Enemy Mine

Job 31:29-30
29"Did I ever crow over my enemy's ruin? Or gloat over my rival's bad luck? 30No, I never said a word of detraction, never cursed them, even under my breath.

Proverbs 24:15-18
15Don't interfere with good people's lives; don't try to get the best of them. 16No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don't stay down long; Soon they're up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces. 17Don't laugh when your enemy falls; don't crow over his collapse. 18GOD might see, and become very provoked, and then take pity on his plight.

Proverbs 25:21-22
21If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch; if he's thirsty, bring him a drink. 22Your generosity will surprise him with goodness, and GOD will look after you.


Nobody questions what kind of a man Job was, really. He was a righteous man. And we regard Solomon's Proverbs with a general sense of wonder and appreciation for the wisest man of his day and age. Solomon had his issues, but being a fool was not high on that list, despite having too many wives to even begin to be a good husband to. We pretty much trust these guys to know what they are talking about. But is pretty much good enough when it comes to something as momentous as the death of a sworn enemy of our nation whom we have hunted for nearly ten years?

Let's go to the final authority. Let's go to Jesus. If rejoicing is the right move for when a national enemy dies, Jesus will tell us. Here is what Jesus says about enemies ...

What Jesus has to say about enemies …

Ralph and his neighbor, Fritz were talking …

R: “Hey, I met Jesus the other day.”

F: “Yeah? So what’s he like?”

R: “Kinda weird, actually.”

F: “You don’t say. How so?”

R: “He said the old love your neighbor and hate your enemy thing ain’t right.”

F: “No kidding! So did he say what it is supposed to be?”

R: “He said, ‘love your enemies and pray for people that abuse you.’ Can you
believe that?”

F: “You sure you heard him right? I mean, I know people say he’s pretty radical, but that sounds plain old crazy.”

R: “Yeah. He was giving a speech and they had his notes printed out and I got a copy. Take a look …”

F: “Hmm… yeah, you got it right, I guess. Can I keep this and read the rest of his speech?”

R: “Yeah, Fritz. You read it all through to the end. I just finished it and I think we need to talk about this stuff.”

F: “Okay Ralph. I’m going to go read it right now. See you back here after supper?”

R: “Absolutely, Fritz. I’ll bring something to drink; you bring some of your wife’s cookies.”

F: “Sounds good to me. See ya, Ralph.”

R: “Real soon, Fritz. Real soon.”

Here’s what Ralph had highlighted for Fritz to read … (borrowed from Matthew 5:43-48, the Message)

"You have heard that it was said, `YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'

"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Fritz wondered to himself, “Why would he say that?” Then he kept on reading and it was like Jesus was answering his thoughts !!

"so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

“Wow!” thought Fritz. “I guess I never thought about God sending rain and sunshine for everybody; but it certainly makes sense to me.” And he kept on reading …

"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
"If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

By the time he got done with the whole speech, Fritz could hardly wait to go out and talk to Ralph again. He even talked to his wife over dinner about it. She was stunned to hear him speak and missed his question. “Wh-what did you ask me?”

Then she listened as her obviously excited husband read the section Ralph had highlighted and asked her again, “What do you make of that?” Bernie (short for Bernice) answered, “He sounds like the preacher at my mother’s church. You know, the one you liked when we visited there last year. You don’t have to share that with Ralph, though. And it looks like he’s ready to meet with you over by the fence again. Go ahead, I’ll clean up. Then you can come back in and we’ll talk when you two have it all figured out.”

Fritz was already headed out the door …

**** **** **** **** ****

What about it? Could you live out what Fritz and Ralph heard from Jesus?
Or is it too late already? Have you already been rejoicing over a fallen enemy?


God have mercy on us.

Baptism & The Holy Spirit

Francis Chan - Baptism & The Holy Spirit from Wes Woodell on Vimeo.

View the video. Listen to what Patrick is saying. Then answer the four questions.

If you need help, where ever you may be in the world, email me (grz311@yahoo.com) or call me (USA 219-678-8148). Just do not wait, do not delay.

Looking for a follower of Jesus

Looking for a follower of Jesus
(a traveler’s short story)

One day a visitor walked into a village and asked if there were any followers of Jesus living in the village. Eventually he was directed to the village chief among the elders of the village. Again the visitor asked if there were any followers of Jesus living in that village. The chief replied, “There are three men in this village who claim to know a man named Jesus. I do not know this Jesus, but I will send you to these men and let you decide for yourself if they know this Jesus.” The visitor gladly wrote down directions to the three men’s homes who claimed to know someone named Jesus. Taking his leave of the chief and the village elders, he went in search of the three men.

When the visitor came to the first home, he found a sunburned man lounging in a pool of water that had been created by damming up the little creek that ran through his property. The visitor greeted the man and asked if he could have a drink of water and was told that he could have a bottle of water for his shirt. The visitor was very thirsty, so he gave the man his shirt in exchange for the bottle of water. Then the visitor continued on his way.

When the visitor came to the second home, he found a man who was sitting down and caring for his blistered feet near a table piled high with food. The visitor greeted the man and asked if he could have something to eat and was told that the man would give him a bag of food in exchange for his socks and shoes. The visitor was very hungry, so he gave the man his socks and shoes in exchange for the bag of food. Then the visitor continued on his way once more, taking his bottle of water and his bag of food to find the home of the third man who claimed to know Jesus.

As the visitor was on his way to the home of the third man, now sunburned and with sore feet, a servant came pulling a rickshaw that had a top to provide shade and gave the visitor a ride the rest of the way to the third man’s home. It was quite a ways up a hill to the third man’s home and so the visitor asked the servant to pull over in the shade of some trees where he offered to share his bottle of water and bag of food with the servant in a small picnic meal. Before the servant would eat, though, he found an aloe plant and broke open the leaves and squeezed out some aloe oil on the visitor’s sunburned shoulders and sore feet. Then they shared their small picnic together and continued to the third man’s home. When they arrived, the visitor was stunned when the servant turned and welcomed him to his home, bringing him an ‘I Love Jesus’ T-shirt and a pair of sandals for his feet. Then he asked the visitor if he would consent to stay over for the evening and enjoy his hospitality. Until they went to sleep, they spoke together about Jesus and the visitor told the man how good it was to find someone who knew Jesus as he was traveling. And so the visitor stayed at the third man’s home and prayed for God’s blessing on the man and his home before leaving the next morning to return to the village.

Being now well rested and well fed and no longer thirsty, and wearing his new shirt and sandals, the trip down the hill and back to the village seemed to take only a fraction of the time it had taken to visit the three men’s homes. There the visitor was greeted by the village chief and the elders and was asked if he had found a follower of Jesus. The visitor said, “Yes, I found one follower of Jesus.” The chief and elders congratulated the visitor on completing his quest, and then they asked how the visitor knew that only one of the men who claimed to know Jesus was actually a follower of Jesus, and also how he could tell which one it was.

The visitor said, “When the first man saw I was thirsty, he would only give me water in exchange for my shirt. When the second man saw I was hungry, he would only give me food in exchange for my socks and shoes. But when the third man saw me coming along the path, he gave me a ride up the hill and aloe oil for my sunburn and he gave me these sandals and this ‘I Love Jesus’ T-shirt and a place to stay for the night.” Then the visitor took out his Bible and read these verses to the chief and the elders:

“John 13:34-35
(Jesus said) A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

1 John 3:16-18
(Jesus’ apostle, John, wrote) By this we know love: that he laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

The visitor closed his Bible and looked at the chief and the elders and continued his explanation. “I knew him by his love. And when he gave me this T-shirt and these sandals, I knew why he loved a stranger traveling on the road. You should ask him about Jesus. I am sure he would enjoy telling you about our Lord.” And so the visitor went on his way and continued his travels.

Why I Love Him

(Adapted by Glenn Ziegler from Why I Love Her by John Mitchum)

You ask me why I love Him? Well, give me time and I’ll explain.
Have you seen the Father’s glory in the sunset or the rain?
Have you felt the Spirit’s presence as you walk the narrow way?
Have you heard the Savior weeping just outside Lazarus’ grave?

Have you seen the boat full of disciples in the storm - and heard them whine?
Have you seen the Master walking cross the water to their side?
Do the Beatitudes inspire you as you sit at Jesus’ feet?
Have you traveled days to see Him, just hoping to hear Him speak?

Has your life been changed forever by the One who built God’s kingdom on the rock?
Do you think of Him as you pass a homeless person who only has one sock?
Have you seen the way He treats sinners? Have you heard our Savior sigh …
As He watches us ignore the lost, have you heard Him softly cry?

Did you sing Hosanna to heaven as He rode into the city?
Did you feel the Father’s disappointment as He cleared the Temple street?
Have you eaten the bread He blessed, remembering the body of our Lord?
Have you sipped the cup He offered, considering the blood that He outpoured?

Have you felt the disciples’ loneliness as they hid themselves away?
Felt the shame of their self-protection as He gave His life that day?
And were you as doubtful as was Thomas until you saw His hands and feet?
Have you longed to fall as he did confessing his love at Jesus’ feet?

Every day in every place we go, there is someone feeling pain.
Do you seek to share their burden just to help them ease the strain?
Is it the Master’s steps you follow? Is He your reason? Is He your ‘why’?
My Jesus is my greatest love, the One who for us died.

Christians Persecuted In America?

A small home bible study group claimed they were being persecuted by a county office in big, bad, who-knows-what-they-believe-out-there California, USA. (Apologies to everyone who lives in that beautiful and much maligned state. That was a very small attempt at sarcasm related to the way CA used to be viewed in the Bible Belt...and in some areas, still is so viewed by some folks.)

My take on the facts, at this time, after a brief investigation on the internet:

This is a non-issue that was resolved according to county ordinances, given the time for the investigation to work through its legal stages. Someone complained about some issues with a group that was gathered at a house near their friends' home and a standard form letter was sent, but the wrong form letter, indicating that ordinance violations were being investigated and fines and permit fees would be assessed for any violations of local ordinances as to land use and assembly. In the end, it was made clear that the county had no interest in pursuing a mistaken form letter demand. The county admitted the error and followed their internally prescribed steps to investigate and respond to the issue - eventually informing the home owner that the county was dropping the matter because no legal action was warranted.

In a litigious society, it is not surprising that certain individuals and/or groups of professing Christians will also get caught up in the desire to litigate instead of negotiating or (gasp!) serving our neighbors...or simply waiting for the system to have time to work. So few can even begin to grasp the concept of actually deciding not to pursue every right they might claim that religious groups of all kinds (though we admittedly hear disproportionately more from groups professing to 'Christian') are turning more and more directly to civil courts to settle disputes with one another, with local governance/ordinances, and with other interest groups (like neighbors and neighborhood associations and even neighbors' friends). One can only wonder what folks would do if a house was so fully packed with people listening to a guest teacher that you'd have to cut a hole in the roof in order to get in! (How many times and ways can you see THAT turning into lawsuits??!!!)

Further reflections:

It saddens me to think that more and more children are being raised to think of this kind of response from a group (however small or large) of Christians (led by their pastor, no less) as normative behavior. Paul addressed this to some extent, as had Jesus also, to some extent, during His ministry. And it seems important to me that neither Jesus nor Paul advocated the public outrage approach, nor the take-those-who-offend-you-to-court approach, either.

Perhaps this should come as no surprise to someone raised in a spiritual heritage defined, transformed, mutilated and splintered by litigious actions over a hundred years ago - and for which there has still yet been no wide-scale resolution of the original issues. Instead, myriad other issues have been used to solidify the dissolution of a unity movement that died when the first case went to court, no matter how we try to revive its corpses or deny that THAT movement has died. In its place today we have a hollow shell of a claim to similar interests, while most of the things being pursued today bear little resemblance to the kind of efforts that were taken when Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell were alive, much less during the time when they labored so long and hard to get the thing started. What is left today remains more as a testimony to the evolution of groups into that which was once opposed than as a living testimony to the kind of effort Stone and Campbell envisioned and plead for so passionately. So why should we be surprised when someone claims to follow Christ and then takes actions in opposition to those advocated by the Christ and by His apostles?

So, no, I am not surprised. I am saddened, though, that the lost have been handed on a platter more lame reasons to resist efforts to reach them with the gospel; and I am also sadly resigned to having to address the difference between what Jesus taught and what many claiming to follow Him have pursued instead. Stories like this one give me nightmares about what it must be like to hear so many crying out, "Lord, Lord" when there is so little attention paid to what the One being addressed taught. It must rip His heart to hear the cries He longs for coming from us when we ignore His teachings and yet cry when things don't go well for us, as if we should expect things to go well anyway - having chosen to follow One who was crucified, literally, for those very teachings and for the sake of those who killed Him. Shall we expect to be treated differently, on however mild or harsh a level, than He was treated? Jesus said we should expect what He received.

If I follow Jesus, and if I believe Him, then the kind of persecution we will face is going to get a lot worse than an erroneous assembly citation in the mail. And the question remains: What will we do then?

Blessings,

Glenn

He Did Not Run

Today,

As we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the grave,
we meet together in relative safety and Peace.
The sound of guns firing is far away for most of us,
and the sounds of weeping and wailing seem far away, too.

But what if the 'powers that be' decided to do away with all religious gatherings,
and what if they were coming now … with guns ... for you?

Would YOU run?

Take a minute and think about it ... just now ... and consider your answer carefully.
Just imagine how you would feel ... and what you would do.
And remember, even the apostles ran away ... the night He was betrayed.


Let this Resurrection Sunday be a new beginning in your life.
And let this be a day of thanksgiving and wonder ... because
He did not run away!

He faced the death you and I deserved and took our place ...
hanging there on a cross between two thieves ...
the Son of God giving His life for the ungodly ...
fulfilling the Father's promise in the Garden ...
crushing the accuser who would destroy us ...
by suffering on our behalf.

Today we celebrate the One who would NOT stay dead!
Today we celebrate the re-birth of hope.
Today we celebrate Jesus.

May God richly bless each of you as you celebrate the Son, the Lamb of God, who died to pay our sin-debt and open the way back home to
the Father who has never stopped seeking after us –
ever since that day in the Garden!

Celebrate the Resurrection!
Celebrate Life!
Celebrate the One who did not run!

25 random things

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

Tim Archer tagged me, and now I’ve tagged you. So be a sport and share…

1. I am 6 feet 7 inches tall

2. I am almost that round...(not really)

3. I like not shaving, but I sometimes hate having a beard (but I have a skin condition that pretty much mandates me keeping it)

4. I love basketball, but can't play it as much as I'd like because of weak knees and a fat belly

5. Golf is a substitute for basketball, but a very expensive one

6. All my old dreams of living in a commune have been crushed out of me by living in a 3 BR 1.5 Bath home with 7 other people

7. In kindergarten a little girl from 1st grade tried to kiss me...but I resisted b/c she had cooties

8. That didn't happen again until 6th grade, when a girl named Pam kissed me...and I found out that if that's what cooties are like, then I like cooties

9. I love reading and exploring, but I miss playing sports more often and watching less

10. Having another birthday isn't the same as getting older, b/c you get love on your birthday and you get aches and pains and stuff when you get old-er

11. I love ‘schooling’ younger players who are in better shape than I am – in any game at all – just for the fun of it

12. I find it easier to work to help others achieve their dreams that it is to just work on my own

13. We are all statistics in somebody’s study, but only some of us are statistics in the divorce column…and it isn’t one anyone wants to be part of

14. Marriage may not last forever, but the affects of the divorce will

15. Some of my hair is still so dark brown it is almost black, but the majority is now white and gaining ground

16. I don’t like politics because there are few absolutes and fewer people who value the absolutes that remain in the political arena

17. A day spent doing something to help someone else to walk closer to God is better than any other day

18. A full quiver of arrows is expensive…in many ways…and sometimes makes you look like a target

19. My wife loves dressing me up, but hates having to wear something dressy (almost makes me wonder if she’s planning my funeral…LOLOLOLOL )

20. When I look in the mirror I wonder where the athlete I used to be went to and why he doesn’t come around much anymore

21. When I look at my treadmill and weights and ab-lounger, I think about moving all the stuff that is stacked on top of them…and it makes me want to go and lounge in my La-Z-boy recline-a-rocker

22. I drink tea and soda pop and Gatorade more, but I love water for the way it makes me feel

23. I married ‘up’ when I married my wife of almost 10 years now

24. She thinks she married ‘up’ too…go figure

25. Jesus is my best friend and my first love…period

And whether all else works or fails you, everything will be better when you fix your sights on Jesus and never give up walking with Him.

Blog Reviews (1) Berean Spirit friends

There are hundreds of good blogs out here in cyberspace. And it seems all are competing for your attention, to varying degrees. What makes a good blog? What draws in the casual reader or the one with a focused interest?

I have to confess that I really do not know the answers to those questions. Something about peeking in at someone else's ruminations piques the interest. After all, there are hundreds of very specialized chat groups on YahooGroups and other sites like it. But a blog...well, it just seems more personal. It is an open invitation to anyone who cares to look to see our deeply held convictions and reflections on things. Even the comments left behind by visitors is interesting, even riveting, at times. Why? I believe we all like to see whether anyone else shares our thoughts about what we have just read...and see how they difffer from our views, too.

So today I am reviewing a few of the blogs I have read recently. Some I subscribe to and some I just found while looking around.

One of the first blogs I ever read was and is written by Bobby Cohoon. Bobby's blog examines mostly topics of religious interest and offers some insights into his heart. I have enjoyed reading Bobby's blogs from time to time (I am about as regular at blog-reading as I am at posting my own). He challenges my thinking and he offers some good thinking about why he believes as he does. Also, Bobby was one of the first, if not the first, to encourage me to write a blog of my own. But please don't blame Bobby when you disagree with me. How could he have known how his encouragement of me would turn out? Do we ever know just what an encouraging word might mean to another? (Sounds like a good blog topic to me....and I wonder how many have already addressed that thought? LOL)

One of my other long-time blogs of choice to read is written by John Dobbs. John is a southern preaching minister (meaning servant) for a church of Christ, until recently with one located on the gulf of Mexico. Their experiences during Katrina first drew my attention to John's blog, but his reflections on what it means to live out the life of a follower of Jesus are what have kept me coming back over and over. John is a doer, and not just a thinker. And I find that incredibly compelling.

One of my oldest and best friends has a web page that gives updates on what is going on with the congregation of saints he serves as Senior Pastor over in the Quad Cities area of Northwestern Illinois/Southeastern Iowa, right along the Mississippi River. You can listen to his sermons and watch the occasional video of congregational lfe that he posts there, but I do not know if he has a blogsite. I think I would enjoy that if he did. Chuck Dorsey is a D.Min. degree holder, and he goes by Pastor Chuck on his website, but he'll always be Chuck to me. We grew up together in Central Illinois and went away to different colleges and then returned to Central Illinois to preach and serve and raise our families. He has been a friend through some of the toughest moments of my life and he lets me challenge his thinking and he challenges mine as few people I have ever known do for one another. Whether playing pool, knocking around ping-pong balls or ust hanging out, he is and has been one of my closest friends. I really do wish he had a blogsite to review. Maybe he does and I've just missed it. I kind of doubt it, though.

Tim Archer is another fellow whose blog I've really enjoyed. Both the title and content of his blogs are fun and thoughtful and often provocative. Tim is the only one I am reviewing here besides Chuck whom I have met in person outside in the real world. I met him in Kansas City last year during the North American Christian Convention and we had some great visits at the booth he hosted for the Herald of Truth organization. What a tremendous heart he has!

I reccommend that anyone who even mildly enjoys reading my scattered thoughts take the time and Google these fellows and find their blogs. If I knew a bit more about how to do it, I would offer links to their blogs and websites. As it is, I just wanted to let you know that if it seems like I don't get back here with any regularity, it is because i have been spending time with these fellows and their thoughts...and the fact that I am a lazy writer in this venue. If you feel inclined to hear from me more often, perhaps you should come on over to the Berean Spirit forum on YahooGroups and join the conversation. Most there will tell you I hardy ever shut up! LOL

Maybe that is why I don't write more here.....

Thanks for stopping by.

Life Notes - Relational Thing (2)

Christianity is a relational thing.

A friend on a forum where I take part in the discussions recently wrote:

"If I could sing praises to God with the instrument alone in my home, then I could do it in a church building with others. Worship is worship is worship. If I'm home doing it and NOT worshiping, then what am I doing? Pretending to be worshiping?"

So I wrote her a note back to share how my own thinking about instrumental music and Christian worship got started with a similar question. Here's what I wrote to my friends on that forum, many of whom, like me, have questioned the fact that where we grew up going to church, we never used instruments to accompany the vocal singing. We never used them at all, except for the occasional pitch pipe for the first note of a song or a hymn. We sang a cappella style. Why? I wondered. Here's a few more of my thoughts on the subject of music and questions we ought to ask ourselves...

I grew up asking that very same question! I asked a lot of questions then, and still do, I guess. And I agree with your answer, as far as it goes. Would you mind if I share some more questions? If you do, then stop reading...because I have a few I'd like to ask anyone who never sings a psalm, hymn, or spiritual song to the accompaniment of musical instruments. I ask to learn.

Please note that I am not seeking to accuse anyone with these questions, but rather am seeking to get us all to focus in on the influence that music has in our lives...even subliminally.

Here goes:

1) Do you only listen to a cappella music, or do you sometimes listen to Contemporary Christian music and just not sing along - even in your heart? Also, do you ever listen to Rock'n'Roll or Country or Metal or Classical or Jazz or R&B or other genres of music? And do you know any of the lyrics to Garth Brooks' song Unanswered Prayers? or the Kentucky Headhunters' version of Spirit In The Sky? or Cat Stevens' Peace Train or Morning Has Broken? or any of dozens of other poular tunes of almost every genre that express the faith of the writers? How are those songs okay to hum or sing along to if we should never use IM in praise to God?

2) IF you listen to other types of music than just a cappella, do you pay attention to the words to keep your mind and heart pure and undefiled by the messages of songs that do not seek to glorify God at all, but rather quite the opposite? (Why allow subliminal messages that promote acceptance of sinful thinking?)

3) IF you only listen to non-verbal instrumental music - or at least, non-vocal - do you seek to find out whether the composer wrote that song in appreciation to the Lord? Would it matter to you if a song using IM was written to lift the soul and open the heart to the very Spirit of God? (And do you ever feel so lifted when you heard a song played with IM accompanying?)

4) Do you believe "secular" music to be sinful, since it does not focus on bringing glory to God? Do you listen to such music on the radio? What do you do when someone else turns on such music in your presence, or when an elevator has Musak playing softly as you ride in it?

5) How do you feel about music that links nationalistic patriotism with faith in God - the way God Bless America or America the Beautiful does? And what do you do with John Denver's Thank God I'm A Country Boy? or even a song like Barry Manilow's Oh Mandy that speaks of someone who came and gave without taking? Do you quickly shut off the radio when such a song with IM stirs you to think about Jesus or God in some way?

These are all good questions, some admittedly more valid for some people than for others. And I have wrestled with every one of them many times over, as one who grew up in the non-IM churches of Christ. I wrestled with them when my Dad played a song from the hymnal in our living room on the organ or piano. I wrestled with them when I first heard The Imperials perform Water Grave. I wrestled with them while I was in a very conservative preaching school and listening to Amy Grant and Ray Boltz and The Imperials on my compact tape player as I worked at my Grounds Maintenance Chief job that helped to get us through those lean years.

But I was never satisfied to just accept the music, even when in High School as a part of the Chorus we had Christmas and Easter programs that included the Hallelujah Chorus(?) and Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee and even Handel's Messiah. I searched the scriptures and read all I could find on why we didn't use IM in worship and what the words meant in the pertinent passages and what the messages of those passages were. I read as widely and as exhaustively as my reading skills and eager mind could find and allow. And I sought to expand my reading as I expanded my skills in reading languages. I spoke with brethren privately who taught me and whom I respected as students of the Word to ask what they taught and why. I studied and memorized all the arguments for and against that I could get my greedy little hands on. I did not just accept that we live in a world moved by music and have not enough control over all that we hear. For a while I even took to using the stairs, no matter how high the climb, to avoid the Musak - so I know what it means to be serious about this.

You know the conclusions I've reached so far. I have not made any of them secret at all. I have poured out my heart here. Would you share with me what you struggle with about IM as well? I hope so - so that I can continue to grow and so encourage you...because I have studied long and hard and have not arrived at perfect knowledge. I live what I know and I trust in grace all along the way. So...will you journey beside me in this study? We may not agree, but I, for one, will be richer for the time spent sharing the journey...and maybe you will, too.

Life Notes - Relational Thing (1)

Christianity is a relational thing.

I am basically an adequate guitar player, nothing special. I have the guitar my Dad used for most of the time I can rememeber him playing, both at home and occasionally in public performances. Dad was better than me at it. But I have his Alvarez flat-top guit-box with the special leather strap my brother made for him. And I have an Ibanez 12-string that my wife bought for me a few years back. It is as awesome as I thought it would be for all those years I dreamed of having one. And the last guitar I have is a hand-made (one of four like it) original that my Dad crafted from home-made forms and store-bought wood and home crafted tools that look and function just like the ones in the book on guitar-building he read. Dad's craftsmanship rendered a rich, full-bodied classical guitar with a capital Z carved into the end of the keyboard. My Mom has one, my sister another, and my brother has the last of the four. In truth, my brother finished the work that my Dad began but could not finish on my guitar, due to the lung cancer that claimed his physical tent.

I shared all of that to give a glimpse of the kind of musical influences of my family as I was growing up. Still, we attended only non-IM churches of Christ all the time I was growing up. Dad never had a problem with playing hymns and singing them together as a family at home, because it came from the heart as Paul said to do, so maybe that was a good influence that helped me to see things the way I do. We had organs and pianos and guitars and bongos and tambourines and morracas and chimes and even a xither. And my Dad built a harp during the time he was beginning to make guitars, too.

So I finally picked up a guitar in college, 28 years ago, and never - until this last Christmas season - had ever played an instrument in an assembly of the saints. At our Sunday assembly we sang music celebrating the coming of the Word that was made flesh and I preached about the Savior and we closed the service with the congregation singing Silent Night as our sound man and I played guitars and one of our elders played the piano. It was a wonderful time of encouragement and praise and fellowship. And it was the first time I played in an assembly of saints...but probably not the last, Lord willing.

Now I know there are some who will mark me for doing this, perhaps even here, but I do not stand or fall before any of these. I seek only the blessing of my Father in heaven, for He is the only One who can make me to stand in His presence. My heart and my voice accompanied by my guitar and Tim's guitar and Ken's piano and the voices of the congregation with their hearts sang the melody together. Some may struggle to understand this, but I must say that it was one of the most spiritual moments for me. Finally I offered the gift of my Dad and of my own heart to the Lord. No one asked me to give another gift because it wasn't the right one or because it wasn't their gift. No one asked me to offer a different gift at all. All who were there understood that we all offered our gifts to the Lord, and we all took time to encourage one another further before we left that assembly.

And so I wonder ... how many others, like my Dad, have longed to offer the gift they had to the Lord but were told it wasn't the right gift? (Like my Dad was told when he was asked to lead singing but told them he only sang lead when he played his guitar, due to insecurities about his voice.) My Dad's voice was a wonderful, rich baritone voice trained by singing and performing country music whenever he could and wherever he could. And I remember well those times he would play the organ and accompany us as we would sing the songs we had sung that week at church. I remember him calling out the chords as they changed, so I could strum along on his guitar. And I remember wondering if the saints we assembled with had any idea what they were missing when they told my Dad it wasn't acceptable for him to play his guitar in an assembly, or even at a fellowship in someone's home. Dad accepted it with grace, but declined to lead singing without his guitar, because he really never learned how to do that - and no one offered to teach him, either. I barely struggle through leading songs and still do not have the skills to teach someone how to lead a song well - so I could not teach him.

Well, now Dad is asleep in the Lord, waiting to waken to the trumpet's call and rise to live with the Lord forever. And I look forward to the day when Dad and I will pick up guitars together in heaven and sing for Jesus as He listens face to face. What a day that will be!

That's a part of what I mean when I say, "It is a relational thing."

Champions

In this day and age, many people hail heroes whose armor is tarnished with scandals of personal misbehavior. Some of those heroes seek redemption through acts of generosity and service to others. While this is admirable, there is truly only one way to redemption that really matters: Jesus Christ.

If you would choose a hero, a champion whose banner you will wave in glory, honoring their name, choose wisely. Moses was a great and mighty prophet and man of God, but he would not choose to be the object of your adoration. Neither would Elijah, Daniel, Samson, David, nor even any one of the apostles. All of them would point to the one named above all other names, whose power and glory is forever established in the Heavens.

Even here in Chicago, on such a day as this, I ask you to celebrate NOT "da BEARS", nor even the Saints (though they DO have a better name) ...

Today I say, as always, Celebrate Jesus!

But don't get me wrong ... I am still pretty happy, as such things go, that our BEARS won.
The thing is, though, that win or lose, they are not the source of my hope and my faith. My life does not hinge on their temporary success ... and certainly not on whether they ultimately may win or fail in the "big game."

As Paul said it so eloquently,

" So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2nd Corinthians 4:18

Security

How secure are you? Or, at least, how secure do you feel? Sometimes I wonder if we're too secure. It has been over two weeks since I posted my first blog. You know why? Because I forgot my sign-in details. How amazingly silly is that?

You would have thought a relatively intelligent, fairly savvy, not totally stupid person would have thought about writing such things down. Even someone like me could remember this stuff, right? Maybe not. My brain is getting too crowded with this stuff.

A few years back I started getting a new message whenever I had to choose a password at a new site: the password strength checker. What a clever tool! Now I can type and re-type my passwords until they are so strong and secure nobody would ever be able to break them. Sadly, almost, I found out how true that was. And so began an odyssey over the years, a dance of sorts, between my ADD tendencies and these wonderful password strength checkers.

It is a challenge, is it not, to your very soul to see how strong you can make these passwords? I aklmost feel as if I would be inviting the beasts who want to decipher my passwords in, if I were to settle for less than an amazingly strong rating. And so I have gotten very good at picking tough passwords over the years. And then I got to the point where I wasn't going to use sites that required them, because it was just too humiliating to not be able to sign in to the new email address I gave my friends and family so I would actually read what they sent. And I would have ...

Now, almost from habit, I create newer, simpler, more difficult than ever to decipher, ultra-strong, herculean passwords ... almost without even trying. And I immediately forget them. But over the years I remembered how often I would forget them, so I began writing them down in places I do not forget. I was really proud of myself when I found that I could even password-protect the file I kept them in on a private piece of non-wi-fi electronics I have for such things.

But this time I forgot to write my password down. I had promised myself that this would be a thing of the past. And it has been, for what seems a long time to me. (I won't say how long ... duh!) But now I'm beginning to wonder if I have become too secure. So secure I must resort, at the promptings of others, to asking the servers to reset my wonderfully ultra-strong passwords.

At times like these I begin to doubt my sanity and the sanity of a world where you have to secure even the thoughts you want to share with strangers. And these are the times I am glad, almost giddy with overwhelming joy, that I don't have to count on a password that has to stay hidden for my salvation from this insanity. This password is freely accessible to anyone who wants to use it. It is a name. Jesus.

Forget all the other passwords and security gizmos and memory tricks. Just whispering His name is enough to make me feel really and truly secure. Jesus. Yeshua. Iesou.

Okay ... so now I am back to blogging. And I have a new password for this thing. And it isn't "Jesus", okay. So I'll be back soon, and I won't forget this time ... because I wrote it down ... someplace secure.