The Wonder of Christmas, Don't Just Ooh and Aah. Live it.

Merry Christmas!

There is a tendency we humans have. It is often called "compartmentalization."

We have an ability to take certain thoughts, memories, and experiences and put them in a mental room--a place in our mind that we keep separate from everything else. I see moms do this when they suffer from some physical pain, yet wall that off from their everyday life in which they cook, clean, and make life good for the rest of us. We might say that kind of compartmentalization is good. Sometimes I have to deal with people I don't like. I need to keep my feelings separate from my need to do my job. I need to remember however that these compartments are never completely leak-proof. Big problems come when we attempt to compartmentalize issues that should be addressed and solved. This is especially true when we attempt to compartmentalize that which is explosive or corrosive. It will eventually get out.

But my purpose, today, isn't to talk about counseling. 

I observed in my pastoral ministry a tendency to compartmentalize when it comes to Theological truth. Now that I'm involved in Christian education, I am even more prone to build rooms in my

mind. "This is my Theological Truth Room. In this room, I believe that God is Lord. He is to be obeyed. I believe that all humans are created in God's image and are to be treated with honor, respect, and kindness. In my Theological Truth Room, I can tell you about inspiration and how the Bible is truly God's word.

I have the ability, however, to step outside of my Theological Truth Room and live the rest of my life as if none of that is true. 

Two things, I've read recently remind me of my tendency to compartmentalize Theological truth. One of them is a well-written 3-part series about the wonderful Theological truth we celebrate at Christmas. The other is a practical reminder I received from a missionary colleague.

"Tried With Fire: Like Jesus," by Kevin Bauder (Scroll down at the site and start with Part 1) takes on the difficult subject of the nature of Christ, the hypostatic union, the kenosis, in plain terms--the wonder of Christmas. The nature of the God-Man, Jesus Christ is at the heart of our faith. It is also at the fringe, or just beyond the edge of what we can comprehend. There is good reason that this truth occupied the best minds of early Christian history. It is a key part of our view of the Triune God. This saying that is frequently quoted about the doctrine of the Trinity, applies to the nature of Christ, as well..

The Trinity:

Try to Understand It

and You’ll Lose Your Mind.

Try to Deny It

 and You’ll LOSE YOUR SOUL!

(As a side-note, Fred Sanders has an interesting article on this, in which he says we don't know who said it first .)
Getting back to my main point, however, Bauder reminds us, referring to Philippians 2, that the wonder of the incarnation is not a Theological pearl to store away in the Theological Truth Room of my mind. It is a reality that should inform every aspect of my life. The way of thinking that led to God the Son's humiliation, should be my way of thinking. If Christ was willing to lay aside His honor for the sake of others (John 17, Phil. 2), then who do I think I am, when I claim that, or act as if, serving others is somehow beneath me? 

The truth of Christmas should not be remembered just during a certain season. Rather like the frankincense the wise men presented to Christ, gave a smell that permeated every part of the house, all my life should be informed by this sublime reality. I should not only proclaim with wonder that "God became man." I should live a life that is an appropriate response to the incarnation. I should live in the "Therefore" of Romans 12:1.

A friend is a missionary with another agency and a part of my Guam Church. 
She and her husband are on furlough, a strange (to others) part of the missionary occupation that involves visiting supporters. She writes:

Last Saturday, we spent part of the day with [some folk they know from the past at our Church]. They asked about many of you and send their greetings. At lunch they were telling one of their sons and his wife about their first Sunday at [our Church]. Right after the service, [a couple from our church] invited them to lunch at a restaurant. The [couple] didn't know them. The [visitors] felt so welcomed at [our] Church that they decided not to look anywhere else for a home church. So once again everyone can see how important is for everyone in our church [or any church, or a small Christian university] to do their part to make visitors feel welcomed.  

What this couple did for some visitors to their church has a direct relationship to the wonder we celebrate at Christmas. Why should I spend my time and money on strangers? I might not even like them.

Why? because of what Jesus did for us. As the Apostle John puts it, so succinctly, "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).

Open the door, let the wonder of Christmas spread through all your life. It is a truth too wonderful to keep in just one room.

 Merry Christmas!

The Benedict Option, Minds That Have Been Closed, and Lions In Waiting:

The "Benedict Option" is a concept that has been fairly big lately in the online neighborhood where I hang out.
Breakpoint recently interviewed Rod Dreher, who has written about the concept.

Click here for a brief commentary, and/or here for  1/2 hour  interview with Dreher.  

I appreciate Dreher and Breakpoint encouraging this conversation.  I look forward to hearing from others about how Christians need to live according to a different standard than the "over-culture" that dominates our society.  In the past we Christians in the USA--others will need to calibrate their own communities--have lived in a culture that was still clearly marked by a system of Christian ethics.  Even the "evil" people in our culture acknowledged the morality of the mores they violated.  "I know I should, but don't."  What has changed in the past few years is that now the majority culture is looking at what could be called "traditional values," or what I would call, "values built on the left-overs of a Biblical worldview"--the standard by which the Cleaver family lived, or what what was more formally called "civic religion," and saying that is evil.  I read somewhere a while back that it used to be that our neighbors didn't like Christians who take the Bible seriously because we talked about sin too much.  Now the same culture looks at us and says "I don't like you because what you believe is sinful."
In The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom spoke of students in the prestige colleges of the day as believing in only one virtue, openness.  The young leaders who were being trained in the era Bloom spoke of have spawned the college, high-school, and elementary teachers who have shaped our world.  As the mono-virtue of openness/acceptance has permeated our society, we have passed through the live-and-let-live phase to a new standard.  It is not sufficient to give someone the freedom to do that to which I object, now I must fully embrace and rejoice in others expression of their freedom to do as they please.  Not only must one obey Big Brother, one must love Big Brother. Since those of us who take the Bible seriously cannot be accept that which God's word rejects we are the evil ones.     
The situation in which we find ourselves is not new.  Christians in the Roman Empire were accused of being atheists.     

As Christians became more numerous, and their beliefs more well known, the charges of immorality became harder to sustain. But one accusation is repeated time and time again- "Atheism"; rejection of the tutelary deities of their communities. This was a very serious matter; deities were believed to bring good fortune to a town, and slighting them might bring down their wrath. According to Tertullian: "If the Tiber reaches the walls, if the Nile does not rise to the fields, if the sky doesn’t move or the earth does, if there is famine, if there is, plague, the cry is at once: "The Christians to the lion!"" Outbreaks of persecution often coincided with natural disasters. Earthquakes in Asia in 152, and an outbreak of plague in Alexandria at the time of Origen, were blamed on the Christians. Around 270, Porphry blamed the plague in Rome on the fact that the temple of Aesculapius had been abandoned for the Christian churches. This sort of accusation was persistent; as late 419, Augustine wrote "The City of God" to prove that Christians hadn’t caused the fall of Rome by slighting the old gods. The charges of atheism and immorality help explain the hatred of the mob for Christians, evidenced in the pogroms in places such as Smyrna and Lyons.  (http://www.theologian.org.uk/churchhistory/persecution.html)

 We are the new atheists.  We reject the god of absolute autonomy.  We can no longer live as if things haven't changed.  They have.

Or, maybe not.

What Is The Gospel, 2:

I am privileged to spend time every week with a couple of other pastors, just talking.  We have no agenda.  We just let the conversation go where it will.
This morning the conversation--though it entered through another portal--intersected with these thoughts on the nature of the Gospel.  My one word description of our nearly two hour conversation--pendulum.  
Let me apply that concept to my musings about the Gospel:
I grew up, spiritually, and was educated in a Fundamentalist environment.  Among other things that Fundamentalists reject is the social gospel.  "We are not called to clean up the fish pond.  We are called to catch fish."  We weren't opposed to humanitarian efforts; we just didn't get very involved in them.  The reasoning went something like this:  If I have only a limited amount of resources to invest would I rather invest those resources in helping people more be comfortable in this life, or would I rather spend them to enable people to be infinitely more comfortable for all eternity?  When put in those terms the correct answer is obvious.
In actuality, those who were actually on the front-lines doing ministry didn't make such a black and white distinction.  They tended to minister to people.  The hearts of those who carried the gospel to places where the need is great were often broken by the depth of need that they saw.  They offered whatever help they could to meet whatever needs they saw.  Clearly, though, the overwhelming emphasis was on the John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 15:1-6 Gospel.  Particularly from a rhetorical viewpoint, though, Fundamentalists vocally reacted against the "social gospel"--good works largely devoid of clear Bible teaching.  They saw the pendulum as being way over here, so they shoved it the other direction.  Many would say they shoved it too far.

Now some people are asking some questions.  The questions I hear tend to ask, "Is the gospel really as narrow as many have defined it?
In the recent message I shared, I identified these lines of inquiry, all of which have to do with scope of the Gospel:

• Does the Gospel only result in a one-time change, or does it initiate changed life?
• Is the result of the Gospel limited to the change in an individual’s life?
• Is the goal of the Gospel a saved person or a redeemed church?
• Does the message of the Gospel have any implications toward the non-human creation?
• In thinking since I shared the message I would add this one as well:  Does the presentation of the Gospel only include message of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord, and the implications of Christ's saving work to the lives of those to whom I am talking?

As I think about these questions--and I think if you look here, here, and here, you can see that others are asking of these, or similar, questions--I have come to see more clearly that like most questions of balance this is complicated.

I'll leave this here for now.

I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts.

A side issue from Sunday's message:

This might be of interest to others of you, but I post it here as a supplement to Sunday's (2/23/14) message from John 2.

Sunday, February 23's, message is not about alcohol.  However the sermon does come from a passage that is very controversial in regard to the Christian and alcohol.  For that reason, I am reprinting some notes that I handed out as supplements to those messages.

Perhaps our tech team still has recordings of these messages.  It appears that they were preached before we started posting messages online.

The Christian Alcohol, Avoiding the Vortex

Part 1 of a 3 part series:

Over the past six months or so, together with some other leaders in CBC, I have identified some social/cultural problems that are highly problematic not only out there, but that have invaded the homes of people who claim to know the Lord as Savior.  Lord willing I’ll be addressing these concerns over the next year, or so.  I don’t, yet, know precisely how, but I want to respond to your questions.  Please give them to me in writing, or by email.

As is often the case, there is a great deal more information in this note sheet than we will consider this morning.  Some of it touches on the next two messages; the rest is for you to consider on your own, or in conversation with others.

Passages about alcohol:  Genesis 9:18-24, 19:30-38, 1 Kings 20:16 >>, Daniel 5, Proverbs 3:10, 4:17, 9:2, 9:5, 20:1, 21,17, 23:19-21&29-35, 31:4&6, Isaiah 5:11, 28:7-8, John 2:1-12, 
1 Corinthians 5:11, 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-23, 1 Timothy 5:23, 1 Peter 4:3 

What some other Christian leaders Bible scholars, and witnesses from history have said about alcohol that ought to be of interest to us:

John MacArthur:

We must be clear that drinking or not drinking is not in itself a mark, and certainly not a measure, of spirituality. Spirituality is determined by what we are inside, of which what we do on the outside is but a manifestation.

Many reasons are given for drinking, one of the most common of which is the desire to be happy, or at least to forget a sorrow or problem. The desire for genuine happiness is both God–given and God–fulfilled. In Ecclesiastes we are told there is “a time to laugh” (3:4) and in Proverbs that “a joyful heart is good medicine” (17:22). David proclaimed that in the Lord’s “presence is fulness of joy” (Ps. 16:11). Jesus began each beatitude with the promise of blessedness, or happiness, for those who come to the Lord in the Lord’s way (Matt. 5:3–11). The apostle John wrote his first letter not only to teach and admonish fellow believers but that his own joy might “be made complete” (1:4). Paul twice counseled the Philippian Christians to “rejoice in the Lord” (3:1; 4:4). At Jesus’ birth the angel announced to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; for behold 1 bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people” (Luke 2:10). God wants all men to be happy and joyful, and one of the great blessings of the gospel is the unmatched joy that Christ brings to the heart of every person who trusts in Him.

The problem with drinking in order to be happy is not the motive but the means. It brings only artificial happiness at best and is counterproductive to spiritual sensitivity. It is a temporary escape that often leads to even worse problems than the ones that prompted the drinking in the first place. Intoxication is never a remedy for the cares of life, but it has few equals in its ability to multiply them.

After pointing out the part that drunkenness had in some of the popular pagan religions, MacArthur goes on to point out,

In Ephesians 5:18, Paul was therefore not simply making a moral but also a theological contrast. He was not only speaking of the moral and social evils of drunkenness, but of the spiritually perverted use of drunkenness as a means of worship. Christians are not to seek religious fulfillment through such pagan means as getting drunk with wine, but are to find their spiritual fulfillment and enjoyment by being “filled with the Spirit.” The believer has no need for the artificial, counterfeit, degrading, destructive, and idolatrous ways of the world. He has God’s own Spirit indwelling him, the Spirit whose great desire is to give believers the fullest benefits and enjoyment of their high position as children of God.

The InterVarsity Commentary adds:

Many people in the ancient world believed that drunkenness could produce a sort of inspiration or possession by Dionysus, god of wine. Dionysus’s most active worshipers yielded control of themselves to him and performed sexual acts or acts full of sexual symbolism (often to the distaste of conservative Romans). Here Paul may contrast this behavior with inspiration by God’s Spirit. People did not think of Dionysus every time someone became drunk, however; drunkenness was more commonly associated simply with loss of self-control. It was standard practice in both the late-night banquets of the rich and the taverns of the poor.

Mnesitheus of Athens, 4^th c. BC 

The gods have revealed wine to mortals, to be the greatest blessing for those who use it aright, but for those who use it without measure, the reverse. For it gives food to them that take it and strength in mind and body. In medicine it is most beneficial; it can be mixed with liquid and drugs and it brings aid to the wounded. In daily intercourse, to those who mix and drink it moderately, it gives good cheer; but if you overstep the bounds, it brings violence. Mix it half and half, and you get madness; unmixed, bodily collapse.

MacArthur, J. (1996, c1986). Ephesians. Includes indexes. (230-234). Chicago: Moody Press. 
Keener, C. S., & InterVarsity Press. (1993). The IVP Bible background commentary : New Testament (Eph 5:18). Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.

Avoiding the Vortex
Part 2 of a 3 part series:

Part of the message this morning will no doubt sound like I am working against myself.  I think, and actually hope, it is clear from last week’s message that if I had my druthers, when it comes to alcohol, I would just say no.  Part of what I will point out in this morning’s message is that the Bible does not give a prohibition against any consumption of alcohol. 
Other students of scripture that I respect greatly have come to a different conclusion.  They believe that the Bible teaches complete abstinence in relation to alcohol.  I confess, I am tempted to go along with them.  Why don’t I just say the Bible commands no alcohol consumption?

·         My goal is to be submissive to the word of God.  Just like you, I don’t have the prerogative of choosing what to submit to.  I need to be submissive not only in regard to my lifestyle choices, but in regard to my teaching and preaching.

·         While distorting the word of God to make it appear to say what I want it to (even for a good purpose) may appear to bring a good result for a time, but in the final analysis this dilution of the Word of God—mixing “Thus saith the Lord,” with “Howard says,” produces a bad result.

·         I am aware that God knows more than me.  Who am I to question the Lord’s standards?  (Look at the end of Romans 11.)

The following tables are used with the permission of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. They illustrate the effects of alcohol consumption on blood alcohol levels and driving skills. These data should be used only as a general reference for the effects of alcohol because body weight and other variables may influence the results. Also, some states define the limit of legal intoxication at a lower blood alcohol level (0.08%).

 (Neuroscience For Kids  Alcohol and the Brain , http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/alco.html)

WINE AND STRONG DRINK.

I. In the Old Testament

Among a considerable number of synonyms used in the OT the most common are yayin (usually translated ‘wine’) and šēḵār (usually translated ‘strong drink’). These terms are frequently used together, and they are employed irrespective of whether the writer is commending wine and strong drink as desirable or warning against its dangers. A third word, tı̂rôš, sometimes translated ‘new’ or ‘sweet wine’, has often been regarded as unfermented and therefore unintoxicating wine, but an example such as Ho. 4:11, together with the usage of the Talmud, makes clear that it is capable of being used in a bad sense equally with the others. Furthermore, while there are examples of the grapes being pressed into a cup and presumably used at once (Gn. 40:11), it is significant that the term ‘wine’ is never applied to the resultant juice.

The term ‘new wine’ does not indicate wine which has not fermented, for in fact the process of fermentation sets in very rapidly, and unfermented wine could not be available many months after the harvest (Acts 2:13). It represents rather wine made from the first drippings of the juice before the winepress was trodden. As such it would be particularly potent and would come immediately to mind as a probable explanation of what seemed to be a drunken state. Modern custom in Palestine, among a people who are traditionally conservative as far as religious feasts are concerned, also suggests that the wine used was fermented. It may be said, therefore, that the Bible in employing various synonyms makes no consistent distinction between them.

Wood, D. R. W., Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary. Includes index. (electronic ed. of 3rd ed.) (1242). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.

We have already looked at the question:  Are the alcoholic beverages the Bible speaks of the same as those available today?

Here are 7 more questions for you to discuss and think about before next week’s message. 

1.       Is drinking necessary? 

2.       Is it the best choice?

3.       Is it habit forming?

4.       Is it potentially destructive?

5.       Is it possible that it will create difficulties for other Christians?

6.       Will it hinder my ability to be a clear witness for the Good News?

7.       Is it right?

(Don’t forget that I would like to hear, and attempt to answer your questions.  Get them to me in writing, or by email.)

The Christian and Alcohol, #3

This is the last in this series of messages. 
I have told you that I want to respond to your questions.  This is not only a means for us to learn more together, but a means of accountability for me.  With issues like the-use-of-alcohol the temptation to simply wax eloquent about my own conclusions is great.  My goal is to teach God’s word.  The knowledge that well intentioned, but pointed, questions might be coming helps keep me honest.  My intention right now is to answer these questions in writing, via handouts & my blog.

Teen Drinking:

Time has kept me from dealing with a great many points that I would have liked to have pursued.  One of those points has to do with underage drinking.  Here we are dealing not only with the issues I have raised in this series, but with developmental and legal matters as well.  Recent studies about brain development in teens and young adults, confirms what those who work with teens know intuitively.  Young minds are a work in progress.  We cannot assume that they are ready to make mature decisions.  Here is a summary of information about legality, teens & alcohol.

Virginia's Alcohol Beverage Control Act contains laws governing possession, use and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Pertinent laws are summarized below:

• It is illegal for anyone under age 21 to purchase, posses, or consume any alcoholic beverage.
• It is illegal for any person to sell alcoholic beverages to persons under the age of 21 years.
• It is illegal for any persons to purchase or provide alcohol beverages for another when, at the time of the purchase, he/she knows or has reason to know that the person for whom the alcohol is purchased is under 21 years of age.
• It is illegal for any underage person to use a forged or otherwise deceptive driver's license to obtain beer or other alcoholic beverage.

(The law in WV is essentially the same.)

As citizens of heaven and earthly jurisdictions we are commanded to obey the law of the land, Rom. 13.  

Give me Liberty and give me life!

A good bit of today’s message revolves around Christian Liberty.

Scriptures on C.L.:  Rom. 14, 1 Cor. 9-10, Gal. 5.

I don't want to settle for my life turning out to be an ashtray.

Over at one of my other blogs, http://sttaspots.blogspot.com/, I posted some thoughts about the direction our lives take, and what we end up in the end.
Since the four posts there are really a unit, I'm posting all four of them in the right order, here.

But, What Is It?

"It's an ashtray."  

Back in the day it used to be common for children to give their parents gifts related to smoking.  Many ceramic or metal-shop projects ended up being
 gifted as ashtrays.  Making a vase tall and slender, with thin walls, takes a whole lot more skill than making a short, squat, thick, kind of saucer-ish thing.  That dent in the rim of a roundish piece of metal, that was once destined to become a cup, looks a lot like a place to park a cigarette.  There comes a time when increased work isn't adding to its cup-ish-ness, or vase-like quality.  At some point the answer to the question,

"What is it?"

became,

"It's an ashtray."

That wasn't what I wanted it to be.  It's not  what I want, but it has to be something, so . . .

Solomon observed that "Time and Chance happens to all."  I would add to the mix, skill, talent, planning, diligence, and/or lack of all the above.  From time to time I work with wood.  Sometimes a  project gets modified because of a previously unseen blemish in the wood.  

"Why did you make that that way?"

"Because a worm bored into a tree fifty years ago."

Improv-comics, moms, politicians, and football coaches all need that if-life-gives-you-lemons-make-lemonade skill.  If you let those adaptive concepts get out of hand, however, you end up--well--messed up.  We might praise a twelve-year-old for somewhat salvaging a project-gone-bad.  The C- for the "ashtray" is better than a 0 for a no-show.  When a life, or an important institution morphs into the human equivalent of a waste container for tobacco ash it is tragic.

I don't want to stand before the Lord and say about what I've done with my life, "I guess, Lord, it turned out to be an ashtray."

We aren't done yet.  Stay tuned.

"What made you decide that you would make an ashtray in ceramics class?"
"Really, I never did decide.  I just looked at the thing, and it looked more like an ashtray than anything else, so. . . ."
To one degree or another, virtually every hobby project has an element of that kind of imposed parameter about it  It's hard to make a long project with short lumber.  Sometimes the color it gets painted is determined by what was left from the last remodel.

Setting out to make a bench six feet long, but ending up with one five feet, nine inches, because you had this lovely piece of oak just short of six feet is likely a good use of resources.  Ending up with one six inches tall--not so much.  Adapting is a virtue.  Settling for that which clearly isn't what it should be, or won't do what it ought to do, is unsettling, to say the least.  Striking the appropriate balance requires, among other things, holding to some unalterable core values, and having a clear view of reality. 

Over the years, building my greatest project--my life--I have messed up in both directions.
On occasions I have gotten hung up on minutiae. Important thingswent undone, essentials were ignored, but I paid close attention to some stupid detail that a year later--maybe ten minutes later--didn't matter at all.
At other times I have let my impatience, or desire to please others, or failure to plan, or (fill in the blank) talk me out of some absolutely essential element.  I settled when I should have insisted and persisted.

If you get the idea that I struggle some between those two extremes, I'd say you've got it about right.  I've still got some more ideas on the matter, but how about we finish up by doing something I ought to do a whole a lot more, praying.

Lord, I need to know the difference between what is essential, and that which doesn't matter.  I know that understanding Your word is essential, so help me to learn it better and obey it more thoroughly.  Lord, don't let my life turn out to be something it never should have become.  Amen

We aren't done yet.  Stay tuned.

I'm pretty sure it's too soon to quit.

A long time ago I built a set of shelves for my living room.  There was a window in the middle of a wall.  One shelf unit on the left, another on the right.  The lower part of the units was deeper than the upper portion.  So about thirty inches off the floor there was a ledge.  I built the left unit and put it in place and was pretty pleased.  I started in on the unit on the right.  When I set it in place, I could immediately see that something was wrong.  That ledge part of the unit looked like it was about a foot higher than the one on the left.  Really it was 3/4 of an inch, but it stood out like it was much more.
I very much wanted to be done.  I remember laying down in the floor, staring at the obvious error, and trying to come up with a good reason why I didn't have to fix it.  All my reasons to leave it alone were short-sighted.  Consideration of how long these shelves were going to be a part of the main room in my house finally won the argument.  Back to the shop. . . .

When trying to find that sweet spot between settling for that which just won't do, and adapting to that which is beyond my control, that distinction between short and long term is something to remember.  Wisdom counsels us to never sacrifice the eternal on the altar of the temporary.  (I heard that somewhere.)  Yet, how often for the sake of temporary convenience, or short-term comfort do we settle--forfeiting long-term gains?
Maybe it makes sense, the night before that art project is due to declare it an ashtray and turn it in for a D.  It makes no sense to treat my life that way.  If you are still breathing God's air, it's too early to quit.

We aren't done yet.  Stay tuned.  (There is much that is out of my control, but nothing is outside the reach of God.  Lord willing, tomorrow.)

It's STTA.

Generally speaking each STTA is a stand alone.  This one, however is the last of a series of four.  You might want to go hereand read the last three STTAs, start with 1/14 and work back to yesterday.  

"Aiming at nothing," and "Mission Creep," are ways of describing people or organizations who have no, or have lost their, direction.  "Rigid," "Inflexible," or "Suffering from hardening of the categories," describes others, on the other end of the spectrum, who fail to adapt to changing conditions. How do we maintain a balance between being flexible but lacking in core convictions, and being rigid about things concerning which we ought to flex?  I've been especially concerned about the end result of a life.  It's possible to be so blown by the wind that the end will reveal a result determined by external, often impersonal, and sometimes hostile, forces.

Speaking to the Ephesians the Apostle Paul said, that mature Christians would not be, "tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine."  (Ephesians 4:14)  Yet an examination of the great Apostle's ministry indicates a remarkable flexibility.  See 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 for an example. 

It is absolutely clear that Paul wanted to be effective, but above that he was committed to being faithful.  I need to make obedience to God the number one objective of my life.  Of course, in order to do that I have to understand the commands.  That is a life-long project.  As I live a life of obedience, I run into a lot of forces that would toss me here and there, and carry me about.  It may be to appropriate to adapt.  In fact there are times when obedience demands that I flex.  The Pharisees were not wrong because they kept the rules.  They erred because they kept too many rules, sometimes being blinded to essential, by an undue focus on peripheral matters.

I should try to be effective, relevant, engaging, and useful, but I should never be any of those things if it means I must be disobedient to God.  

There are a lot of things I face that I don't understand and
can't control, but God does, so I must trust Him.

So, after four days of musing, I find myself back in SundaySchool.  Mrs. Marsceau is holding up the flash cards to a song, "Trust and Obey, for their's not other way to be happy in Jesus, but to Trust and Obey.

It's STTA.
 

Church attendance (non-attendance) and Sunday Sports:

I can have a really good conversation with myself on this subject.  All I need to do is record what I say about it one time and then respond to it on another day.  I have made statements similar to this one, just not as well stated:  "And, frankly, it’s a not a bad thing for the Church to stand on its own, apart from cultural props. I don’t want the Church to be dependent on the world to say Church is important."  (Keith Anderson) I have often paraphrased a colleague of mine, Chris Cobb, who pastored in Covington years ago, "When Christianity is no longer tax-deductible, we'll know who the true followers of Christ are."  On the other hand I was a recent visitor in a church where the pastor inserted a strongly worded segment on travel-sports-teams into his sermon.  I found myself saying "Amen!" at least under my breath.

Both from the viewpoint of how we see church and culture, and concerning public-relations, this is a worthwhile article to read and discuss.
I'd rather not have the conversation with myself.  :)

http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/164281-keith-anderson-pastors-stop-complaining-about-sunday-morning-sports.html?p=1

Planning to be Kind. Be purposeful.

A young, very young, friend of mine is looking forward to a project on her 35th birthday.  Here is a cut-&-paste from her FB page.  If you are a FBer you can go there.  No doubt the list will grow.  Lot's of great ideas for showing kindness.  At least one I plan to plug into my life.

Kristan Brown

So, I am turning 35 in June. How did that happen?? Anyway, on my birthday I am going to try to do 35 random acts of kindness. I have started a list of things to do, like take cookies to fire/ems/police, fill the washers with coins at a laundromat, take a meal to someone in need, pay for someones food in the drivethru, etc. I have got to come up with 35 things that can all be accomplished in one day. I am going to attach a card with some type of scripture on it, to hand out or leave where ever I do my acts. So, I am taking ideas and suggestions! What are some great random acts of kindness I can do on my birthday? Remember, I've got to get 35 done in one day! (How did I get so old, so fast?) :)

Like ·  · January 11 at 8:24am · 

• Amanda Cook and 17 others like this.
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  Gail Sizemore Alt Gets some cards and send them to people who need encougement and put a gosple track in them.

  January 11 at 8:29am · Like
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  Jordan Massie Thank every veteran that you see for their service  and share with them some Jesus!

  January 11 at 8:36am via mobile · Like
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  Laurie Fitzgerald Bag of random snacks and small water, a tract for someone less fortunate or in the hospital..we keep one in our car with a Life Book in it ..( http://thelifebook.com/). ... .left two with street guys in the Roanoke Park downtown recently and when we left, we saw one reading the Book! Amen! I'm sure your actions will encourage others!

  

  The Life Book Movement

  thelifebook.com

  Your Students give free Life Books to their classmates and watch God do His thing through His Word

  January 11 at 8:38am · Like
• 

  Lisa Bailey Marshall push carts to holding racks or back in store where perfectly capable people leave them to hit others cars...help someone load push out or load their groceries. This is one of my fav's to do. I turned 50 this year...and I am doing the one random act of kindness each day. Maybe its buying a co worker a soda or lunch...carts, take someone else

  January 11 at 8:45am · Like
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  Lisa Bailey Marshall chore for the day or week...i have a bunch of ideas

  January 11 at 8:45am · Like
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  Chrisi Rice Pay for someone's tank of gas or give them some amount of cash towards filling their tank.

  January 11 at 8:55am via mobile · Like · 1
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  Lisa Bailey Marshall pay for the next person purchase...i love doing this one too...it creates a chain reaction

  January 11 at 8:56am · Like · 1
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  Lisa Bailey Marshall if you see a neighbor raking leaves or shoveling snow...jump out there and help get it done

  January 11 at 8:59am · Like
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  Lisa Bailey Marshall let someone in line ahead of you, hold the door for someone, take someone supper for no reason, visit a nursing home, visit a elderly church member, invite them home for sunday dinner,....

  January 11 at 9:01am · Like
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  Amanda Steele Ginter what an awesome idea! love it!!! kind of like rackd at Christmas... heres a site of some ideas. mostly for Christmas but some you could do. lillightomine.com/light-em-up-2011.php

  January 11 at 9:05am via mobile · Like
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  Chrisi Rice And by the way... 35 is not old! (Especially to those of us who have already passed it!) LOL! 

  January 11 at 9:08am via mobile · Like
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  Kristan Brown Thanks for all of the ideas! They are great. It's going to be such a fun thing to do. And I know 35 isn't old, but goodness it just doesn't seem like I should be that "old"!! 

  January 11 at 9:10am · Like
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  Jaimy Broughman Ford What a beatiful idea! How about: Pick up any litter you see (I wish everyone did that!)

  January 11 at 9:12am · Like · 1
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  Brenda Jenkins Kristian I think that is a great idea. Good luck with coming up with 35 ideas.

  January 11 at 9:15am · Like
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  Cindy Helfrich I remember when you turned 30, I turned 25 and couldn't imagine 30. 

  January 11 at 9:41am via mobile · Like
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  Leah Rogin-Roper I guess when we're 70, 35 will look like being 16 does now. It's still hard to believe we're all growed up. If it's any consolation, I still picture you as an adorable, braces-wearing 16-year old.

  January 11 at 9:49am via mobile · Like · 3
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  Kimberly R. Harlow Wow what a great idea:) I will be 43 in June( not really sure how that happened either) but I love this!! What about buying diapers for a Mom yousee in a walmart!

  January 11 at 9:56am · Like
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  Alanna Lester That's awesome. I'll have to thank on that and get back to you.

  January 11 at 10:09am · Like
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  Deborah Kaye Ireson I love this kristian. I did this from thanksgiving to Christmas and wrote notes to random people telling them I was thankful for them. Remember school teachers who sometimes never get thanked.. Your trash man.. Your post man.. A note to your mom handwritten..you can do this with a little preparation what a wonderful way to share your birthday with others

  January 11 at 10:23am · Like · 1
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  Bridget Dunaway Hand out gift cards to a fast food place to random people. Our preacher did that for Christmas one year

  January 11 at 10:26am via mobile · Like
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  Michael Lomasney Take some food to a food pantry!

  January 11 at 11:00am · Like
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  Addison Ballard Pay for Addison's next car payment 

  January 11 at 11:27am via mobile · Like · 1
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  Angie Waldron That is an awesome idea. Someone mentioned it being inspirational and I agree. Just reading it has inspired me to do more for others- in Christ's name too. 
  
  You might stick a monetary amount with the note somewhere in a store. In between baby formula cans for instance (saw this on fb recently). Or give people coupons for items they are buying when they obviously don't have one in the checkout line. "Blessing bags" for the homeless. Give someone a coat and/or scarf on a cold day. Give your testimony to a nonbeliever- either in written form or verbally.
  
  I'll keep thinking and what a blessing. 

  January 11 at 11:35am via mobile · Like
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  Alicia Marie Brown Spangler Awesome idea...and what a great example!

  January 11 at 12:02pm · Like
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  Linda Ray Barlow What a great unselfish idea!!

  January 11 at 12:29pm via mobile · Like
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  Terry Patterson Give a bag of M&M's to your child's Sunday School teacher!

  January 11 at 12:49pm · Like · 3
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  Mari-Beth Halsey Koonce Very cool!!!

  January 11 at 12:58pm via mobile · Like
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  Kristan Brown Good try, Addison Ballard!  These are all very great ideas. I can't wait to do this. I think this will be my most fun birthday ever! I can't take credit for coming up with the idea - I read about someone else doing this somewhere on the internet - a blog or something - so I'm stealing their idea, since it was such a good one!

  January 11 at 1:18pm · Like
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  Lori Cook Come to my house...  your presence will be the best act if kindness for me!!!
  Love you! (Even if you are old! Hahaha)

  January 11 at 6:13pm via mobile · Like
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  Tonya Kay Jones What a blessing you will give to others on your special day!

  January 11 at 9:43pm · Like
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  Linda L Moore lil light o'mine blog has lots of random acts of kindness ideas in the Dec. section or under lite em up. I found this site linked with encouragement for today from crosswalk.com, a Christian site. the intent of lite 'em up was for families to do kind acts to teach their kids that Christmas is for giving. Have a great 35th! Of course, you could fill a shoebox & send it to Operation Christmas Child in Boone!

  January 12 at 1:19am · Like
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  Allison Roady Hicklin Come to my school and guest teach a math class! 

  January 12 at 11:43am via mobile · Like · 1
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  Kristan Brown Allison, I hope you aren't in school on June 13th! 

  January 12 at 2:15pm · Like · 1
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  J. Michael Palmer You will never be old do not worry about it......just do not try to do 63 random acts of kindness in one day.

  January 12 at 11:27pm · Like
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  Sirena Brown Take your neighbor's trash cans/recycling bins back down their driveway.

  February 1 at 10:53pm · Like
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  Linda L Moore I like Terry's idea-how about mailing a thank you card to your old Sunday School teacher, stick in a balloon or some gum.

  17 minutes ago · Like