There ought to be a law

There are thousands of laws that go unenforced in the US of A.  Yes, that’s right.  Here is a sampling.  In Michigan a woman needs to have her husband’s permission to cut her hair. Why?  Because a 19^th century law says it belongs to him!  A law in Charlotte, North Carolina, requires a woman to wear at least 16 yards of fabric before going out on city streets. Yikes! A 19^th century statute still on the books in NYC makes wearing tight body conforming clothing a crime with a $25 dollar fine.  I like this one best. In Memphis, Tennessee, if a woman drives a car a man with a red flag must walk in front of the car warning others on the road.

The weight of the law bears heavily on people because legislators feel compelled to attempt to right every wrong. A few years ago, after seeing how a traffic violation stacked multiple fines and fees amounting to nearly $1000 on a poor person, I called the NJ lawmakers who represent our region.  I told them about the family I knew who became homeless as a result of one traffic stop that led to a crushing series of fines. Each man listened politely, thanked me for calling, and went on passing more laws to try to regulate our daily lives.

I wonder if Christians sometimes adopt the same behavior, trying to make better ‘disciples’ by creating multiple religious laws?  The Pharisees did it and Jesus condemned them.  He said “They don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.”  (Matthew 23:3-4 NLT) We can make all the rules we think are necessary, but they won’t really change much.  Unless there is a change of heart, the sinful nature will find a way around the rules. Or, like the archaic laws I wrote about, our rules will just be ignored. 

One of my favorites passages reminds me of the futility of trying to regulate my behavior with endless lists of rules. "You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires." (Colossians 2:20-23, NLT)  If my desire is truly to please God, I will find myself often in the Presence of Jesus. I will open my life to the Holy Spirit, letting Him lead me, quickly responding when He awakens my conscience to some thought, word, or action that is not pleasing to my Father in heaven.

A nation needs laws, but if we think that law alone will make a better society, we are fools. The cost for a cop on every corner and jail cell for every offender will crush the country. A well-ordered, prosperous nation demands inspired leadership, shared values, opportunity, and education.  Without respect for reasonable laws, we all become scofflaws.

A Christian who wants to know the best life God has planned for him goes beyond childish restraint and learns to ‘delight himself in the Lord´ so that He can ‘give him the desires of his heart.’ (Psalm 37:4)  Are you struggling with temptation?  Carry it to Christ in prayer.  Ask Him to lead you through the training that will reshape your mind and heart around His will.  Troubled by the state of your church?  Lift it to Jesus prayerfully.  Ask Him for greater love; in you, in those with whom you live.  Pray for renewal, not mere restraint. 

Here’s the word from the Word.  Meditate on the truth that transforms.  "So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness.

Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way." (Colossians 3:12-17, The Message)

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I'm calling out to You,

There must be something more,

Some deeper place to find-

Some secret place to hide-

Where I've not gone before.

Where my soul is satisfied

And my sin is put to death,

And I can hear Your voice,

Your purpose is my choice,

As natural as a breath.

The love I knew before,

When You first touched my life,

I need You to restore-

I want You to revive.

Would you place in my heart

A passion for Jesus,

A hunger that seizes,

My passion for You?

My one desire,

My greatest possession,

My only confession,

My passion for You.

Passion For Jesus

Brian Houston

© 1999 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

A Grandfather's thoughts

Landon Sean joined our family last week.  His Dad, my son, introduced us with pictures sent from Florida.  Even though it happens millions of time every year, the birth of a child is a thing of wonder and, for me, a moment that reminds me of the awesome responsibilities that belong to us who will be his guides from infancy to adulthood.  Landon is a little bundle of potential.  Imprinted in his DNA are personality traits and abilities. Will he be an artist, an athlete, a musician, a dreamer?  That part is God’s work.  What he does with those gifts, how he relates to others,  he will learn from us.

None of us can be Landon’s Savior but each of us will have some part in setting his course for life by our example.  The choices we make- our circle of friends, our possessions, our  entertainment, the music that fills our home, the words we use when we talk about others, Who and where we worship – shape lives.  My greatest desire when I was actively parenting my own children was not that they go to an Ivy League college,or that they acquired the skills to become wealthy, or that they gained positions of power. Before anything else, I desired that they would become disciples of Jesus.  Bev and I knew that our example was a powerful part of that choice.  

I want to live in such a way that I can say, “Follow me as I follow Christ” to Landon. Jesus’ words are remind us that this a matter of extreme concern to our Father in Heaven, too. "He put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me. … But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck." (Mark 9:36-37, 42, NLT)

This is not a call to piety or excessive religiosity around children. Holding back profanity just because children are present, living like the Devil all week and then insisting on going to church every Sunday, are terrible choices.  To claim to love people wholeheartedly when in public and then denigrating those of a different race or religion at the dinner table is wrong.  Those gaps teach children to be hypocrites, to think that God can be bought with a few trinkets and a couple of hours of feigned worship! God is Lord of Monday as surely as He is of Sunday. "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." (Deuteronomy 6:6-8, NIV) Is the Lord part of every conversation? No, I don’t mean in a forced way, a strain to mention “Jesus” in every paragraph! Is He present?

We choose to love, they learn to love.
We choose to forgive, they learn to forgive.
We choose to seek God first, they learn He is their primary resource.
We are faithful to our commitments, they learn to stick with the tough things.
We discipline ourselves in big and small ways, they learn how to make the choice to eat cookies after dinner. We live our faith, they look to the One who gives them life.

The Proverb offers this wisdom: "Point your kids in the right direction— when they’re old they won’t be lost." (Proverbs 22:6, The Message)   Yes, it’s a heavy responsibility and one no parent can carry alone. It should send us often into the Presence of God where we ask for His wisdom, where we pray for forgiveness, where we invite the Holy Spirit to shape us into the likeness of Christ Jesus.

Landon, you have made Poppa think! I pray I am a Christian from whom you will see the beauty of Jesus and, in your time, you will choose to love and serve Him.

_____________________

I am a promise
I am a possibility
I am a promise with a capital "P"
I am a great big bundle of potentiality
And I am learnin' to hear God's voice
And I am tryin' to make the right choice
I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be.

I can go anywhere that He wants me to go
I can be anything He wants me to be
I can climb the high mountains
I can cross the wide sea
I'm a great big promise you see!

I am a promise
I am a possibility
I am a promise with a capital "P"
I am a great big bundle of potentiality
And I am learnin' to hear God's voice
And I am tryin' to make the right choice
I'm a promise to be anything God wants me to be
Anything God wants me to be!

I Am A Promise, Bill and Gloria Gaither

What time is it?

Eric, who has served our local congregation as our Youth pastor since August, 2010 announced his resignation on Sunday. He came to us just out of college with the fresh enthusiasm that is the strength of the young! He saw a need in our town and led the way to founding a youth outreach called “The Vault.”  Now he’s moving to a new position. It’s time to grow on.  None of us is thrilled with the loss of a friend. But, it appears to me that we recognize that the Lord has another chapter to write in all of our lives. His departure leaves the challenges of change for us. Where do we go from here?  What kind of influences will a new person  bring to our church? 

Solomon makes us think when he writes that "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NLT)  He goes on to talk about living and dying, planting and plowing, mourning and dancing, scattering and gathering, war and peace.  It’s easy to read that passage and say, “Yes, that’s right,” and give it little thought. Hit the pause button for a moment. Who really wants to think that there is a time to die?  Have you prepared your will?  Are your relationships in good shape so that if you made your exit from this world today there would be nothing left unsaid?  We grow wise when we remember, ‘there is a time to die.’  Who values mourning?  We try hard to keep ourselves happy, sometimes to the point of ignoring the plight of our friends or family, don’t we?  We are tender when we accept that ‘there is a time to mourn.’   Who likes to weep? I know that there are things we discover only when we are so broken that our tears become a kind of wordless prayer language.

I love Springtime, when the sun warms the earth and all things grow again. It’s a time of renewal. I love the Summer with its bright days and invitations to play. I love the Fall when the harvest arrives, when the nights cool, and life settles toward its inevitable Winter. And, I have come to love Winter; icy, cold, deathly. It is a time to wait for Resurrection! 

The wise person embraces life fully;  using the changes, the seasons, as opportunities to discover more of the fullness of God, to understand himself better, to enrich the world of which he is a part.  I am not a fatalist. I do not believe, for a moment, that old saw that says, ‘everything happens for a reason.’  Much of what we experience happens to us because of our choices, some good, some bad, some wise, some foolish. But, as a Christian I know I can present every situation to the Lord and to trust that He will work in it for my good.  In faith to trust God with today we find a depth to life that is beyond the grasp of those who desperately struggle to control it all.

What time is it? “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:14-20, NIV)

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My Life Is In Your Hands

Life can be so good,

Life can be so hard,

Never knowing what each day,

Will bring to where You are.

Sometimes I forget

And sometimes I can't see

That whatever comes my way

You'll be with me.

Nothing is for sure.

Nothing is for keeps.

All I know is that Your love

Will live eternally.

So I will find my rest,

And I will find my peace,

Knowing that You'll meet

My ev'ry need.

My life is in Your hands,

My heart is in Your keeping.

I'm never without hope

Not when my future is with You.

My life is in Your hands,

And though I may not see clearly,

I will lift my voice and sing,

'Cause Your love

Does amazing things.

Lord I know my life

Is in Your hands!

Bill Montvilo | Kathy Troccoli

© 1993, 1994 Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc. (Admin. by BMG Music Publishing)

Floating Note Music, Inc. (Admin. by Unaffiliated Admin (UA))

CCLI License # 810055

Will day's end find you standing tall?

Hupomone (hoop·om·on·ay). Go ahead, say it aloud! Hupomone! Fun, isn’t it?  It is a word of Koine (coin- ay) Greek. (the language in which the New Testament was first written)  It's a compound word;  a prefix meaning 'under,' and a root meaning, 'remain.'  “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance (hupomone) the race that is set before us," (Hebrews 12:1, NKJV) 

Unlike a sprinter who explodes from the starting block, pouring everything he has into a 100 meter dash,  Christians are long-distance runners.  We set a pace that we can maintain, steadily and consistently, living for Jesus-- with patience, with endurance. (hupomone!)  We have to hold it together even under the weight of many trials!

Lots of people begin projects only to collapse before the finish line!
Marriages, once sparkling with love, turn into a dull partnership, when the strains of kids, debt, or ill health comes.
That new job was going the place to shine, but a burnt out functionary takes the place of the inspiring performer.
Students go off to college intending to make the Dean's list and too easily get sidetracked into the three day weekend party lifestyle.

People respond the Good News about Jesus Christ and begin their Christian life with enthusiasm. They are always in church, loving worship and fellowship. They discover God's will and purpose and cheerfully change things that the Spirit teaches them.  Their prayer is full of childlike simplicity and earnest faith.  But, then comes disappointment.  In the fire of temptation, the joy evaporates. The disciple turns into a pew warmer, a critic, with a 'form of godliness that denies the real Power.'

Hupomone is about a faithful finish!

'Finishers' are people who keep their word, who fulfill their calling, who maintain their Christian witness through joy and sorrow, Summer and Winter, sunshine and rain.  Jesus told a teaching story about this. “Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’ Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can’t, won’t he send an emissary and work out a truce?” (Luke 14:28-32, The Message) The implied conclusion is - FINISH what you start! (Hupomone!)

Remember that it isn't "all guts, no glory." Finishers enjoy what mere starters never find: the satisfaction of a job well done, a life well lived, a victor's crown! The ultimate reward is the commendation of the Lord and a welcome into His presence.

How do we endure, finishing well?  "We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up." (Hebrews 12:2-3, NLT)   It’s about Jesus!  Exhausted?  Stop and re-center on Him. You may be chasing too many goals.  Unmotivated?  Set your hope on Eternity’s promise.  Doubtful? Jesus was tested too. Pray for Him to renew your faith by the Spirit.

HUPOMONE! Say through the day. People might think you are a little unbalanced. If they ask, just tell them you're speaking Greek. (You are!) Have fun.

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A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

A mighty fortress is our God,

A bulwark never failing.

Our helper He amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe,

His craft and pow'r are great,

And armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide

Our striving would be losing.

Were not the right Man on our side,

The Man of God's own choosing.

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is He.

Lord Sabaoth, His name.

From age to age, the same.

And He must win the battle.

And tho' this world with devils filled

Should threaten to undo us.

We will not fear for God hath willed

His truth to triumph thru us.

The prince of darkness grim,

We tremble not for him,

His rage we can endure,

For lo his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly pow'rs

No thanks to them abideth.

The Spirit and the gifts are ours

Thru Him who with us sideth.

Let goods and kindred go,

This mortal life also,

The body they may kill,

God's truth abideth still,

His kingdom is forever!

Martin Luther

© Words: Public Domain