Get Moving!

Sometimes I just need to get moving. Today I've spent way too much time thinking about the past... this time it was triggered by some posts on facebook that got me looking at a old high school annual book. I was quite immature and awkward during those years, and, as I look back, I think about all the opportunities I missed. I was doing some other things at the same time, recording and balancing financial accounts, but I kept going back to the past and all the people I'd love to talk with again -- and not all of them were girls.

In any case, as I spent that time, I wasn't getting exercise, I wasn't picking up the house or cleaning the kitchen, and the financial work I meant to do is still half done. So, now, I just need to get moving for awhile. I've taken care of the organics recycling and now I'll tackle the kitchen cleanup. Then maybe I can get back to this desk work with more focus on the tasks at hand.

I'm sure there's some sort of Bible verse that connects with this... we aren't people of the past. The Lord always pushes us on to whatever is next, with full assurance of forgiveness for previous missed opportunities.

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The Limits of Christian Morality

In my last post I mentioned that the arms (or gun) control debate has become the (main) topic of conversation online these days. I said "I like to say I'm learning through the conversations, and I am."

One thing I'm learning, that I woke up thinking about before 4 AM today, leads to this post about "The Limits of Christian Morality." Personally I don't believe there should be limits on which areas or arenas of life where Christ reigns supreme. But I'm learning that some people do, or, at least, they haven't looked carefully at certain issues through Christ's eyes. Some people seem to leave Christ centered teaching behind as they venture, for example, into areas such as their personal finances. Some don't consider Jesus' teachings as applying to their personal sexual relationships. Others seem to do it in regard to the right to bear arms. This last point is what I've been learning about in recent days.

The American second amendment right to bear arms isn't really about self-defense. It's actually, as two of my friends have written, more about having arms at the ready in case it would be necessary to rise up against a despotic or tyrannical government as the early Americans did in the Revolutionary War, or, I'd add, as the southern states did in what we now call the Civil War.

But I wonder whether Christian morality can stretch far enough to justify violence in defense of freedom, or whether such justification needs to come from other sources, from teachings that don't harmonize with the ways and words of Jesus. I'm hoping that someone from the Christian community can show me how this is done. If not, I believe such rationale would point out that this is one more area where Christians leave Christianity behind.

I'm hoping to say more about this later.

God's peace to you all.

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February has 28

The last day of the month, thank God. I'm not completely negative on February, and we had some great times during the last 4 weeks. I am, though, looking forward to the warming and lightening of March. Bring it on!

When I have time these days, when I'm not driving/working, when I'm not doing what needs to be done here at home or enjoying time with family and friends, and when I'm not sleeping or napping, my big occupation has been conversation, mostly online, with friends and acquaintances -- continued conversations like I've written about here before, except that the topic has shifted, now, to the whole "arms control" debate. I like to say I'm learning through the conversations, and I am.

Time to rest a couple minutes before going back to work.

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Jesus Holds Me

Jesus holds me. Jesus. Not an unknown God in my heart or in my brain. Jesus, the one who died and is risen from the dead. Jesus the one who holds me now and will hold me forever. Jesus, the Word of God, the Way, the Truth, the Life. Jesus. The one seen and known by witnesses who were filled by God in the Holy Spirit and who spread the news of Jesus love that goes on forever and never gives up on me or on you. Jesus. What a treasure it is to know him and trust him and allow him to guide me. Not in a way that can only be explained by analogies or mythological language, but the One True God who took on flesh and lives now forever. He holds me. And He holds you too, because besides being the one you can know, he's the One who holds all things together, even molecules. Plants, animals and all people depend upon Him for every breath. He is the source of all life and all existence. He was, He is, and He is to come. All Grace. All Love. All Mercy. No one is excluded. Read the stories of Jesus as they are recorded in the Bible. Read about all the wounded and sick and rejected who found a Home in Him. Read how he stood up for the poor and the poor in spirit. Read how he stood against the self-sufficient ones and the religious ones who were threatened by his all-encompassing grace and love. O Jesus. How I long that everyone would know who you are.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

"There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

"The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

"(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)

"Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known."

John chapter 1, New International Version Translation

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Imitate Me (?)

Going through our credit card statement, entering receipts, balancing accounts: it shows me how much money I spend on things that I probably wouldn't spend on if I wasn't trying to please others.  

Is that true? In some ways, yes. Thinking back on my life I realize how many times I've avoided spending money until I'm "pushed" by others.

Is that God's work in my life? Is the contentment I often have with how things are, my desire to be frugal... is that a "God thing" or just a part of my (inborn?) temperment?

I know, in many ways (not all!) I live in ways that are driven by my relationship with the Lord, not just doing what others do. Is that pride? Judgmental? Or do I dare give credit to the Lord?

It's good to not judge others, but I often think that it would be better if more people lived like I do.

Did I really say that? Uff da.

And yet, the Apostle Paul was bold to say "Imitate me... as I imitate Christ." Do I dare say the same?

Praying for wisdom.

See this link: https://www.challies.com/personal-reflections/be-imitators-of-me/

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Yesterday's Ride

Yesterday I had the chance to make a bike trek to our church small group gathering in Oakdale. It took me maybe close to an hour and a half in the 10-15 degree weather. I'm glad I did it, even though it was cold and even though my bike's tires were low and I couldn't get the front derailleur into high gear.

I believe it's good to challenge myself. I believe it's good for others to do also, but I can't tell anyone else what to do. 

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Family Full

It's late on a Saturday evening as I begin this little post, just before midnight on February 10. Toni and I have been busy with family for the last 24+ hours. We celebrated her birthday with her parents and our children and grandchildren last night, then today her parents were here for much of the morning, joined by one of our sons and his wife and children. We had supper with them before they left. Now it's just the two of us upstairs, and our renter and her daughter down.

Much of my time when I'm not at work gets taken up with family stuff. I guess that's pretty normal, and, in many ways, it's part of God's plan. Science and scripture affirm the good plan of God--the plan that one man and one woman would be bound together to beget and bear and raise children. Our daily lives were focused on family especially when our children were young. Then there was an easing of those responsibilities as Naomi, Daniel and Jonathan moved our of our family home and didn't need us every day. Now the focus is back on family -- especially in connection with our very young children and our aging parents.

My dad's sister, who is very strong and independent, called me recently and said she had been going through old family pictures, and that she was choosing what to keep and what to throw away. I went to her condo last weekend and retrieved pictures from my dad's side of the family -- pictures of my grandparents, great grandparents and great great grandparents. That got me interested in my family tree, so, after consulting with a second or third cousin who has done a lot of genealogical research, I went online and started to build my family tree, getting information from that cousin and others. It didn't take long to build what you see below (deliberately modified to protect some identities). My subscription to ancestry.com lasts 6 months. I'll invite other family members to add if they want to.

The fascinating and difficult piece of that is the way that Jesus explodes our purely earthly ideas of "kinship." Though scripture affirms and supports biological family relationships in the Bible, warning us that we should not neglect or family responsibilities, Jesus teaches us, by his words and examples, that our real family isn't bound by blood or DNA. Jesus sacrifice on the cross connects us with every one on earth. That's huge.

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Think Differently

Toni and I are part of a small group that we've connected with through the church we've been part of for the last year and a half or so. (I'm sure I've mentioned this before.) Right now, with the group, we've been looking at a book, actually a "Bible Study" guide, with the title "Think Differently."

I've read through the pages of the book assigned for "week 1" but haven't done the study in the way the author intended. The topic for the week is "Why Is It So Hard to Think Differently?", and, frankly, the reason I haven't worked hard on the book is that I don't think, for me, it's hard to think differently. I'm challenging my own thinking all the time, and there have been several big changes. Right now God is working on me about one particular area, but even though there are big challenges with the process of change, it's not "hard" in the way the book seems to say. I believe in change and "think" it's very much a positive thing.

More about this later. Time to get ready to walk to church.

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Thoughts of the Day

Just a quick note as I go about my day today. (1) I put links to both of my recent posts, one on abortion, one about non-violence, on social media. The abortion post generated lots of discussion. The one on non-violence garnered no comments. (2) I was thinking, as I drove to and from my morning shift today, that one more thing that's a blessing about my current job, with its split shift, is that I don't need to deal with rush hour traffic except when I'm getting paid for driving in it. Both morning and afternoon commutes happen outside the peak hours.

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The Way of the Cross

Last night I finished reading Richard Hays' chapter on "Violence in Defense of Justice" in his book The Moral Vision of the New Testament.

After a convincing look at Jesus' renunciation of violence and his call for all believers to follow him in every way, he reminds us:

 "The long history of Christian 'just wars' has wrought suffering past all telling, and there is no end in sight..." (Hays, p. 342).

Here are a few more lines (from pages 343-344).

"One reason that the world finds the New Testament's message of peacemaking and love of enemies incredible is that the church is so massively faithless. ... The church is deeply compromised and committed to nationalism, violence, and idolatry. ... Only when the church renounces the way of violence will people see what the Gospel means, because then they will see the way of Jesus reenacted in the church. ... Their common denominator will be conformity to the example of Jesus, whose own imaginative performance of enemy-love led him to the cross." (Hays, p. 343f)

One more section to share, my paraphrase of another paragraph from page 343:

Let it be said clearly, however, that the reasons for choosing Jesus' way of peacemaking are not wise, at least not in the way sinful human beings normally think. Not wise, and, in fact, the way of Jesus in the world is "sheer folly." Why then would we choose that way? We act in simple obedience to the God who came to live with us in our weakness, and who gave intentionally gave his own life for us on a cross. We make this choice believing that God's love will finally win through the way of the cross, because we know Jesus is risen from the dead, foretelling the final victory of peace. When and where the church is faithful to that calling, it shows in advance the "peaceable kingdom of God in a world wracked by violence."

Hays concludes the paragraph by saying that the church needs to work out just what non-violence means in each situation but always in conformity, as I quoted above, with the seemingly foolish way of our Lord Jesus.

Sadly, there's more interest in the church about other moral issues than there is conversation or conformity with Jesus' clear message and example on this topic.

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Abortion

Today is the 2018 March for Life. I'm reading through the chapter on abortion in Richard B. Hays 1995 book The Moral Vision of the New Testament.

Since the NT doesn't deal with abortion, he has to approach the subject from the way the scriptures portray reality, and then connect that "world view" with the issue of abortion.

Hays says:

"To terminate a pregnancy is not only to commit an act of violence, but also to assume responsibility for destroying a work of God, 'from whom are all things and for whom we exist' (1 Cor. 8:6). ... to understand ourselves and God in terms of the Bible's story is to know that we are God's creatures. We neither create ourselves nor belong to ourselves. Within this worldview. abortion--whether it be murder or not--is wrong for the same reason that murder and suicide are wrong: it presumptuously assumes authority to dispose of life that does not belong to us."

He also says that Christians who hold this view cannot, and I would add, should not try to "coerce moral consensus" on this issue. Hays continues:

"We should recognize the futility of seeking to compel the state to enforce Christian teaching against abortion... because we recognize that the convictions that cause us to reject abortion within the church are intelligible only within the [worldview] of Scripture. The church's rejection of abortion is perspective only in light of the gospel of Jesus Christ; in this respect we stand in relation to our culture just as the early church stood in relation to the culture of the Roman Empire."

What matters more than anything is the way we live, the way we love, the way we form a "countercommunity of witness, summoning the world to see the gospel in action," establishing viable alternatives to abortion, providing long-range care for victimized women and unexpected children and families struggling with poverty, mental illness and domestic violence.

Comments welcome.

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Not Impossible

If it's true that the "apostolically founded community"* is "the place where the glory of God resides,"* then it's a horrible insult to God when that community, i.e., the church, and its members, live(s) in a selfish way.

Why would the church and its members live selfishly? One reason is that many Christian teachers and leaders have rejected the idea that some of the more challenging parts of the New Testament should be applied to Christian life today. They have said, for example, that Jesus' teachings in Matthew 5-7, teachings known as "The Sermon on the Mount," are an "impossible ideal."

That is really sad. Tragic. Faithless. Apostate.

The truth this this: With God, all things are possible. We do, however, need one another to live the Jesus' life. We shouldn't do this alone.

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* From a paragraph in Richard Hay's The Moral Vision of the New Testament. See yesterday's post for a longer quote.