Remarkable ... and breathtaking ...

Sometimes a person will come across your path who seems to know just how to touch the deepest parts of your soul with a piece of music. You are stopped in your tracks and you just stand there wondering at how the words have been transformed with just a slight revision to a song you already heard .... but never like this. If any of that resonates with you, prepare to be blown away. Get settled and focused and then click the play link. Maybe you will find yourself as I did - moved to tears of extreme joy and praise for the Savior whose birth we celebrate in December each year in North America.

A Special Version of Hallelujah With a Christian Twist! from theremix on GodTube.

Just got started with Hubspot for my AFLAC business. here's the spot:

Learning a Patient Trust in God - Psalm 102

Someone once said that we should always be careful about asking God for patience, meaning that if we ask for patience God may teach us patience by putting us in places where we have no choice but to wait and see what will come next. Being in a place like that will teach us more than patience, though. A place like that in our lives also tests our trust in God’s promises.

These are the circumstances which the psalmist in Psalm 102 finds himself. He sings that there is a price to be paid for learning patience. After all, before one can enjoy deliverance one must suffer that from which one hopes to be delivered. And all along he is aware that only God can be His deliverer. His suffering is not said to be a consequence of any sin – rather it is a consequence of surrendering to God’s will (“you have taken me up and thrown me down” – v.10).

From the pits of suffering the psalmist then turns to the enduring goodness and favor of God. In a world where there is little justice and much injustice for servants of God and for the destitute, the powerless, and the weak – in just such a world God brings His glory – the glory of a just and mighty God worthy of the fearful respect of all the nations.

Just when it seems that God has turned away and the consequences of choosing to surrender to Him are eating the last of your strength away, the psalmist is reminded of God’s endurance – and so is encouraged to hold on and wait…and trust.

Having remembered how God always endures in love towards His people, never mind the trials and suffering that often comes into their midst – the psalmist realizes that there is another perspective: the perspective of the Creator. What seems to a finite man to be inevitable destruction appears to God as the dawn of vindication and victory for His faithful ones. In this psalm, having come through the refining fire of suffering and pain, the psalmist now sees with God the blessings secured for his own children and grandchildren. Patience is not an easy lesson, but a fruitful one for the one who holds onto his or her trust in God.


PRAYER: Father, no matter what else happens in our here and now, You are wonderful and deserve our enthusiastic praise. You see the end where we see only the beginnings. Sustain our patience so that never stop trusting You. We do not love You because of who we are, but because of who You are. We want to be more like You – the way Jesus expressed You in every aspect of His life. We bring so little and You make it worth so much more by Your touch on our lives. We offer You all we have and are and ever will be and ever will have in Jesus, may You make it a glory … amen.

The Paradox of Leaders Who Doubt and Doubters Who go on to make Great Leaders

In the scriptures there are many accounts of those who doubted God. From Eve, who doubted the penalty God promised for sin, to Lot’s wife, who doubted the penalty for looking back wistfully at worldly pleasures, to Thomas, who doubted that the crucified Jesus had really risen from the dead, to Saul of Tarsus, who was convinced that Jesus’ followers were a threat to true faith – so much that he was honored to be appointed their prosecutor by the Jewish leadership council, arguably the chief of doubters.
Doubts are the result of listening to our fears. So … what sets the doubters ‘who died from their doubts’ apart from the doubters ‘who went on to become great’?
The difference is in how they chose to respond to God when they realized they were giving in to fear – giving in to False Evidence Appearing Real. Eve kept talking to the serpent; Lot’s wife gave in to the temptation to turn back; but Thomas kept hanging out with the others who had seen the risen Jesus; and Saul listened to God and His messenger, Ananias, who told him that God had other plans for his life.
Doubters who die listen to their fears. Doubters who go on to become great servants of God trust God to be faithful more than they trust their own doubts.
- G. Ziegler

Preachers ... hunh! What are they good for? ....

In a blog written by a member of a church that used to be known for heralding togetherness in the willingness to be used by God, a question was asked. Should preachers seek to change the people who hire them into their own vision?

Here is my answer. ..

In a society of churches that still hold too tightly to the idea that preachers are hired to 'do the work' FOR the congregation instead of WITH the congregation, finding preachers who will be the catalyst FOR the congregation is still a problem. Why do we still think it is the man we hire that can spark the changes we have loathed to embrace?

It is the Holy Spirit of God that is the real catalyst of change. It is the preacher's work (not job) to herald the Lord's message faithfully. It is his calling to be used by God and to call others to seek to be used by God and then let God direct them together, as His flock. How God uses the preacher and the rest of His faithful is up to God.

When will the giftedness of our members, our fellow ministers, both leaders and followers, be given the attention God gives it? When will love being shown (and not just claimed and proclaimed) be restored to the center of how we are whose we are? When will we become like popcorn in the heat of God’s love, ready to explode into delicious usefulness, spreading His salt and His light? You want to know why churches grow bigger and bigger? To be fed to a starving world of lost and hungry people. They fizzle when they fail to allow God to open the package and spill the church out where it can be eaten to feed the hungry. Popcorn left in the bag gets stale – which is exactly why the big churches of yesteryear keep getting replaced … God is looking for people who will be used for HIS glory to seek and to save the lost. We do not need bigger bags to hold us in. We need more willingness to explode into usefulness in HIS hands … to be distributed by HIS will.

It is the focus of what is being sought that needs most to be driven by the Holy Spirit and NOT by any other agendas we might think rival the need for faith and the work of God in every life surrendered to HIS agenda and control. That does not depend on the professionalism or organizational capabilities of any one person or small group of persons to substitute for our service. When did the body of Christy stop being an organism created, led and focused by God? Do we leave God's Spirit in favor of having what mankind might see as a spectacular organization or plan or vision? Who is defining successful ministry? Do we trust God to define it, or do we have to meddle in it and tweak it to our own satisfaction?

Seems to me that submission to the Spirit often leads to unlikely choices as God uses the believers HE has gifted in the ways HE intends to use them/us to achieve what HE considers to be HIS purposes. Does He need us to try to tweak that into a more palatable package?

A preacher is a herald - so hire a faithful town crier type. A shepherd is one who serves the flock as protector, feed locator and guide, and as a searcher for strays - to bring them back into the fold...so why try to make them chief managers or administrators? Get to know the Author of Life. Learn to recognize HIS voice. Be sensitive to when HE calls you by name and trust God to direct the paths of His shepherds.

Why claim to trust beyond sight when you are afraid to practice such trust? And why keep appointing leaders and hiring people based on our own (oompeting) agendas instead of on the basis of their faithfulness to following God's lead? A worker is worthy of his hire, but where do we find the same said of boards of directors (no matter what we call them)? God did not design a hierarchy, so why do we waste time pretending that is a gap we should fill?

We do not need so much new focus as we need faith to walk in God's steps to work where He is working and call the ones whom He has prepared to respond. The church looks more like a business organization than a family of servant-minded and servant-living body members. Who are we kidding?

We do not need men who want to change others. We need men willing to be changed by God, wherever that leads - not because we trust our plans, but because we trust the only One who can see what we cannot.

Call faithful heralds of GOD'S message and work and movement among the lives of people in the communities to which HE has called us. Call someone who will trust God and work among you as examples of surrendered servants who know only to share Christ and Him crucified.

I was never called to make changes. Even if someone tried to make that call I would decline because that is not the role God calls me to. I was called to herald the gospel of the King and His Kingdom. I am your fellow servant, not your task-master and visionary planner. Those things come from God, not me. Those things come through me sometimes, but can just as easily come through you. I am called to herald and work alongside you - not for you and not over you.

Come, let us serve Him where He leads. Come seek His ways with me. Come live the wonder of a life surrendered and shaped daily by His will. I am a voice called to speak what He wants and when He wants because HE wants it. What gift has He given you to make an impact in this community? I am a voice of encouragement and understanding and determination to glorify God.

Me wanting to change someone? Nope. Me surrendered to be changed? Definitely. That is God's preference for me, whether it is your idea of good preaching material among your community or not. It is even God's own preference for you, too, if you would but listen to His gentle call.

What's that, Lord? Time for me to stop typing? Done.

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.

How was Jesus able to live without sinning?

Think about it. You, an imperfect being, love your son. Sometimes you even mess that up, but because you are who you are - not because you stop loving your son.

God also loved His son, a part of Himself that chose to be found in every respect just like every other man - with one exception: who he was. Becoming a man changed the power at his disposal, changed the way he saw things (new perspective - from inside human skin), and changed the way he he had to operate among men so that his example meant and counted for something special. But becoming human did not change who he was. Jesus could still say, "I am that I am" just like the Father could, because he was still, in who he was, God - even though he gave up practically everything else that we think of God being and being able to do.

In a very limited way, it is kind of like Bill Gates becoming a pauper. Bill would be just as penniless as any other poverty-stricken person, but there would still be something different about Bill - who he was as a person. Bill the person would still have the entrepreneurial spirit that got him into that group with Steve Jobs and the others in college. And he would still have that internal drive that took him from a kid on student loans to having more money than the banks who make those loans. He would be poor, at least for a while, but he would never stop being Bill Gates. If he wanted to regain the power and prestige and perks of being the founder of a Microsoft empire, he would have to do again what he did back when he was first trying to design a PC in his parents' garage.

That is, in a very limited way, what Jesus did. Why did he not sin, if he was just like you and me (who definitely have, and sometimes still do, sin)? Because of who he was Jesus did not sin - for even while fully man, he was still God who became man - with the same drives and will and love and mercy and sense of right and wrong and so on that makes God who He is. Jesus could do what we cannot because in the end, whether in heaven on a throne or on earth in human flesh, he was still God at the very core of his being. Living according to his Father's will was living according to his own will. He could do what his Father wanted perfectly because his Father's sense of perfection and will for mankind was still in the make-up of who he was without omniscience and without omnipresence and without being omnipotent while in the flesh. Whi he is and was while on Earth are the same as who he was and ever will be while in heaven. What changed was the packaging and the power, NOT the identity and sense of self.

This is why when we come to Christ, the more we self-identify with Him, the easier it is to see temptation for what it really is and resist it...even for us! It is transforming and progressive and so powerful it can take a murderous hater of disciples of Jesus and transform him into an amazing missionary and evangelist of God's power in Christ through the speaking and living of the gospel to the Gentiles.

He transformed Paul and all the other apostles and disciples we read about in the NT, just the same as He has been transforming you and me. We sin because we self-identify (deservedly) as sinners. He did not sin because he self-identified completely with God.

I hope that helps.

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.

What are you most thankful for about your church and/or its ministry leaders?

I am thankful that God reached out to them and made them the men and women they are today. And I am thankful God is still working through each one and in each one. I am thankful for their willingness to learn and submit to God. And I am thankful that each one is willing to take a stand and take the heat. I am grateful that these are prayer warriors, in support of everything else we do. And I am grateful for their willingness to train up those who will come behind them. For all these things and more, I am thankful.

Glenn Ziegler
Merrillville Christian Church


The Threads forum is asking you to contribute and possibly win a thanksgiving gift.
Click on http://threadsmedia.com/blog/article/thanksgiving-writing-contest/?cid=Threads-emailCRD20091105WritingContest to participate.

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.

Sin defined and Patriotism considered...

Just a few days ago some friends and I were discussing what sin is. Several of us see that sin is anytime, anytime at all, that we miss the mark of pleasing God.

One of the things I have noticed about sin is that we are drawn to it. We don't just suddenly get there. James says we are drawn away (from pleasing God) by our own hungers and desires, our lusts of various sorts. He also said that it takes time for that to become fully grown, but when it does, it is sin.

It is like coming to Jesus. Jesus said that if He was lifted up, then He would draw all men to Himself. Again, it is a process. First we introduce someone to Jesus and then they begin to see something compelling, something interesting in Him that increases their hunger to know Him better. Seeking to get to know Him is NOT discipleship. Choosing to follow Him as Lord and no one else IS discipleship. There are steps between being introduced and becoming a disciple - a growing process.

Since these are both processes, how can we tell them apart? It is actually not that hard. You just look where the process is leading you. Sin leads away from pleasing God. Jesus leads toward pleasing God.

**********

Now that same group of friends and I who were discussing what sin is have also been discussing the role of national patriotism in the life of someone who submits to Jesus as their Lord. Jesus said, "Whoever loses his life for My (Jesus') sake, shall find it." But what does the patriot say? Lay down your life for your country. Tough choice, huh? Jesus or country?

When we claim to be both a disciple and a patriot for our physical nation, do we also become cats so that we seem to think we can lay down our lives more than once? Do we think Jesus was only speaking metaphorically? How real is dying to self? And does anyone question whether dying for their country is more than a metaphor?

In the first century, there was no metaphor in either case. You had to choose between dying for Jesus in the emperor's arena, or dying to Jesus and confessing the emperor as your god. Is there really any questioning that they could not choose both? One way lost self in order to live for Jesus and was sent to death by country, and the other way lost Jesus to preserve self in the service of emperor and country. There is no room to doubt that they had to make a very real choice between serving Jesus and serving Rome.

Jesus said you cannot serve both God and personal gain. You have to choose. If you try to serve two masters it is inevitable that you will fail. This is at the heart of why the health and wealth gospel is no real gospel at all. But some are also trying to tell us we can lay down our lives in service to both Jesus and country. Why can we not see the problem with this?

Does Jesus ever tell us to die for country? And if not, then who is it that has the power over our submission to Christ alone as Lord in order to tell us to die for country? Who competes for our lives - our loyalties - our allegiance? And if we pledge our lives to country, what is left to pledge to Jesus? Is He your life? or just a part of your life?

I know...I am not advocating the American patriot gospel. Shame on me, right?

Really? Shame on me for advocating that when we say ‘Jesus is my Lord’, we should really mean it??? What happens if and when there is a point of conflict between your patriotism and your devotion to Jesus?

What happens when your country (via your commanding officer) tells you to fight against and even kill a Christian brother or sister in an opposing nation's army? Where is our allegiance then? Surely their service to their country is as good as our own in God's eyes, right? If we can do both, then why can't they? Shall we choose country over one of God’s beloved?

We would consider it terrorism for someone to come into our assemblies and kill us all as patriotic Americans, right? We would consider it an act of war were someone to kill our soldiers, Christian or not, as they shared a prayer in a foxhole, right? How is it different if we do that to anyone else? Paul repented of killing Christians. He lost his life for Jesus only to later lose his head in the deal. Did he then ever seek to justify continuing to kill fellow followers of Jesus as being the actions of a good Jewish Christian? Did he keep on killing Christians in the service of his nation of Israel, or did he mean it when he chose allegiance to Jesus instead of allegiance to Israeli patriotism? What makes us think that our choice is to be any different than Paul’s choice?

I do not question the sincerity of those Christians who choose to go to war for their country. I do question their judgment and their understanding of what Jesus was and is all about. And it doesn’t make any difference to me what country it is that we are considering, even if it is the one where I was born and first heard the gospel. In Christ there is no difference between Jew and non-Jew. I try to be a good citizen, but when it comes right down to it, I choose Jesus over nation every time. Jesus is my Lord. My nation of residence is not my Lord.

What say you? Can someone be a nationalistic patriot and a Christian at the same time and do honor to both? Share your thoughts…

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.

Smelly, Needy, Fickle ... Sheep!

At the fellowship I attend regularly here in NW Indiana, we are studying the 23rd Psalm. It has been a blessing, even though I memorized this psalm over 40 years ago and have never forgotten it. And even though I have some great new tools now to apply to my study, I find that it is the simple expression of a shepherd who is being led by the Good Shepherd that still moves me. In fact, the deeper I get into the text, the more those simple lessons make sense to my fuzzy brain.

Still, it occured to me recently to do something I don't remember ever doing before with this psalm. I asked myself, what did Jesus do with this psalm? And then I began to search for quotations from Jesus or applications made by Jesus that build on the truth revealed in this psalm. What I found was Matthew 10...an account that I was familiar with, but had never really considered in light of the 23rd Psalm. So my next blog will be posted with the ways I think these two passages relate. Until then, please read Psalm 23 and then look for some passages of interest to you that bring this psalm into play in Jesus' life as told in the gospels of Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. I would really enjoy seeing what you find in a comment or two, any length you may desire.

And if you need some help understanding the word pictures and parallelisms in this beautiful inspired poetry, I would suggest that Philip Keller's book (A Shepherd Looks At The 23rd Psalm) will be a good read for you.

Blessings,

Zieg

Ministry Follow-Up

Has it already been more than 8 months since my last blog? How can that be? Where has the year gone?

Just over 8 months ago I wrote my last entry. A young couple was being forced out into the cold with their barely school-age son. Where are they now and what came of that midnight call?

Without giving too many details here, they are living in the home provided, have updated it extensively and remodelled inside, they are regular and active members of the congregation, they are now an integral part of our web-presence as a congregation, and they are serving as an example to other young couples of what happens when you put your life into God's hands without holding back. And if that isn't enough, there was a new spiritual awakening to ministry within the hearts of this young couple on the fringes of our influence as a church.

And I didn't even mention yet that this young husband and father is an avid chef and gaming enthusiast. Why is that significant? He is using his cooking skills to help engineer a young families outreach and his computer savvy to build and set up a new computer system to run the church assemblies video and sound controls. In our small congregation, those skills are unique to this young man and desperately needed as we seek to minister in the 21st century to a community of people otherwise largely unaffected and unreached by our membership.

There are opportunities galore beginning to arise from seeds sown more than a year ago, as well as opportunities arising to minister more and more to the younger people we will need to pass on the torch, so to speak, because many of our members are aging and slowing down a bit, several of whom have been members since the congregation began back in the late 1940's.

The work is slow going, mostly because we are all part-timers in a sense. We are living and learning ministry again in a time when we do not have a paid staff of full-time workers. What we are learning so far is this: God will use us if we will trust Him and do whatever we can each day. Even a weak effort can have terrific results because of God's answers to our prayers.

2008 rapidly approaches and is just a few days away. What will be our story or stories this new year? Only God knows for certain. But we already know that as we give our lives in ministry, the results are always greater than expected when we put our trust in God.

Rely on the hope you have in Jesus.
Put the full weight of your trust in Him.
Love deeply and genuinely and do not stop loving no matter what.

2008 ... another adventure approaches. To God be the glory!

Ministry in the Moment

James Taylor's Time In A Bottle has long been a favorite of mine. I've often wondered how many of us have wished we could save time up in a bottle from those days that seem to drag by so we could use it when time seems to be slipping away all too quickly. These last few days have been like that.

Two days ago (it seems like a week ago) an acquaintance called to ask if I could come over and talk with him and his wife for a while. They were facing a crisis and needed to take some time and get perspective. So, of course, I went over and spent the evening with them.

We stayed up until after midnight, ushering out the day of turmoil that had thrown them for a loop and greeted the new day with a prayer together for wisdom and guidance and peace. And while you always hope that those days are miracle moments when God will make everything better, it just didn't work out like that. I did not get to sleep until almost 3am and the young couple didn't sleep well, either. The next day I was scheduled for a 10-hr day and was simply unable to make the calls I wanted to make to help them out. But I did make one call - to let them know I was praying for them.

That was it. That was the miracle moment. I didn't know it then, but God used that moment to focus the day and move His people to get His work done. And I thought at the time that it was about the only thing I would be able to do, and it would never be enough. Calls needed to be made and arrangements arranged. I needed to get things done and come through in the pinch. And I did not even begin to realize that I already had. I spent most of the day doing my job the best I could, all the while wishing that I could be somewhere else making things happen.

God does that. He uses the little things you do, not just the grand and complicated things, to make a difference. He takes the small moments when we submit in helplessness to work His best work behind our backs. When we want to make a day of helping someone and then it seems we only get to do a fraction of what we wanted to do, God shines.

While I was testing car exhaust systems all day, God was working. While I had wanted to make arrangements for a storage facillity, God arranged for a new home. While I had hoped to get a foot in the door with this couple I only know a little, God was preparing a way to get to know them well and serve them and be served by them and for blessings to rain down on all.

The bank had foreclosed - almost without any notice. The home was to be vacated almost immediately. The sheriff was knocking at the front door. He had a court order. He had the force of law. But we had a little talk with our Father and God made it clear who sits on the throne where it counts.

Immediately vacated now has been translated to mean by next Monday afternoon. A possible storage facillity is now being exchanged for a home to live in. And a partial answer hoped for became a solution that blesses all involved. We had a little talk with our Father and the King of heaven and earth made a miracle happen...so much more than we had asked for, and just what was needed.

What do you do when you make plans that seem doomed to fail? How do you respond when time seems to be running out and answers cannot be found? Where do you look when the carpet is yanked from beneath your feet and you're lying there, flat on your back?

You remember that now, finally, everything is looking up - and so you talk to the One who makes miracles happen. And then you trust Him and keep looking for the things you CAN do. And watch for it ... for it is surely coming: the miracle of the moment.

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.