creator of the universe, loves me.

Jesus' Holy Week

In the hustle and bustle of daily life this year it almost escaped my attention that this week was “Holy Week”, the week culminating in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. Some of my “stuff” was of some definite significance; some was just the stuff of daily life, lived and forgotten a month or a year later; some was what is sometimes called, “First World Problems”.

Jesus death and resurrection are the culmination and the radiating point for God's love for mankind, for me. And I got to thinking … what was Jesus' “Holy Week” like … what was some of the “stuff” He experienced and did for me?

Triumphal entry – much of the same crowd would be howling for His crucifixion later in the week

Entered the temple – had to clear out the corrupt hucksters cheating honest people who wanted to worship God

Left the temple, his disciples pointing out its magnificence – Jesus had to tell them of the doom that would come on Jerusalem and the temple

Week-long verbal traps and running verbal battles with the Jewish religious leaders who should have been the first to recognize and honor Him

Celebrated Passover with his disciples – knowing this was His last meal with them ... knowing one of those disciples would betray him

Gethsemane – the hours of mental anguish of knowing the physical agony what was coming … and being betrayed after His time of prayer

“Trial” before the Sanhedrin – knowing his disciples had fled, and that at that moment Peter was denying even knowing Him

Roman “justice” and torture – arbitrary, intentionally sadistic

Crucifixion – the most prolonged agony mankind then knew how to extract

Bearing the burden of, being separated from the Father because of, the world's sin ... my sin

Broken People in a Broken World

The idea that we humans are a broken people is familiar to Christians - whether under the term "original sin" or "total depravity". It's not something we love to contemplate - some non-believers revile or condemn Christianity for this teaching - but it's a reality we need to acknowledge in order to grasp the reality of who we are and of what people in this world truly are at heart. Monsters like Mao, Stalin and Hitler were extremes, not aberrations!

Less familiar is the truth that this world is also broken. After each creative act, God pronounced what He had just created “good”. Not just nice or pretty, but "good" ... not just from a human perspective, but good in the eyes of the almighty, righteous, God. When Adam sinned, it affected more than just him, it affected (maybe I should say "infected"!) all of his descendants. I already mentioned that. But at that time, God pointed out something more. He said that because of Adam, the ground, the Earth, was cursed. Jumping into the New Testament, this cursed state may be what Paul refers to when he speaks of all creation "groaning":

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Romans 8:20-22, ESV

So we aren't just broken people living with other broken people - tough enough! We also are broken people living among broken people in a broken world!

So ... does that mean we're in a mess and should just throw up our hands in hopelessness and surrender? That isn't at all what Jesus told His followers to do! Jesus commanded us to take the message of redemption - words and action wherever we go. And to teach others to continue in that commission. We can be Jesus hands and feet and mouths in bringing redemption to whosoever will believe.

Accepting Change - Redemption and Restoration

Accepting change is not trivial, sometimes even difficult. Yet Christians are by definition a changed people. We should be used to the idea of people being changed, being redeemed from their former lifestyle. Some Christians do well with this. Others, to be honest, not so well. Maybe this is what Jesus was referring to in the parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20:1-16. 

 The other, sometimes sadder, side of this has to do with Christian brothers and sisters who fall in some very visible "serious" way (as if every sin isn't serious!). It's an old saying that the church is the only army that shoots its own wounded. Obviously, there are sins that necessitate church discipline, and there are some that do not. When church discipline is necessary, the purpose should be to correct and provide a path of restoration. Sometimes it seems like some people see discipline as excising some sort of spiritual cancer! I'll say it again ... the purpose is not to get rid of the one who has "fallen", but to restore that person to fellowship with God and His people.

God is gracious. He didn't redeem His people on a, "I'm going to give you one more chance, but if you blow it, ZAP!" basis. He redeemed us because He loved us, and His love doesn't change or diminish every time we blow it. So ... since God loves us even when we blow it, how much more should we love our "fallen" brother or sister? And want to see them restored to fellowship with God and His people?!

Stuff, Money and Human Nature

There is an old joke about a law of physics that says that, "Stuff expands to fill available space." I think there is a corresponding law of economics that says that, "Expenses expand to expend available income." Or in the case of those unprepared and/or unable and/or unwilling to manage money (e.g. lottery winners, suddenly rich athletes or politicians), "expenses" will expand faster than will income. Politicians, I also think, present a special case. They will spend money multiple times, call a reduced rate of spending growth a cut in spending, and use one-time "windfalls" to start programs that will continue for years to come, long past the time when the one-time money is consumed.

World Views Clash - Right and Wrong

Many modern political disputes come down to a collision of different world views. If one believes humans to be evolutionary accidents, the highest animal to have evolved so far, there is no basis moral absolutes, for saying, "This is right," or, "This is wrong," beyond a gun or a ballot box. Humans have no claim to be special, other than being the most advanced animal so far. Nor any basis for rights beyond a piece of paper that can be amended at will or tyrannically ignored. On the contrary, Evolution is a “might makes right” worldview. The Evolutionary imperative is survival of the fittest, and the fit demonstrate their fitness by doing whatever it takes to survive and reproduce (kill, steal, rape … or obey such “laws”, if that is what it takes to survive and reproduce).

If one believes, however, that humans and the universe are the creation of a Designer Who revealed some of His design principles so far as humans are concerned, a basis for right and wrong, for rights, is there. And Some One to whom one is ultimately answerable.

The Christian Balancing Act

Balance is something about which I've heard and thought quite a bit through the years. Early in my Christian walk I heard a teacher point out one such balance, between the Holy Spirit and the Word. He said that if one focused entirely on the Word (using one's intellect and ignoring the Holy Spirit) one would dry up. On the other hand, he said that if one focused entirely on the Holy Spirit (ignoring the Word), one would get weird. Without the Holy Spirit, one's intellect tends toward legalism, hair-splitting, brittleness and pride. The Holy Spirit helps one remember that God can't be squeezed into a box. Remembering how big God is and being dependent on the Holy Spirit to recognize truth and keep it balanced with love and in balance also keeps one humble. On the other hand, "relying on the Holy Spirit" for "truth" while ignoring the truth revealed in the Word ends up being an exercise in self-deception, where "truth" ends up being whatever feels right, sometimes with a pretextual veneer of a Scriptural justification.

Also fairly early in my walk with the Lord, I had two very different pastors. One had a very strong emphasis on what God wanted His children to become in maturity. The other had a similarly very strong emphasis on practical day to day Christian character and living. After being in those churches, each for quite a few months, I realized that this also was a sort of imbalance. The needed balance is to know both where God wants to take us and the practical daily things we need to learn and become to get there.

Another point of balance is among knowing, doing and being. It's like a 3-legged stool. If one leg is missing or short, you tip over. You have to know who you are in Christ to know what things are right and why to do those things. You have to do things God says are right, or your knowing and being have no real value (and may not be real at all). You have to be in relationship with God, or your knowledge and doing lose their fundamental motivation.

A balance that will be with and challenge every believer life-long is between our personal responsibility and God's "responsibility" to work in and through us. We cannot be passive in our personal and spiritual growth, thinking that God will do it all. Nor can we become and do all God wants us to be in just our own strength and ability. This sets up a continual tension, one which continually impacts everything we do.

Valuing People

Society values people by what they have and what they do to get what they have. Christ values us for who we are, and what we do is because of what He does in us. Who is the better teacher? And from Whom are we learning?

What Kind of Fruit Does Your Tongue Bear?!

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.  Proverbs 18:21, NAS

I think this is a pretty familiar verse, particularly its warning that with our tongues we have the power to encourage or discourage, to build up or crush others' spirits. That's a heavy responsibility, and we tend to let our tongues wag pretty freely! The second half of the verse may be less familiar. While we have that power at the time we speak, but our words don't end there. If we use the tongue's power destructively, that power will bite us back! It might be the bitter fruit of crushing our children's spirits that will haunt us in their adult years. Or it might be that our tongues are so uncontrolled that we put down the wrong person, some one who is able to hurt us worse than our words hurt them. On the other hand, if we use the power of our tongue to build up others, God promises that we will eat that fruit as well. I think it safe to say that the fruit of a tongue that blesses will be much sweeter than that of a tongue that crushes!

What Is Your Value

Society values people by what they have and what they do to get  what they have. Christ values us for what we are, and what we do is because of what He does in us.

Gadgeterianism & Me

I'm not a big Gadgeterian. It's a little odd that I'm not, since I live in Silicon Valley and work in the electronics industry, the home and source of gadgets. It's not that I don't have or don't use gadgets. I'm typing this on a Nook Color e-reader/tablet computer.

 

I'm just not that into gadgets. I try to focus on things that will be useful and use what I get (and not use them for the sake of using them). They are things to be used, not things to have! I use them, they don't own me. What I really don't get is people who have to have the latest (whatever). And there certainly are quite a few Silicon Valley companies who stake their future - it's almost their business model - on producing the latest (thing) and persuading people they need that latest (thing). It might seem pretentiously religious to say this, but I do not think this is how God intends for His children to live!

Reasons for Doing Good

"Because it is right," is a good reason for doing right things, but it is not the best reason. "Because I love and fear/respect God and it pleases Him," is the best reason. For Christians it is the right reason.

Compartmenting Scripture

Our home group is starting a study that will focus on the fruit of the Holy Spirit, as spoken of in Galatians 5. It occurred to me that we Christians tend to put spiritual things in neat boxes. Galatians 5 lists The Fruit of the Spirit; 1 Corinthians 12 lists The Gifts of the Spirit; Matthew 5 has The Beatitudes; 1 Corinthians 13 is The Love Chapter.

Certainly, these passages speak of those topics, often very eloquently, but those are not the only places the Bible speak of those topics. By affixing special labels to passages such as these, the risk is that we limit what we learn and understand ... about the kind of character traits the Holy Spirit works in believers ... about the ways in which the Holy Spirit empowers believers for ministry ... about the kind of character God blesses ... about selfless love. God spread teachings and examples of these qualities throughout His word. And we should honor Him by learning from all of His word.

Thinking Beyond “Success”

It dawned on me long ago that “success” means something very different with God than most human societies have viewed it. Consider the people the Bible commends. Job, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob were all quite wealthy. Suh-weeeeet! But, news flash! Their wealth wasn't why God saw them as successes!

But hold on! There's Moses. He started out – his first 40 or so years of life, in fact – as a prince, a member of the royal court in Egypt, the most powerful nation in that part of the world. The next 40 years, Moses was an obscure shepherd living at the edge of a desert, far from any large center of power and civilization. His last 40 years were, to say the least, interesting. The highlights were miraculously defeating the ruler of Egypt, meeting with God “face to face” and constant fellowship with God. But this was in the context of leading, for 40 years, several hundred thousand complaining former slaves from captivity to a Promised Land he would never (Ouch!) enter.

Then there's men like Elijah, Stephen and Paul. Elijah subsisted for some months on food brought to him by ravens, scavenger birds, all the while (and for much of the rest of his life) being hounded by the forces of the king of his nation. For another couple of years Elijah lived (as far as others could see) off the kindness of a widow. Not exactly the modern vision of success!

Stephen, well, he got stoned … not with recreational chemicals, but with large rocks … to death. I wonder how many university students have that as their life's ambition! Paul, well, he did travel much of his known world – not in first-class accommodations, though. But in the process he got stoned almost to death (or did die and God resurrected him), got whipped by sadistic Roman jailers, spent a couple years in jails and prisons (which were very far from sanitary places!), and ended up having his head chopped off. Short of being nourishment for cannibals, this is about as far from virtually any culture's ideals of success as one could get!

I've probably dragged this out more than necessary – brevity isn't my spiritual gift – but clearly, God's vision of success for His people is far from any culture's norms! At the principle level, His vision is easy to state: total faith in and reliance on God! That was easy … what's for dinner?

Well, wait! Whether it's the wealthy Abraham, the enigmatic Moses or the battered itinerant preacher Paul, they did tough things, not entirely understanding the immediate purposes or eventual outcomes. From the points of view of their cultures, they did crazy things, all because God told them to do it. As some nowadays would pointedly put it, they heard VOICES! They totally trusted God while they did the “crazy” things. They totally trusted God while leaving behind familiar homes and friends, and abandoning successful trades and careers. They totally trusted God: even when facing down kings, emperors and governors; even while face to face with mobs; even while their muscles were being bruised and their bones were being crushed by stones; even as their head was being hacked off.

Ummmm … yeah! Do I trust God to obey Him even in things I understand (or think I do) but look a very little inconvenient or uncomfortable? What about things I don't fully understand? Do I trust God to do things that seem even just a little crazy? Do I so trust God that my life is less precious to me than God and His purposes. It shames me to think to answer just the first question!