Mission Faithwalk

                 A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite. Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, (Psalm 7:1) I haven’t exactly been reading a book about enneagrams. I’ve been sticking my toe into the pool, and not finding a desire to jump in. But this book attempts to address the issue of what the various types do when stressed. This morning, that idea walked up and introduced itself to a word: refuge (a condition of being safe or sheltered from pursuit, danger, or trouble. From Latin terms meaning “back” and “to flee.”) Our refuge may not be a stone keep with walls and a moat or a cave that can only be approached along a narrow ledge. It could be a condition or an activity. Some folks think being around other people is their safe place. For others, it’s being at home. Sometimes, it’s feeding an addiction. As I thought a...

                 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts. (Psalm 103:17-18) Yes, God exists. He can and does step in. His love is with those who fear Him. He rewards those who keep His commandments. All of that is true, but once again, we’re not talking – or not just talking – about miraculous or magical ideas. If you work within the constraints of truth, or within the boundaries of what is real, you’re going to get better results than if you build your life upon theories and dreams. When you separate yourself from God, you separate yourself from the reality He created, and whatever positive results you get aren’t because you’re right. They’re because God is loving and patient. We’re facing a lot of temporal snobbery right now. The ideas that have worked for centuries a...

                 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16 NIV) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much . (James 5:16 KJV) “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Matthew 6:9-13) Growing up with the King James version of the Bible, I tend to remember James 5:16 in terms of “effectual, fervent prayer…” availing much. It feels like it’s lost something when we say that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and...

            The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. (Proverbs 27:12) Sometimes, seeing danger and taking refuge is comparatively simple.  It means you stay in your car and don’t clamber into a field to get a selfie with a buffalo or a grizzly bear. Other times, it’s a little more difficult and complicated. There’s a movement among some to become more prepared, more able to take care of oneself and one’s family. It ranges from planting a garden in containers on a balcony to stockpiling to withstand an apocalypse of any variety while living in virtual luxury. I don’t know whether it’s fortunate or unfortunate that moving far along the continuum to the apocalypse end is difficult.  You have to become your own gardener, livestalk manager, plumber, electrician, dietician, cook, army, physician, inventory control specialist, seamstress, weaver, potter, etc. This is part of the reason folks had suc...

                 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17) I suspect that when some people read this verse, they focus on the first 14 words. They take it to mean that God doesn’t condemn the world, period. And they’re right. God doesn’t need to condemn the world. It has condemned itself, just as a traitor condemns himself as we condemn ourselves. How often have you read a story in which the villain turns around and saves the victims from himself? More generally, a knight in shining armor shows up to defeat the monster. And if the victims decline to be saved? Is that the knight’s fault? Certainly, we could twist a plot in that direction, and we do, but it is an effective plot twist only because we are so accustomed to the knight as a hero. God sent His Son to save us, but in this twisted plot, we’re victims not only of the monster, but of Stockholm Syndrome. We...

                 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:42-44) Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.  4  On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.  5  He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and th...

                 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3) The main thing God gets out of your life is not the achievements you accomplish. It's the person you become. (Dallas Willard) I found a penny in the grocery store. On the way out the door, one of several kids said, “You wanna donate?” I said, “No, thank you.” When I got to the truck, I found two more pennies on the ground, and a challenge. It was only three cents. It wasn’t worth walking back to the store entrance on my achy feet/lets just to donate three cents. But would I do it? I wasn’t happy about it, but I went ba...

                 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. (Romans 15:2) Reverse this as your consideration for today. What would please you for your good if your neighbor did it? The things that come to mind for me are that they would buy, read, and enjoy my books, be Christians, and have a mutual interest (gardening, photography, cooking/preserving… I suppose I could also list – not… making me listen to music I hate, using foul language, letting their pets wander off-lead or off-property, stealing, being abusive, or using pesticides/herbicides and not being upset about some of what I grow in my garden. I’ve no doubt I could continue to add to these lists. Another thing that I suppose would please me greatly is if they had a skill (or skills) that I don’t and were eager to either teach or help. If I put those things on the exam table, it boils down to appreciating me or what I’ve done, having mutual in...

                 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love . (Galatians 5:13) This weekend, we remember those who gave their lives to give us freedom and to keep us free. How often, I wonder, do we confuse the word freedom with control ? There’s a sense in which it might be said to be true. If we’re in a prison camp-or anywhere else where we don’t make the rules (like in the universe) there are levels or sorts of freedom that are not available. We can’t teleport ourselves to another planet, and even if we could, chances are good that we wouldn’t enjoy or survive the experience without equipment that would restrict our “freedom.” We would find that exercising complete freedom in our relationships with anyone (let alone everyone) would win us no friends, and anyone who exercised such freedom with us would likely lose all freedom very q...

                 When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers . (Proverbs 21:15) Let’s start with the understanding that this verse is True at the grand, universal level of Truth. It’s also “true” at the deceived, manipulative level of “truth.” It doesn’t matter which side wins in our elections. The winner declares that at last there may be justice and celebrates. The loser declares that justice has been dealt a heavy blow, and drastic measures are needed to preserve it. This means that we tend to see ourselves as righteous, and them as evildoers, even if we are evildoers and righteous. I’m not suggesting that you or I are particularly the evil doers, or the righteous. We’re always a mixture. And here’s a brief rabbit-trail  that might show how tragic that is: a mixture of two species (let’s say a male donkey and a female horse) is a hybrid (in this case, a Mule.) Generally speaking, hybrids are s...

                 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5-6) In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Ephesians 2:5-7) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15) What was Jesus’ attitude about His disciples? By extension, what is His attitude about us? To get there, perhaps we need to consider Jesus’ attitude about Himself. I can’t...

              But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:17-18) We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that ...

                 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale. (Proverbs 18:11)   When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3) I’ve harped a bit about poverty not meaning only financial poverty, so now it’s time to turn the tables and discuss wealth. If poverty is the lack of something, wealth is the abundance. It is also in what we place our confidence. It’s our strength. It is the spring from which our conceit flows. We see it as our best means of defense. Somehow, even if the wealth is of a negative form (poverty, illness, bad luck, broken relationships, addictions, special identities, etc.) it not only gives us something to hold onto, and that will hold us up in one way even if it tears us down in another, but it seems to grant us privileges. We are better or more deserving than the ...

                 Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished. (Proverbs 17:5) I seem to have a theme about enemies, and today’s passage may be a case of “X th verse, same as the first.” But this is a verse I think a lot of popular commentators and the rest of us need to consider. To mock is to “tease or laugh at in a scornful or contemptuous manner.” This is the stock-in-trade of many people in our society. Some people even think it’s an appropriate measure of discipline for someone who had “strayed” as long as they are the people doing the shaming. Specifically, today’s Scripture says that mocking the poor shows contempt for their Maker. There are many ways to be poor: finances, education, social graces, health, intelligence, strength, wisdom, courage, physical appearance, physical condition, sanity, common sense, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodnes...

                 The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)           One of the problems that some of us face is a tendency to think we can either know what others think about us or the need to think we can choose what others think about us. Since I’m getting two households of new neighbors, I’m struggling with a need to explain myself to them. Sometimes, the goal seems to be to show what a freak I am, so they’ll avoid me. Other times, it’s to prove how helpful I am, or that I’m not useless.           The extension of this is the assumption for some of us is the assumption that God looks at us and frowns, shakes His head, sighs, scowls, or otherwise expresses His disappointment with u...

                 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.   (Ecclesiastes 11:5) The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. (John 3:7) When I read the verse in Ecclesiastes this morning, the verse in John came to mind. I (maybe we) tend to read the passage in John as a sarcastic, antagonistic, rebuking attack. Granted, Nicodemus was confused, but perhaps we should consider two things. First, the rabbis and Pharisees were accustomed to debate, so he might not have been as offended as some of us, in our “Thou shalt not disagree with or question ME” culture, would be. Secondly, he would have known the verse from Ecclesiastes, so Jesus wasn’t really saying something that was entirely new. It was somethin...

                 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm139:13-14) Readers’ Digest used to do articles called “I Am Joe’s ______” in which they would give some idea of what various parts of the body do. I don’t know of anyone who wouldn’t benefit from learning a little more about how their body functions. This morning, I saw a meme that said there are more atoms in the eye than in the Milky Way. Trying to research that in thirty seconds or less, I found another claim that there are more atoms in the eye than in the whole universe. Take those factoids with a grain of salt, because it seems unlikely that someone actually counted either. In the Truth Project, Del Tackett (and his helpers) shared information about how blood clots and the impossibility of the random development of a chicken’s...

                 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. (Isaiah 45:23) Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father . (Philippians 2:9-11) Sunday, we sang a song in church that expressed the idea of how wonderful and powerful the name of Jesus is. I’m not disagreeing, but I found myself thinking about how little of the power of that name in my life. What I mean (I think) is that I don’t use it as a weapon in my internal struggles very often. There are times when I tell God, “Not my will, but thine” or tell myself “Bow the knee.” And those times are many within a certain time span, then a...

                  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited . (Romans 12:16)           Living in harmony requires that most of the people in the group not sing the same note. Living in unison sounds like a good idea, but there is very little room for any variation or harmony. It’s easy because there are no choices. At the same time, most people who want “unison” want to be the ones who pick the notes everyone must sing. In other words, they’re proud.           Associating with people of low position doesn’t mean only low on the social hierarchy. It could mean low financially, of limited physical capability, uneducated, intellectually impaired, mentally or emotionally unstable, unable to speak the language in a way that ma...

                 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  (Romans  12:15) This is a verse I haven’t liked. I hate the idea of being required to boo hoo  along with someone, wallowing uselessly in their misery. I equally hate the idea of being required to rah rah with someone, wallowing uselessly in their celebration. There are two popular pushes in our society. The mantra of the first is “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” and the second is “Throw your brain in the fire and just be empathetic.” For some of us, sharing what we know is how we care. When others tell us we aren’t caring right because we aren’t caring the way they want (especially if they aren’t the person we’re trying to care for) they are judging us. The result is that we will care less , not more. But that’s not the conclusion I reached as I read this verse today. Today’s thought is far simpler. ...

                  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…   Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him;     if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”   Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:14 & 17-21) “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’   But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in he...

              Oops, somehow, I managed to not post this on 5/9 as I should have. I'm sorry. Here it is.                       Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:5-6) And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. (I Corinthians 12:28) Outsiders . Generally, we think of those not part of our family, group, community, denomination, or country. Those distinctions are sometimes more accurate than other times, but with the Colossians passage in mind, as I prayed for the Church this morning, it came to mind that there are informal distinctions, sometime...

                 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. (Romans 12:13)   I know some people who wish God would drop signs down on fishhooks to tell them what to do. It would be useful if God would do something like that to tell us that this person is in need, or this person needs ________. From the stories I’ve heard, He sometimes does tell someone that someone else needs, or what someone else needs. More often than not, He doesn’t. It might be a nice, spiritually romantic idea to wash someone’s feet, but if what that person needs is $10, or a challenge to pray, or admonitions about a sinful practice, washing their feet doesn’t meet a need. It meets our need to feel like spiritual giants, but that’s not sharing with the Lord’s people who are in need, it’s using them to meet ours. The first two things we need to share with the Lord’s people who are in need are time and space. We need to get to ...

                 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  (Romans 12:12) How do you feel when you hope? When you are afflicted? When you pray? Considering all three circumstances, I suspect I don’t feel what I’m supposed to. When I hope something will happen, I tend to become anxious. I feel the need to prepare for what I hope for and worry whether my hope is in vain. When I’m afflicted, I can’t wait to be done with the struggles I face. I tend to think either that they aren’t my fault, or I don’t deserve them. And when I pray, it seems as if my confidence that God will answer disappears. All I tend to see is what a pathetic being I am. As I consider the command, a bad joke (one of my favorites) comes to mind: “Behave yourself!” The only way to not behave is to be dead, because whether well or badly, you’re still behaving. If being joyful, patient, or faithful came naturally and automatically, the...

                   Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  (Romans 12:11) “____, ____, he’s our man! If he can’t do it, no one can!” You may have lived through it. Generally, it was Friday, and the football team at your high school was scheduled to compete with another school’s team either Friday evening or Saturday. The cheerleaders, football players, and teachers would get up on stage and do what they could to encourage the players to do well and the audience to be excited for them. If nothing else, the players would anticipate their reception after whatever sort of performance they gave. I suspect that’s one of our versions of zeal: artificially generated and maintained. Another is a “true believer” who exudes manic levels of enthusiasm and whose life is entirely bound up in the team, cause, or subject. The problem is, of course, that humans are finite. We don’t have an unendi...

            Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.  (Romans12:10) I write these a day before you read them, and it’s an appropriate day to think about being devoted, because I’m being recognized as a member of my church this morning. Now, I’ve been attending there since 2001, so it’s not as if I haven’t been devoted, but I’m making it official. Being devoted isn’t necessarily the problem. The direct object involved is the problem. I can be pretty good at being devoted to things: genealogy, gardening, my job, writing stories, crafting, and Toastmasters. Sometimes, I suspect the proper word isn’t devoted , it’s addicted. Yesterday included the idea of hating what not who . Today, the point is to be devoted to who (OK, whom ,  but specifically to one another) not to what . It's easier and safer to be devoted to what than to who(m) because things don’t tend to notice if we fail. Things don’t hold grudg...

              Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  (Romans 12:9)           Sincere: 1530s, "pure, unmixed, unadulterated;" also "free from pretense or falsehood," from French sincere (16c.), from Latin sincerus, of things, "whole, clean, pure, uninjured, unmixed," figuratively "sound, genuine, pure, true, candid, truthful" (unadulterated by deceit), a word of uncertain origin. Apparently the popular etymology of “without wax” has no historical basis. ( Etymology of "sincere" by etymonline )           Love must be pure, unmixed, unadulterated, free from pretense or falsehood, whole, clean, pure, uninjured, and unmixed. That’s an intimidating list of requirements, but it comes down to a simple idea. Love must be love. But the fact that someone feels the need to mention it (with good reason!) suggests tha...

                 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3-4) Our culture doesn’t think highly of love or faithfulness. Oh, we may be comfortable with demanding love and faithfulness from others, but giving it is another matter. Some grant full access relationships to others without consideration of the consequences. Some promise “until death do us part” and six months later declare that the one to whom they made that promise is “dead to them” or that they have died to the person they were when they made the vow, and move on to another unfaithful relationship. Some may object that they are faithful for as long as they are in the relationship, but if they were faithful, they wouldn’t get out of the relationship without legally actionable reasons. We’re the same way with jobs, chu...

                 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) Today’s verse is another of those “non-magical” statements in Scripture. If you mention faith or belief, some people assume magical thinking is involved. But if you want to buy something, you go to a place you believe has it. You have faith that it will be there and you’re disappointed or even irate if they don’t. Anyone who earnestly seeks God would be a fool to seek what he/she doesn’t believe exists (or believes doesn’t exist.) So, logically, it’s simply ridiculous to think that one can please God without believing that God exists. And while God may bless people even if those people don’t seek Him, they would not associate what they receive with the idea of a reward. Only those who believe in God would think that His response to their seeking...

                 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:15) You can tell the truth in hate or in love. You can lie in hate. I disagree with the idea that you can lie in love, except perhaps when dealing with someone with dementia or another memory issue. I know many people believe it’s loving to tell the “little white lie” that makes someone feel better about some minor issue like how they look, but I don’t believe that’s really loving them. It’s protecting yourself from facing their negative responses. We’d rather let them look like idiots all day rather than hurt their feelings by suggesting they could make a better wardrobe choice. Following the logic of the verse, if we speak the truth in love, we’ll grow or mature. We will become like Christ. If we speak the truth in hate or lie, we will not grow but will become less like...