I lost my job in May. I would consider this a trial, wouldn't you?
In the beginning of June, my church started a weekend series in the book of James. It starts with how to react to trials and temptations: endure.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1: 2-4
That in itself is encouraging, because endurance leads to perfection, completeness. There is a point to this struggle. And that brings hope. Hope does not disappoint (New American Standard), or put us to shame (New International). Why not? Becuase of the Holy Spirit in us.
Romans 5: 3-5 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Those verses have been flitting through my mind these past weeks, like the gentle touch of a butterfly landing on a flower. A butterfly never lands but it trades pollen and consumes nectar. As God's Word lands gently on my spirit, I am left with something valuable, something that will be used in the creation of more beauty, for God's glory.
And then this morning I was typing notes for a gentleman in my church who will be teaching on the book of Revelation this fall. In chapter 2, Jesus speaks to the church at Ephesus and Smyna, telling both groups of believers to endure the trials they face. The gentleman's notes cross reference to Acts, and so I looked it up.
Acts 14:22 tells us we MUST go through trials, not just that we WILL.
"...strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. 'We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,' they said."
And Hebrews 12:1-3:
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
I must not grow weary or lose heart. Christ Himself suffered for my salvation.
So I can endure this for His glory.
And I wait with eager anticipation to see the flower -- or a whole garden! -- that will come from these gentle words of hope.
If you would like to hear the sermons on James (I think we are coming up on week 4), use the link below.
http://www.parkerhill.org/
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Constant
Heraclitus said, "Nothing is permanent except change."
(In case you have never heard of him, he was a Greek philosopher who lived circa 535-475 BC. His belief system was based on the idea that everything changes. The quote above is one of his more famous, although most people who quote it probably don't know who said it. Another famous one is: "A man never steps over the same river twice. It is not the same river. He is not the same man.")
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I lost my job a few weeks ago. The school year came to an end, and the school board of the small Christian school where I taught for six years announced we would be closing. No one was surprised, really. And I think, although we are sad to say good-bye, no one on the staff or board is devastated by the news. God has been privately preparing all of us for whatever comes next.
For one of the teachers, that looks like it will be building a women's ministry, booking speaking engagements, perhaps writing a book. For another, it may include substitute teaching and tutoring. The business manager of the school wants to start her own business. I have put out some resumes, at the church I attend and in other schools.
But for two years now, as my arthritis has worsened, I have prayed about the wisdom of continuing to teach. Am I good at my job? Yes. Do my students learn content and godly character from me? Yes. Yet I cannot help but think, with me as a teacher, they are also missing out. Field trips are difficult for me. I am often tired, and that makes me irritable. They learn compassion as they interact with me and my disability, but does that counteract the other? I don't know. But having lost my teaching job, I am taking that as a signal that perhaps it is time to do something else.
But what?
The position at my church is for a "care coordinator." In the large, multi-site church I attend, it is a full-time job to keep track of who is in the hospital, or home bound, or in crisis. Lining up people to make meals, clean house, etc. I'm sure there is more to the job than that. Encouraging people is one of my hallmark traits, and as a disabled person myself, I can empathize with those situations, maybe think of things that person needs that an able-bodied person would not think of.
But I have yet to hear from the church. And for the past six months, God has been pushing me to write more. I was speaking to a dear friend yesterday, a woman who happens to be a marketing exec, and she had some ideas about how to promote my writing on-line. The more we talked, and as I thought more on it today, it sounds like a full time job: blogs and ads and social media of all stripes. Perhaps there will be no "job" forthcoming but God will open the doors for me to start a "business" with my writing.
But I don't know.
I just don't know.
And that can be a scary place. No paycheck. No prospects. It almost sounds like a Jane Austen novel.
And yet I am not afraid.
"I know who I have believed and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day." 2 Timothy 1:12
How can I know that it is going to be OK? Whatever that ends up looking like?
Because Mr. Heraclitus is wrong. There is something, other than change itself, that is permanent. His name is God, the Lord eternal, Jehovah Jireh and
The Alpha and Omega --
The Beginning and the End.
God does not change. There are two songs that come to mind, one by Kristian Stanfill called "The Lord Our God," and the other by Casting Crowns called "Already There."
Stanfill's chorus:
The Lord our God is ever faithful
Never changing through the ages
From this darkness
You will lead us
And forever we will say
You're the Lord our God
The first verse calls God a promise maker and a promise keeper: God cannot break His promises. 2 Timothy 2:13 says God is faithful, "for He cannot deny Himself." God cannot do something "out of character." His character IS faithful, therefore He WILL keep His promises.
Casting Crown's song,too, is a beautiful picture of God -- the same yesterday, today, and forever -- standing at the end of my life and already knowing where this little blip on the screen will lead me. I do not need to fear the fact that I can't see around the bend (like the mixed metaphors?), because God is already at the finish line. A little mind-blowing, really.
And yet there is peace.
Nothing permanent except change? Nope, God is as constant and permanent as the very change Mr. Heraclitus is talking about.
(In case you have never heard of him, he was a Greek philosopher who lived circa 535-475 BC. His belief system was based on the idea that everything changes. The quote above is one of his more famous, although most people who quote it probably don't know who said it. Another famous one is: "A man never steps over the same river twice. It is not the same river. He is not the same man.")
*
*
*
I lost my job a few weeks ago. The school year came to an end, and the school board of the small Christian school where I taught for six years announced we would be closing. No one was surprised, really. And I think, although we are sad to say good-bye, no one on the staff or board is devastated by the news. God has been privately preparing all of us for whatever comes next.
For one of the teachers, that looks like it will be building a women's ministry, booking speaking engagements, perhaps writing a book. For another, it may include substitute teaching and tutoring. The business manager of the school wants to start her own business. I have put out some resumes, at the church I attend and in other schools.
But for two years now, as my arthritis has worsened, I have prayed about the wisdom of continuing to teach. Am I good at my job? Yes. Do my students learn content and godly character from me? Yes. Yet I cannot help but think, with me as a teacher, they are also missing out. Field trips are difficult for me. I am often tired, and that makes me irritable. They learn compassion as they interact with me and my disability, but does that counteract the other? I don't know. But having lost my teaching job, I am taking that as a signal that perhaps it is time to do something else.
But what?
The position at my church is for a "care coordinator." In the large, multi-site church I attend, it is a full-time job to keep track of who is in the hospital, or home bound, or in crisis. Lining up people to make meals, clean house, etc. I'm sure there is more to the job than that. Encouraging people is one of my hallmark traits, and as a disabled person myself, I can empathize with those situations, maybe think of things that person needs that an able-bodied person would not think of.
But I have yet to hear from the church. And for the past six months, God has been pushing me to write more. I was speaking to a dear friend yesterday, a woman who happens to be a marketing exec, and she had some ideas about how to promote my writing on-line. The more we talked, and as I thought more on it today, it sounds like a full time job: blogs and ads and social media of all stripes. Perhaps there will be no "job" forthcoming but God will open the doors for me to start a "business" with my writing.
But I don't know.
I just don't know.
And that can be a scary place. No paycheck. No prospects. It almost sounds like a Jane Austen novel.
And yet I am not afraid.
"I know who I have believed and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day." 2 Timothy 1:12
How can I know that it is going to be OK? Whatever that ends up looking like?
Because Mr. Heraclitus is wrong. There is something, other than change itself, that is permanent. His name is God, the Lord eternal, Jehovah Jireh and
The Alpha and Omega --
The Beginning and the End.
God does not change. There are two songs that come to mind, one by Kristian Stanfill called "The Lord Our God," and the other by Casting Crowns called "Already There."
Stanfill's chorus:
The Lord our God is ever faithful
Never changing through the ages
From this darkness
You will lead us
And forever we will say
You're the Lord our God
The first verse calls God a promise maker and a promise keeper: God cannot break His promises. 2 Timothy 2:13 says God is faithful, "for He cannot deny Himself." God cannot do something "out of character." His character IS faithful, therefore He WILL keep His promises.
Casting Crown's song,too, is a beautiful picture of God -- the same yesterday, today, and forever -- standing at the end of my life and already knowing where this little blip on the screen will lead me. I do not need to fear the fact that I can't see around the bend (like the mixed metaphors?), because God is already at the finish line. A little mind-blowing, really.
And yet there is peace.
Nothing permanent except change? Nope, God is as constant and permanent as the very change Mr. Heraclitus is talking about.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
The Rising Sun
"But let those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might." Judges 5:31b
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Imagine a world of darkness. Nuclear winter, perhaps. Cramped into bunkers underground, around the world, isolated from each other and the land Above, human beings struggle with boredom and family interactions in the light of lamps. Bright Colemans that grate on the nerves with their incessant hissing. Old folks tell the young 'uns about the good old days in the Above. But the youngsters have no concept of day, no concept of sun, no concept, even, of space and air.
Slowly the Old Ones die. The Young Ones grow up, and their parents become Old. Finally -- FINALLY -- enough time has passed, and life can resume in the Above.
Families emerge from underground cement bunkers like groundhogs thinking of shadows. They stand at the entrance to their existence, ready but wary of stepping into the Above.
The light is blinding. They squint and throw up their hands to block the glare. And yet, slowly, the hands come down, the eyes scan the horizon.
No matter what it is they see -- whether gray destruction or a land reborn -- it is beautiful to them. The light touches every feature of the landscape. It warms. It illuminates. It enlightens.
*
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*
God's people are called to be like that sun. Bright, warm, illuminating, enlightening, in a spiritual darkness not unlike a nuclear winter. Even after the longest, darkest night, nothing can stop the rising of the sun in its might.
*
*
*
Imagine a world of darkness. Nuclear winter, perhaps. Cramped into bunkers underground, around the world, isolated from each other and the land Above, human beings struggle with boredom and family interactions in the light of lamps. Bright Colemans that grate on the nerves with their incessant hissing. Old folks tell the young 'uns about the good old days in the Above. But the youngsters have no concept of day, no concept of sun, no concept, even, of space and air.
Slowly the Old Ones die. The Young Ones grow up, and their parents become Old. Finally -- FINALLY -- enough time has passed, and life can resume in the Above.
Families emerge from underground cement bunkers like groundhogs thinking of shadows. They stand at the entrance to their existence, ready but wary of stepping into the Above.
The light is blinding. They squint and throw up their hands to block the glare. And yet, slowly, the hands come down, the eyes scan the horizon.
No matter what it is they see -- whether gray destruction or a land reborn -- it is beautiful to them. The light touches every feature of the landscape. It warms. It illuminates. It enlightens.
*
*
*
God's people are called to be like that sun. Bright, warm, illuminating, enlightening, in a spiritual darkness not unlike a nuclear winter. Even after the longest, darkest night, nothing can stop the rising of the sun in its might.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
The One Behind
I read a lot, and many genres, but my favorite is historical fiction. Lately I have been reading a series set in WWII. The author bases his novels on real historical characters, researches them to the umpteenth degree. In this book, the main characters were General Eisenhower, Field Marshall Rommel (Germany), and Jesse Adams.
Ever hear of him? Probably not. He was a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne. But he is by far my favorite.
The four and five star generals are the ones making the decisions, moving troops and tanks and having meetings to confirm this or that. The three star generals wait for those meetings to end so they know where to send their own troops. Captains and Lieutenants lead the way.
But sergeants...they are the ones behind. Oh, Adams led them, walked before them often enough, used silent hand signals to tell them when to drop, when to advance. But he was also the one bringing up the rear to make sure no one got left behind. And he was the one calling for the medic and someone did get hit.
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Sometimes, I think, we look at the Christian life and we think, "I'm not doing anything if I'm not on stage, or in a pulpit, or writing or speaking or teaching."
I would say those people -- the preachers and teachers and well-known ones -- are the generals. Out front, or making decisions from behind, sometimes taking flak when things go wrong. They organize and impact the lives of hundreds or thousands.
But I think I am better suited to being a sergeant: the one who comes alongside and says, "Keep going, soldier. We're not through yet." A sergeant may kick you in the butt when necessary, but he won't leave you behind, either.
That's the kind of Christian I want to be.
Ever hear of him? Probably not. He was a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne. But he is by far my favorite.
The four and five star generals are the ones making the decisions, moving troops and tanks and having meetings to confirm this or that. The three star generals wait for those meetings to end so they know where to send their own troops. Captains and Lieutenants lead the way.
But sergeants...they are the ones behind. Oh, Adams led them, walked before them often enough, used silent hand signals to tell them when to drop, when to advance. But he was also the one bringing up the rear to make sure no one got left behind. And he was the one calling for the medic and someone did get hit.
*
*
*
Sometimes, I think, we look at the Christian life and we think, "I'm not doing anything if I'm not on stage, or in a pulpit, or writing or speaking or teaching."
I would say those people -- the preachers and teachers and well-known ones -- are the generals. Out front, or making decisions from behind, sometimes taking flak when things go wrong. They organize and impact the lives of hundreds or thousands.
But I think I am better suited to being a sergeant: the one who comes alongside and says, "Keep going, soldier. We're not through yet." A sergeant may kick you in the butt when necessary, but he won't leave you behind, either.
That's the kind of Christian I want to be.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
There is always HOPE
At the end of Deuteronomy, Moses is finishing his farewell speech. He has led the Israelites for forty years, as they wandered in the desert as a result of their disobedience. Moses will not be joining them in the Promised Land because he, too, has sinned and God will not allow him to enter the Land, though God will take him to the mountain top so he can see it.
After Moses "re-gives" the Law, he lists the blessings and curses that God promises. Last night as I read through them, I was surprised by the length of the curses list. Not that it was as long as it is, but that it is so much longer than the blessings. God lists every possible calamity you can think of -- indeed, He promises that it will be so if (when) the Israelites are disobedient. I was overwhelmed by the utter devastation.
Ah, but when you are in a tough spot of Scripture, keep reading! There is always hope!
Deuteronomy 30: 1-3
When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lordyour God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.
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*
*
Yesterday my students were continuing to read through Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. Billie Jo's Ma has been badly burned and has pushed the hardship of the drought (the Dust Bowl) from their minds, at least for awhile. Billie Jo went out to get water from the pump.
And the locusts came.
Ate everything, even the apples on Ma's apple trees. Billie Jo says,
I couldn't tell her,
couldn't bring myself to say
her apples were gone.
I never got the chance.
Ma died that day
giving birth to my brother.
Oh, the heartache! The devastation! The utter loss!
But then I had my students look up some Bible verses:
Psalm 42:5 (and 11)
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
I love the way God repeats things that He really wants us to remember, such as vs. 5 and vs. 11. But the idea of hope is also repeated throughout Scripture:
Genesis 3 : the fall of Man -- God promises a Savior
Jesus dying on the Cross -- on the third day He rose again!
And the end of it all: Revelation 19-21 -- after Armeggedon comes the New Jerusalem!
There is always HOPE!
After Moses "re-gives" the Law, he lists the blessings and curses that God promises. Last night as I read through them, I was surprised by the length of the curses list. Not that it was as long as it is, but that it is so much longer than the blessings. God lists every possible calamity you can think of -- indeed, He promises that it will be so if (when) the Israelites are disobedient. I was overwhelmed by the utter devastation.
Ah, but when you are in a tough spot of Scripture, keep reading! There is always hope!
Deuteronomy 30: 1-3
When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lordyour God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.
*
*
*
Yesterday my students were continuing to read through Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. Billie Jo's Ma has been badly burned and has pushed the hardship of the drought (the Dust Bowl) from their minds, at least for awhile. Billie Jo went out to get water from the pump.
And the locusts came.
Ate everything, even the apples on Ma's apple trees. Billie Jo says,
I couldn't tell her,
couldn't bring myself to say
her apples were gone.
I never got the chance.
Ma died that day
giving birth to my brother.
Oh, the heartache! The devastation! The utter loss!
But then I had my students look up some Bible verses:
Psalm 42:5 (and 11)
Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
I love the way God repeats things that He really wants us to remember, such as vs. 5 and vs. 11. But the idea of hope is also repeated throughout Scripture:
Genesis 3 : the fall of Man -- God promises a Savior
Jesus dying on the Cross -- on the third day He rose again!
And the end of it all: Revelation 19-21 -- after Armeggedon comes the New Jerusalem!
There is always HOPE!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Malachi
I heard a blurb on the radio this past week about the way Malachi can be summed up in one fell swoop. The speaker read chapter 3 verse 6:
"I the LORD do not change. So you, descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed."
That is a comforting thought. No matter what I do, God doesn't change. No matter what nightmares occur in the world around me, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
*
*
*
What also strikes me is the placement of this truth. It is not the only time in Scripture God tells us He is unchanging. Immutable, as the theologians would have it.
But He tells us again in Malachi. The last book of the Old Testament. The last bit before the age of Grace begins with Jesus's death and resurrection. The last words before God stops speaking for 400 years.
"OK, people, you won't hear from me for awhile. Here it is, nice and clear and concise so you don't forget: I, the LORD, don't change. And that is so you won't be destroyed."
If you knew you would not see this or that person ever again, what would you say? We use that concept at graduations and saying good-bye to loved ones. What are the last things we want them to know? I love you...I'm proud of you...be good...
God wants us to know: I never change.
You can count on that!
"I the LORD do not change. So you, descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed."
That is a comforting thought. No matter what I do, God doesn't change. No matter what nightmares occur in the world around me, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
*
*
*
What also strikes me is the placement of this truth. It is not the only time in Scripture God tells us He is unchanging. Immutable, as the theologians would have it.
But He tells us again in Malachi. The last book of the Old Testament. The last bit before the age of Grace begins with Jesus's death and resurrection. The last words before God stops speaking for 400 years.
"OK, people, you won't hear from me for awhile. Here it is, nice and clear and concise so you don't forget: I, the LORD, don't change. And that is so you won't be destroyed."
If you knew you would not see this or that person ever again, what would you say? We use that concept at graduations and saying good-bye to loved ones. What are the last things we want them to know? I love you...I'm proud of you...be good...
God wants us to know: I never change.
You can count on that!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
orphan souls
Once upon a time, I was lost. Lost like Hansel and Gretyl. Lost like the TV show. Lost like a valuable jewel under the seat cushions.
Psalm 119 says, "I have strayed like a lost sheep." God promises in Ezekiel 34 that he will "search for the lost and bring back the strays." I believe that one of the ways he does that is to use believers to reach out to others who are lost.
Right now, and for the next few days, KLOVE is having its spring pledge drive. I am always blessed and encouraged by the stories that are shared about how God is working through this radio station to reach people. Last year, from January to December 2012, more than 10,000 people got saved! They were lost and now they are found!
This year during pledge drive, KLOVE is working with Shoes for Orphan Souls, an organization that brings new shoes and socks to orphans around the world (including the US) who are without shoes. There are over 143 MILLION children without shoes.
But it isn't simply a lack of shoes. That lack means no access to education; no education leads to a cycle of poverty. So, providing these children with shoes can dramatically change their lives!
Not only that, but as the workers from Shoes for Orphan Souls wash their tender little feet and gently put on fuzzy socks and new shoes, they also share the Gospel with the children. Orphans who own nothing and are alone are told the wonderful promises of God:
Psalm 27:10 -- Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.
Galatians 4:4-7 -- But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
And if I have been blessed with shoes and sonship, how can I not also give to encourage orphans?
James 1:27 -- Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Psalm 119 says, "I have strayed like a lost sheep." God promises in Ezekiel 34 that he will "search for the lost and bring back the strays." I believe that one of the ways he does that is to use believers to reach out to others who are lost.
Right now, and for the next few days, KLOVE is having its spring pledge drive. I am always blessed and encouraged by the stories that are shared about how God is working through this radio station to reach people. Last year, from January to December 2012, more than 10,000 people got saved! They were lost and now they are found!
This year during pledge drive, KLOVE is working with Shoes for Orphan Souls, an organization that brings new shoes and socks to orphans around the world (including the US) who are without shoes. There are over 143 MILLION children without shoes.
But it isn't simply a lack of shoes. That lack means no access to education; no education leads to a cycle of poverty. So, providing these children with shoes can dramatically change their lives!
Not only that, but as the workers from Shoes for Orphan Souls wash their tender little feet and gently put on fuzzy socks and new shoes, they also share the Gospel with the children. Orphans who own nothing and are alone are told the wonderful promises of God:
Psalm 27:10 -- Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.
Galatians 4:4-7 -- But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
And if I have been blessed with shoes and sonship, how can I not also give to encourage orphans?
James 1:27 -- Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
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