For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
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“Another day in paradise!” I like that phrase. I try to use it several times a day. It’s a catch phrase, it’s a bit tongue in cheek, it’s annoying. I got it from a radio personality in Cleveland back in the ‘80’s. He hosted an evening drive time news & talk show, and began each show with something typical about it being another beautiful day in Cleveland, which somehow morphed into my catch phrase. I really don’t mean it to drip with irony, although many think I do and that’s fine because I don’t mind commiserating with their hard day. I’m basically saying two things. First, it’s a reminder that today is a good day! Each day we are alive is a good day and a precious gift from God, so I use this little phrase to help me remember that and maybe help someone else remember it too. We all have hard days, after all, and need reminded. Many people also think I mean this, which always makes me smile.
The second thing I’m trying to remind myself as I greet people with a smile and my pet phrase each day is that this isn’t paradise. Not even close. Crummy, fallen word full of pain, disappointment and separation, it’s not paradise at all. This world has a savior, however, and paradise is the promise so each day, however good or bad, some part of us should always be looking towards the cross, clinging to His promise. A few people even see this in my glib phrase. So now whether you see it as sarcasm, optimism, the focus of a disciple, or as the prattling of a fool, I hope you are today having “Another day in paradise.”
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I'm in a funk. I had a busy summer until August, but since that time I've been in a funk. No reason for this, of course. There never is, and it’s human to have different moods and phases in life. While I’ve sometimes been guilty of being a bit too quiet or thoughtful, I’m not one who wants to wallow in the mire of emotions for long, so I’ve been working to get out of it. I’ve found temporary relief in my hobbies. Running has been a nice diversion, particularly doing the marathon again, and getting Kohl’s ready for Christmas always makes me happy.
Still, I’m in a funk. It’s a perplexing dichotomy that we often know what we should do but fail to do it. I take piano lessons, so I should practice more often. I’m getting older so should start eating better. I work in the morning so I should get more sleep. I’m not home very often, so I should be more careful about keeping it neat and clean. It reminds me of the life-long promoter of vegetarianism who choked to death on a ham sandwich. We all know what we should do and spend quite a bit of time telling each other about these things, but even the most ardent promoters of healthy living have trouble maintaining good habits. Oh sure, for an hour or for a decade we’ll maintain our healthy actions, but then a small bump knocks us off the path and we’re back to struggling.
Faith in God is that way. God is not. God is constant.
So when you’re reading you Bible daily, praying constantly and acting on your faith regularly, good for you--keep it up. When you’re not, look for a good habit to start. Plan it out, do it with thought. Knowing you need to go to bed earlier isn’t going to help. Making a realistic plan that works in your life and sticking to it might help. Same with Bible reading. Same with prayer. Same with good works. Same with sharing your faith.
One last thing: When you land in a spiritual funk do not think you’ve failed in your Christian walk. We all have those highs and lows. Even pastors, Saints, parents, friends, leaders, and teachers. Just remember that “Wise men still seek Him.”
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It may surprise some, but then again maybe not, that I don’t think I’m a terribly great Sunday school teacher. I often state that if someone comes along who has a vision and feels a strong calling I’d quite happily step aside for them, and besides it is not good to always be the teacher and never the student. We all need a bit of both.
I think that some might be surprised I think that because while I enjoy and listen to all kinds of wonderful suggestions about what I might try or do, I pretty much stick with what seems best to me. I think I made a minor mistake with that this summer in that I tried to have a continuing lesson during a time or year when nobody will be able to make it each week, and selecting a bigger and deeper topic than summer had time for. (See here for details )
So what am I up to? What drives this fool to try to convey our precious faith to the next generation? I suppose some vanity and arrogance, but I hope not much of that. I have been troubled for quite some time, really since I was a teen myself, not by the world’s inability to come to terms with Christ, but by the church’s, the Church’s, inability to pass our faith on to our children.
Oh, we do ok for a while. We love to tell little ones that Jesus is the answer to all the questions, and about Noah & Jonah. Even the middle years sometimes go well with stories about David, Jesus with his twelve apostles, and of course Paul & Co. Somewhere, somehow though we get tripped up at age 15 or so. Students may have learned many of the stories with a child’s understanding, but suddenly they find themselves in a much more complicated world. They are maturing both intellectually and emotionally and starting to encounter all of the questions, thoughts, issues, topics, groups, philosophies, heresies, etc. that the real world brings. If we as the Church aren’t there for them from 15 to 18, what will happen to their precious faith when they move on in life and the world is shown to be still more real and even larger than they’d imagined in high school?
Some topics we don’t talk about in church, some things that we should and some things that maybe we shouldn’t. Some for fear of offending other parishioners with our differing understandings of what God said. That must give God an ulcer or two. So what’s a teacher to do? How to provide a sure foundation within a rusty institution in a crumbling world? Am I nuts? Could be, nuts or a fool, but at least a fool for my Savior. My precious Savior.
So here’s what I do. I focus more on scriptures than on experiences of faith, because the brutal world has taught me that experiences and feelings can be forgotten in times of need, even the wonderful ones (and we all need some of those, we really do). I shun most written pre-programmed material because it often seems to insult even my limited intelligence and includes ridiculous questions like: “What do you think Paul was feeling when he was being stoned?” or worse yet: “In verse three, how many pomegranates are on each pole?” Yuck! Useless! All too common! These won’t start a discussion. They are too phony and safe for this world. I don’t do too many topic discussion either. I know that some people like to pull a verse from here and compare it to a verse from there and draw out some profound hidden truth. I admire and applaud them. I just also think that this tends to make the study of scripture seem to be impossibly confusing and mysterious. Mysterious is bad because it lends itself to the leader finding his own truth rather than God’s. Mysterious is bad because it is open to cynicism. Mysterious is bad because it’s hard for the beginner to study this way. Mysterious is bad because, well, it’s mysterious.
“Shine a Light!” I prayed and prayed and kept coming back to the phrase: “Shine a Light!” So I try to shine a light. We read whole passages or even books so that the students can see that the words are perfectly understandable. I offer some thoughts, ask for opinions and try to encourage rather than judge reactions. I trust the transformative power of scripture. I trust that the foundation and the answers we need are there for us. I spend more time with the Gospels than anything else, because at the end of it all I do believe that Jesus Christ is, as the small children are told, the answer.
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Years ago, Michael W. Smith was at the height of his fame and came out with a song called “Place In This World.” I hate that song. Well, not really, but it always makes me cringe. If I recall correctly, it was complete with a video where a young man and young woman wandered around until they finally end up in each other’s arms. I think I saw it for the first time around the time I was striking out trying to get a date for senior prom.
So what about it? Why do we long for a place in this world anyways? We read in Sunday school last week how great heroes of faith live as “aliens and strangers” seeking a place not in this world but in the next. Still, there it is, we long to find our place, our niche, our purpose, our destiny, our fulfillment, our raison d’être, etc.
Graduation is a time filled with these feelings, maybe most of us spend our entire senior year in contemplation of what our place here will be. It is a time when we shape our destiny blindly with each decision that we make. I recently heard from a friend from high school who became a missionary in Thailand about how “at home” he and his family feel there. He was two or three years older than me, so I’ve never know him real well, but he hadn’t found his place in school. He liked to wear fatigues & hunting gear and played cello. You get the idea. Nothing wrong with anything he did, in fact he was reasonably popular and easily one of the nicest guys anyone knew. Just a bit out-of-step with his surroundings. I think we all feel that way from time to time, and maybe for him that discomfort made it easier to find comfort serving God in someplace completely foreign.
So what about it? Is the search for an earthly place closer to your heart than your longing for a heavenly home? Do you have a dream or ambition which will come to define your “place” in this world? If not, how can your faith in God help to shape appropriate goals? If you’ve already found a dream are you willing to let God shape and direct this ambition? Are your personal goals and ambitions in line with God’s word?
I wish you well picking your path in life, and hope you cling fiercely to God as you journey on. If the road leads to a contented place of belonging, or if you even find yourself wandering with few connections, please remember that this life is only the journey. Go with God.
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A fellow the other day was reminiscing about Sundays. His Sunday as a kid was church, large family meal, clean-up, nap, church. Another old-timer chimed in that she could never play outside or have friends over on a Sunday because it was set aside as quiet time. Others remembered being restricted to their rooms for homework and quiet play, or being sent to visit with grandparents. One remembered each Sunday as being “a million years long.”
How’s your Sunday? Mine is generally frantic. Most weeks I work at Kohl’s in the afternoon. If not I head out to play, go in to my other job, head out to see some event, catch up on neglected chores, but it is almost always go-go-go until late.
Where did the time go? Everything is faster now, isn’t it? Well, partly we try to do more now. Maybe we can afford to do more. We have more options for leisure and entertainment and try to cram all of these new distractions into our lives. Many people wonder if the answer is that we don’t give church as much priority, and that may be so, but I prefer to just see it as a difference in the way we live today.
This does beg the question, however: What does it mean to be a church in 2009? How do we take time when we are busy, make time when we are distracted, meet the needs we never see, serve the people we barely know? Shorter services, longer services, more activities, fewer activities, different kinds of activities, post the sermons on the web, congregational trip, louder music, no music, soft music, should we fight against the loss of peace or embrace the new pace, are these the right questions or have we missed something here? I don’t know.
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“ I have not seen God reach down into people's checkbooks and paychecks. “
Honest sentiment recently shared with me. Interesting: Do our answers to questions like this depend on perspective and experience? Do we lack the faith to see or is there nothing there to see? Why do we put so many practical limitations on what God does? Is He limited by our reality, or rather choose not to upset it? Or is reality too real for God? Hmm. Be a bit cautious in answering these questions. If you can give a simple answer you’ve either lived long and well and experienced faith deeply, or you’ve yet to walk this path long enough to grasp how fantastically complicated faith is.
Speaking of faith and God, this is a good moment to remind you to be God’s hands. A cynic would say something like: “Well, you just imagine what you’d want God to do, do that, and then credit God—thereby creating a self-fulfilling paradox!” To a Christian walking with God that sounds ridiculous because God is part of our day-to-day existence. Really hard to share our walk with God though. We can talk about it, describe it, try to explain it, but in the end you can’t demonstrate it with a geometrical proof. What we’re left with then is to step out boldly in faith to do those things that He’d have us as Christians do in His name; not so that we’re glorified but so that He is. That’s a challenge. Jesus trusted us with that? What was he thinking?
So how about that checkbook question? Hmm. I don’t have a good answer, but I will share that I have found as so many others have that the amount of fruit rarely seems to be related to the labor. Sometimes there’s many more fishes in the larder to go around, and sometimes the wine seems to run out before its time. I suppose a strict bean counter would never see the hand of God in such things, but my experience like so many others has been that there is always much more to it.
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This site has been quiet. It’s my fault, I knew when I started it that my attention would wander, and it has. Some days I think I’m giving the class enough attention, some days I think I’m not. What have I been up to? Well, work (still 2 jobs), a lot of reading, a trip to China, trying to keep up with the house, training for a race, in short: just living.
Too many of these posts have been about serious things like this, but sometimes life is that way. When I got back from China the first thing I discovered was that a friend lost his 20 year old daughter while I was gone (auto accident). Sometimes there’s nothing to say. Happy Easter!
Well; yeah! Happy Easter. You don’t appreciate the floatation device until you’re in the drink, you don’t really appreciate the promise of salvation until it’s all you’re clinging to. Happy Easter. We do not worship a dead savior. Unlike so many of the world’s various religions who’s founders are comfortably buried, Jesus Christ Son Of God Savior kicked butt, broke the chains of death and rose again. According to scriptures, upon his death and resurrection the spirits of many who had passed on before were seen walking the earth. Sounds a bit weird, but you know what? Eternal life, salvation, the Lamb’s blood pays the price, Hallelujah.
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The season of Lent. A time of preparation. No, it’s not in the Bible, but it has been part of the church for a very long time now. I don’t seem to be observing it closely this year. Some years I do and some years I don’t. I like to encourage people in their observation of the season, and some years I have observed a fast myself, such as abstaining from fast food or watching television. I think this year in lieu of a fast I’ll make a small offering in honor of the season. Maybe $40 for the forty days or something similar. Not so much that it will be a sacrifice, but more that it will be good to remember the season.
Now fasting from food or some other indulgence probably seems a bit goofy to most Americans, but look at it as a nice change from our usual tendency to over-indulge in whatever strikes our fancy. Now giving up things is great, but I think the best way to observe the season is to do something. What can you do to observe the season? Start each day with prayer? Re-read the story of Passion Week? Read a devotional each day? Maybe take part in a volunteer effort? It’s not easy to find the time for this sort of thing, but that’s why it can be good as a special activity in observance of the Lenten season.
In Sunday school this year we will be spending the weeks until Easter reading about the last week of Jesus’ ministry (Passion Week). It’s a lot of material, but it includes some of his most clear, direct and passionate teachings. Hope you enjoy.
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My thoughts storm around me, in me, through me, and I struggle, fall, am unable to keep up with them. I am at one job, biding my time until I must run to my other job, trying to steal a few moments for reflection and sharing, but it seems a strain.
I’ve had a lot of time to mull over generational changes recently. Yes, changes from parents to children, but also in a broader context. Changes in schools, changes in sports, changes in the jobs we all do. Obviously we have had a major change in our nation’s politics. It seems like just yesterday that there was talk about reducing the scope of government, now there are new leaders with a much larger vision for government. In their eyes the government should take a much more active roll in providing for the social welfare of the population. Don’t know where that is going, but it does beg the question: If America is a nation founded on limited government and individual liberty, will we still be America if we largely turn to socialism to provide good things for people? If we abandon the ideals and vision of our forefathers to replace it with a new vision and new ideals, what really can we hope to hand down to our children? Can we still be proud of our country and our heritage if our new ideals are in direct conflict with that heritage?
I’m sure that the political debates and games will continue, to our peril or to our benefit, but since this site is associated with our church, what about The Church? What about our church? A friend remarked today about how people’s lives are less centered around the church now, that people are less likely to take part in events. I think that’s true, but wonder about it to. Have we lost track of God, or has the world just changed? If we aren’t getting nurtured and filled at a service, is the service at fault or have our hearts wandered away? How should we do church this year? More importantly, how should we be a church this year? What is “our daily bread” which we pray for each Sunday? What foundation are we building for the next generation? It’s 2009, the old biddies in the church are now baby boomers, and quite frankly they look a lot like the old biddies when I was a kid. They sound the same, look the same, act the same, and quite frankly their life experiences seem just as out-of-sync with the new generation. I only hope people treat them a lot better than many of them treated the old biddies of their day. You can learn a lot from your elders, if they’ll let you. If you let them share. If they let you listen.
What’s important? Why are we here? We didn’t invent church, we’re receiving the gift and passing it along. It’s like the game “Time Bomb.” Someday the timer goes off.
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I’m always amazed at the way some people read the Bible. They scrutinize every utterance and look for the deep underlying meaning. Other people try to put everything in a strict historical context to try to understand slight nuances that are missed by modern folks. I think this is great in many ways, partly because I’ve never doubted that the Bible will stand up to all amounts of rigor, and that there are unplumbed depths behind each and every syllable of it.
On the other hand, I don’t do this. At least not to those levels. I tend to read the Book as a practical thing meant to be understood in it’s own context. Here’s an example: I was at a Bible study that made a cool connection between the serpent in Genesis, the crushed head in the story of Deborah and Barak, and the dragon in the book of Revelation. Now that’s a great parallel I’d never picked up on. You could probably write a term paper just looking into the implications of the similar imagery, but it doesn’t add a lot for me personally. I know the first is a reference to Christ, I love the second story, both for it’s wildness and gore but also for how it is an ancient story depicting interaction between men and women that seems so typical. And the last reference mystifies me as much as the next guy, as it seems to be something about Christ and Israel, and yet something much more too, as it doesn’t seem to quite fit right. That’s enough for me, I don’t need it to be more.
Now why do I share this, particularly when, as I so often do, I first defend and praise that which I don’t do. It’s not that I don’t think there are deeper meanings there, not at all, I’m confident that there are. It’s that I made peace with that sort of thing quite a while back. The problem for me is two-fold. First, the search for meanings behind meanings tends to allow people to include a lot of their own ideas and thoughts. While I’m a pretty smart fellow and have a lot of thoughts, well; I’m not so smart I want to put words in God’s mouth. Secondly, it’s not always real convincing. Even if I unearth some spectacular connection that makes my faith so much more fervent, it often will seem like a house of cards when I explain it to someone else who isn’t coming to it from the same place that I am.
So, I read the Bible. I get to know the people, rub elbows a bit. I tend to take it at face value, and try to relate to each person I come across. What is this story teaching them? What is it teaching me? What does this say about God’s nature? Here’s the thing: The God described in the Bible is all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent, and active. It’s sort-of a safe bet that God wrote the Bible for each of us to read right where we are. We don’t need to be scholars or to grasp all of the connections. It’s often and in so many ways a simple book for simple people. Like me.
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Bible study. I like the Bible, I like the stories, I like the people. I really like how they seem to be so truly human. Here we are with all of our warts showing. The mighty hero who hides from lack of confidence. The great leader who can’t somehow bring himself to do the right thing. The prophet who nobody listens to. The easily related to despair, pain, and confusion living here brings. The joy of great victories, and the sorrow of lost love. I even like the parts about right and wrong, such as they are, because I trust that God knows more than me and He probably means what He says. Sure, maybe I’m missing some of the finer context, but somehow the people who try to tell me to trust good feelings over what The Book says always seem to be fishing for justification for their own shortcomings.
Just the same, what’s it mean today? How can these dusty stories help when my world is Fairborn? In 2009? Hello?
First off, I honestly don’t know. But trust me a bit, trust God a bit too. Learning about the people in the Bible, and indeed the God of the Bible, is much like meeting a friend. Sure someone can introduce you, but it’s only through spending time together that you can begin to see them as real 3-d people. Warts and all.
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Things have been slow in Sunday School land, so there hasn’t been much new here on the ‘ol class page. Hmm. Maybe should put a Thanksgiving design up just to stay entertained.
Go Team! Go Team. go team, go team?
What is a team after all? I’ve had time to dwell on this subject the last few days. I’m on the Lay Leadership committee here at church, so it’s been interesting being part of the process of finding people to provide leadership for our church team. Most people are not willing to do that. Many have very good reasons for not wanting to do that, and we’ll respect those reasons. Interesting though: Someone needs to lead.
Same thing the other day talking to a high school coach who’s had a lot of success. He was noting that at his school this year they were having a hard time finding leaders. Even the good athletes were declining to put in the time and effort required to find success. Some weren’t even trying out for teams because “it’s too much work.” Too many didn’t seem to care if the team won or lost, or if their school was represented well, or if their town was represented well. Tough thing to build, school spirit. Some feel it instinctively in their souls: “GO SKYHAWKS!” Some can never understand such feelings: “Aw, we’re just Fairborn it’s not like it matters.” So how do you become a team? How do you teach others the importance of representing your town, your school, your family, yourself, even your country? How do you share with others the importance of serving our church?
These aren’t easy questions. I had a friend once who told me that he’d never fight for his country under any circumstances. I almost hit him. I should have hit him. What a waste. The thing is, while parents, friends and teachers can explain that these things are important, ultimately we have to find the value within ourselves. Why is your school important? Because it is important to you, it is part of who you are. Nobody else will defend your school for you. Why is your family important? Because it is part of yourself. Why is your church important? Because you find it so within yourself.
Sure, we need a Savior. I think you get that. I hope you get that. But we also need each other. We need to be a church because we need each other. We could never do God’s work all on our own. Not one of us has all of the required talents. We are a church because we need to be a church.
So back to the point: How do we encourage each other to take an active part in team building, whether at school, in sports, in the arts, at work, or at church? How can we build up the group and inspire others to see the group as worthwhile? I don’t know. I’ve tried some things that have worked well, and some things that haven’t over the years. There are some basics I’ve learned, however. First the team’s success has got to matter to you. The captain has to want to win more than anyone else on the team. Then you’ve got to appreciate your teammates. Not like them, although that’s a bonus, but really appreciate their worth to the organization and want to win not in spite of them but with them. Third, you have to be the example. Enthusiasm and commitment are infectious. Trust me. Finally, speak up. Let people know how you feel. Encouragement, commiseration, praise, criticism, slaps on the back. Teamwork. Because it’s life. It really does matter because you really do matter.
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So what is it like to run 26.2 miles? Goodness, I don’t know. Couldn’t do it if I tried and I have tried. So what is it to jog, walk, limp, walk, and limp some more 26.2 miles? Ah, now that I’ve accomplished.
The thing is with a marathon: It’s a long ways. At least it is to most of us. I saw a statistic that less than 6% of the readers of a running magazine had ever ran further than 26.2 miles. For most of us casual runner types that’s it, and it is a long ways. While training for the run the thought that kept coming back to me was that you can’t start at mile 7, or 20, or even 2. You have to run every step of every single mile. No matter how much you train, no matter how much you ran last week you still have to start at the beginning.
The beginning is not a bad place to be, of course. You feel good, lots of other folks around, everything is upbeat, people are confident. The most important task for the first few miles is to not run harder than you can maintain, so it’s more mental than physical. The Air Force marathon this year had one of its bigger hills right up front, so I was glad when I crested those, but no real struggles for this part of the race. Lots and lots of people passing me, of course.
Now this was my first attempt at a marathon, and from my training I had a pretty good idea I’d be walking some of it, but I set out at a conservative pace and hoped to get to the half-way point before things got bad. Somewhere around eight or nine miles the 5-hour pace team passed me, and somewhere around mile nine some race-walkers passed me, and somewhere in downtown Fairborn I realized I was beginning to struggle, and somewhere around mile 11 I had to walk. Nuts.
What is it that pulls us up short? Is it insufficient preparation? A bad day? A mental thing? I suppose for me it was a bit of all of those. I’d hoped for a bit better from my training, but somewhere out at the end of that huge runway and unable not to think of the rest of the race I was reduced to a walk. Didn’t stop however. Now I was pretty far back in the pack at this point, but moving slower gave me a chance to begin to notice the other runners. To notice their determination. To notice their struggles. To notice their fears. Interesting how oblivious we can be when flying along, and how much more we can touch each other when the struggles begin.
Now there was a lot more road to run, but the next ten miles were more-or-less the same: Run what I could of each mile, walk when I couldn’t. I’d over-dressed, so I took off the long-sleeve T-shirt at some point. Passed Erin’s Gator-Aid station at some point. Saw up-close a bigger runway than I could comprehend. Saw where the Wright Brothers flew. Slowly became more aware of my fellow-travelers. Now Area C is huge, and even though I’d studied the map that part seemed to stretch on and on as middle sections often do. When I finally did come out of the base at mile 21 I tried to run again and my left knee refused to take the impact of it. After staggering a bit, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to run any more that day. 5.2 miles to go.
Those last few miles however were the best part of the race that day. I was down to limping, but after a mile or two things loosened up and I could limp pretty quick (for a limp), so that was ok. After passing the 22 mile marker everyone’s mood improved: Four miles? That’s nothing! It’s funny, but by that point in the race, and that far back, everyone was struggling. Everyone was falling short of what they’d hoped to run. Everyone seemed in remarkably good spirits. We yelled at each other, congratulated those who could still run a bit, encouraged those who couldn’t. Shared stories, poked fun, smiled for the cameras, thanked the tired Gator-Aid workers. Somehow we found camaraderie in the common struggle. Wouldn’t have missed it.
Then it was over. Six hours for me (about an hour longer than the average time for a marathon). We got a medal, some drink, food, and more to drink, cheered for those finishing after us, and went our separate ways.
So is there a connection to Sunday School? Well, the Bible does compare life to a long race, so maybe. What did it take to finish my first marathon? Well first I had to choose to start. Actually, first I had to choose to train. It took preparation, a willingness and commitment to prepare for the journey. Then I chose to start. It took nourishment along the way, provided though the kindness of others. Then I had to choose to keep going. Over and over again, mile by mile, step by step. What I didn’t have to do is choose to finish, because the destination was not the point of being there, the point was the journey. Then something that was strictly optional: I chose to enjoy the journey and the people I met on it. So . . . If the old biblical metaphor applies, how are you training for the journey of your life? Will you always remember to seek nourishment and camaraderie along the way? Will you remember that the point is the race, not the finish? Don’t know how well I learned those lessons, but I do know how far 26.2 miles is now!
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It’s been an interesting two weeks. Lots of bad news, very little good. Some things that might have been good fun in other circumstances seemed to stand out in light of all the other things going wrong. My sports teams lost, storms raged, friends were in tough situations, many people I know were losing loved ones, dealing with divorce, struggling without their power, dealing with major surgery, auto accidents, theft, problems in school, layoffs. Hmm. Even an arrest. The list goes on (and I haven’t invented), but you get the idea. For me the whole thing climaxed with the suicide of a friend, but that’s not the focus of this “thought on Tuesday.”
I could easily write an essay about all of the hope and friendship found in the midst of these events, and that essay would be sincere and true, but that’s not where I want to go today. What instead caught my attention was how some events are huge and life-altering. Sometimes these seem, no they are way to big.
I’m thinking about the story of a young college graduate who ended up not being able to enroll in the graduate program she’d been working towards. Life changed. Uncertainty. I’m thinking of friends who’s babies came earlier than they had expected, friends who’s babies didn’t come easily, friends who’s babies died. Fear, sometimes pain, life never the same. I’m thinking about friends who’s marriages broke up. Or never happened. Degrees not obtained, classes failed. Homes lost. Hmm. So many people, so many events. Even one poor friend who hid her pregnancy and gave birth to a full-term baby. At home. All alone. And lives were changed.
I promise to write a happy essay soon, I should post something about that silly race I ran in (thanks for the Gator-Aid Erin!), but understand that I don’t mean for this litany to be depressing. It’s just some of the goofy things life has thrown people I know. It would be stupid to suggest that any of these things were easily overcome. Each and every event caused someone’s life to change, and often marked the beginning of a long struggle. My theme, however, is not one of struggle. My theme is peace. Peace that you are loved. Peace that others have encountered what you will encounter and found a way. Peace that no, you are not equal to the task of your life all alone. Peace that yes, God is equal to it. Peace that yes, God is faithful to you. Peace that no, you don’t have to be perfect or even good or even average or even not so bad or even not bad. Peace that yes, God loves you intensely.
The thing is, life is often like that. It’s ok. Yeah, maybe we step in it sometimes. Sometimes it is our fault, sometimes it just happens. People sometimes feel awkward about linking church and life, because they fear that God isn’t real enough for their real problems. Sometimes we fear that Sunday School is sort of a happy-happy place that is too polite for the rough edges of life. Sometimes as a church we unintentionally reinforce those thoughts. Why does Sunday School focus on Jesus so tightly? Because of the simple faith that this man was simply the answer to this crushingly complicated life. The door is open.
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Heard something this morning: “Stumble towards the light.” It’s a common phrase, in this case it was the Newsboys song: “When You Called My Name,” but it could easily have been many others. Stumble towards the Light? What? Why?
Why does our journey of faith down that famous narrow way involve stumbling?
“Woke up this morning and if felt like the black of night.
Got out of bed,
tripped over my Bible,
Stumbled over the light.”
--Mike Roe
Wish it were easier. Wish I could put it all on a platter and show you the entirety of the mystery. Wish I didn’t know that it will be a daily struggle for you. Know it profoundly and personally. Wish the questions had easy answers that didn’t change with new experiences. Wish the insight of new perspective and the rationalization of abandoned principles weren’t easy to confuse. Wish that you could have an experience that would seer you from all temptation and error. Wish I could tell you how to avoid causing others to hurt.
Real world. Real faith. Real savior. Real stumbles. God is good, each day is a gift.
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Anyone who looks in on this space from time to time has not been rewarded as much over the summer. Not a lot of postings, not a lot of new content. Death by boredom on the web. You might gather from this that our Sunday school time changes in energy and focus over the summer months, and that would be correct.
Now that the new school year has started it is time for a restart. After spending much of last year reading and talking about The Acts of the Apostles, we will return to the gospel story this fall and begin reading The Book of John together. We will also return to reading from one of the letters (epistles) from time to time. Right now I’m considering The Letter to the Hebrews, but I’m honestly still considering the point. Much like our study of The Letter to the Romans last year, we won’t try to trudge through every word, but hopefully study enough to get a sense of it. With a little luck we will also have Devozines to read each week, but getting material always seems a challenge for some reason. Sorry about not having them available this summer.
As a heads-up, sometime this fall I will be spending a few weeks in Turkey, but I do not anticipate my absence interrupting the lesson plans.
I think that we should re-set the web page too. I’ll keep the current page available, but it’s a bit unwieldy after all this time, so it probably needs a fresh start. Let me know if you’d like to help with the design or up-keep. It’s not hard and a neat thing to know how to do.
Finally, I hear from various leaders/ elders in the church occasionally that they’d like to see the numbers in the high school class built up. This has never been my primary focus, of course. I enjoy who comes and try to have something worthwhile to share when you do. I do try to say hello, and otherwise make myself known to other teenagers in our church family, but it’s just not my nature to recruit so I’ll continue to largely let Ron focus on that. If there’s someone you’d like me to extend an invitation to, let me know of course. In any event, I will promise to do my level best to see that myself, Ron, or if something happens at least somebody familiar and friendly will be at church each and every Sunday this year at 10:00 to spend time with you, to listen to you, and to try to learn together just a little more what being a Christian is all about.
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There is a song by the fabulously talented band White Heart called “Excuse Me/ Forgive Me” that puts a deeply challenging thought in verse more beautifully than I could imagine doing with my clumsy prose.
Excuse me God? Forgive me God?
What’s the difference? Which are we supposed to seek?
That’s the trouble talking about morality in a world that tells us to go by what we “Feel.” Jesus always said: “Go and sin no more.” The world says: “If it feels right how can it be sin?”
As Christians we believe in God. The big Holy Trinity: Father Son and Holy Ghost. Omnipotent, all-powerful, creator, savior, incorruptible, perfection of love, grace and judgment. The Great I Am. Trouble is, God had quite a bit to say about right and wrong. More to the point: God’s Bible is quite clear that there is such a thing as WRONG.
Man, that’s not very nice. It doesn’t feel good to be told we are doing wrong, especially when it doesn’t seem to be hurting anyone else . . .
So what’s the deal? Is Christianity just all caught up in making people feel guilty, or is there something deeper about this idea of sin? How do we know when we sin? Was Paul right when he said our conscious was a good guide? How should we respond when we reach the conviction that we have sinned? Where should we turn when we feel trapped by a habitual sin? What should we do if some sinful actions seem to be part our very nature?
God, excuse me? God forgive me? Think about it.
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I started writing this earlier in the week and lost it. As always when I sit to try again I’m left feeling bemused, assuming that I was eloquent and inspired before and only faking it now.
I was thinking about my line from the earlier post about being “further along the road.” I am further along the road than you are, and not nearly as far along as Ron, although each of our roads are uniquely our own. You won’t tread the steps I’ve walked no more than I am walking in Ron’s steps, yet there are probably some themes along the way that may ring familiar. Nuts, I’m too tired to be writing.
Anyhow: I thought it might be of some passing interest to share how my faith has changed since my high school days (way back when, from your point of view). In a way of general observation, I’m not nearly the man I was then in many ways, but I would not go back. Not at all. In high school I was not vain or cocky about being religious. I didn’t lord over people or judge people. I shared with Amy one time that friends remarked on how accepting of people I was, although of course I was not as accepting as I should have been and knew it. No, rather than an external issue my deal was that I had a rather over-blown confidence in myself. In many ways I suppose I lived up to it. I read the Bible much more diligently than I do now (which I encourage everyone, including me, to do). I never swore. I tried to stand up for and live by traditional ideas of morality, and expected myself to always continue to do so. So what’s changed? Well, it’s complicated and maybe that’s the overriding answer.
I’m now a lot less confident in my own ability to stick by God’s teachings. I still believe in traditional morality. (I’m pretty dumb: If God said it was wrong in the Bible, He must have meant it. Works for me. Harder to live by.) I suppose I haven’t violated that many of the Big 10 or anything, although some of that may have been lack of temptation/opportunity than any great conviction on my part. Hmm. There’s a thought. I’m a good rationalizer, which is way too easy however much you know your scripture. I’ve grown angrier, meaner, less rational, lonelier, more vulnerable, frustrated. But that really doesn’t get to how my faith has grown (changed? wilted? evolved? been shaped?). Basically I depend on God a lot more and myself a lot less. I’m less certain of my own ability to understand and explain God. I’m as convinced as ever of God’s love and the salvation offered through Christ, but clinging much more desperately to it. Way more conscious of my own shortcomings. I’ve known, seen, experienced. I’m less certain of my own boundaries and judgment. I understand better the temptations this world offers. The pain and suffering that drives people into the very things that God said should be avoided. The universal need for understanding, communication, validation, acceptance, affection that can drive people into things that God said should be avoided. I understand better that I’m as apt to stick my hand into the fire as the next fellow. How many things that my teenage self would never have done have fallen by the wayside? How many are still to fall? What will be the worth of any that remain? I can’t say.
So why wouldn’t I go back? Well, such is the stuff of a life lived. I’m not perfect, or even always good, but that struggle between my inclinations and my faith is fundamental to my life. I hope it gives me a much deeper appreciation and affection for people, regardless of the choices they make. One thing that should stand out like a beacon about Jesus: He always, always loved and accepted people who came to Him regardless of who they were or what they had done, but He never, never accepted or condoned their shortcomings. How do we do that today? I’ve never found a way, but at the very least I’m just beginning to understand how wild and complicated it must be.
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Earlier this week I found myself recollecting a learning experience from my junior year of college. What caused this memory to bubble up was several conversations I’d been having about being busy. I’m busy, my fellow cast members are busy, co-workers are busy, my niece is busy. Everyone is busy. This took me back to the fall quarter of my junior year. I was busy and feeling over-whelmed by the coursework I’d stepped up to. Organic Chemistry, Physics Instrumentation, Modern Physics and MTH480 (applied math differential methods). Basically, the classes were winning and I was feeling put upon. My moment of truth came when I realized that there were two or three education majors taking almost the same classes (everything but the math class). Now these weren’t your stereotypical education majors, these ladies were working towards their secondary general science certification (certified to teach any and all high school science classes), which was (and probably still is) one of the toughest majors on campus. Still, what I realized then was that it wasn’t my workload that was too hard, it was my work that was inadequate.
Don’t walk away from this with the wrong idea: We all have our own limits. Even so, probably more often than not we fail not because we’ve hit our limit, but because we’ve given up too easily.
(I’m just too busy to: practice, study, pray, go on a date, exercise, see a movie, mow the grass, weed the garden, trim the hedge, go to church, go to class, read my assignment, read a novel, read the Bible, add yours here.)
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Moving on. The schools march on and on, but each year brings graduates, in The Year of our Lord 2008 it is Jeremy’s turn. First: Congratulations. Life has only a few real milestones, and this is a big one. Celebrate it, enjoy it, remember it.
At times like this people also like to offer advice, more often when it is not wanted than when it is, but there it is all the same. I’ve been out of school longer now than I was in, so I must have learned something in that time. Not that I’d hold myself up as an expert on life – far from it. My eighteen-year-old self would not be impressed at all with what I’ve accomplished, even though I’m proud of the work I’ve done. I have, however, now had several times of moving on, of leaving one place for another, so I will share from those experiences.
First, live each day. Life is a gift and the days keep getting faster. Secondly, meet people. Be aggressive about learning names, use Pastor Merle’s silly get-to-know you guide if you need to. Friends are important whether for only a day or for a lifetime. Thirdly, remember yourself. Make a list of priorities, write it down, stick to it. Is getting sleep or finishing your homework more important? What about time with friends? What about your family? Allow for exceptions and changes, but stick to your priorities because the choices you make will define you. Finally, know that Jesus loves you. Through victories and screw-ups, good times and painful, break-ups and new found crushes, bad decisions and wise, great moments of faith and great moments of doubt, A’s and F’s, know that the shepherd loves you and remember to love yourself as well.
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The end of the year. When you are in school, or if you have children in school a year is sometime in August or September until May or June. Maybe it begins with band camp or the first football scrimmage, maybe it ends with the state track meet, but regardless life is dominated by the ticking school timetable. High School Sunday School is for people in school, so in some sense I feel like we’ve completed our year together. As I look back now over the, let’s see, 32 lessons now I’m content. I think we can honestly say that we’ve spent time together studying God’s word and learning a little bit more each day what following God is all about and what it means to call ourselves Christian. Another teacher would have shared different things, but I’m content that I haven’t wasted the time you’ve honored me with. Here in two or three weeks we’ll shift gears and start on a summer lesson program, and unless someone else chooses to take the reigns we’ll all too soon begin a new “year” together in August. A year older. A year wiser. A new year’s troubles. Sophomores become juniors, the freshman will seem younger than ever and so it goes. Life is good.
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I goofed, failed, missed the mark, came up short, screwed up, let myself down.
I live my life overbooked. Not like a teenager is overbooked (I don’t have that much energy), but I’m on the run a lot. I guess it keeps me from feeling lonely when I stay busy. The thing is, I often fail to meet my own expectations. You know I’ve been attempting to train for a marathon this fall, and part of that is to get up and go for a long run every Saturday morning. Last weekend I took a quick trip up to the Cleveland area to see one of my sisters and missed my run. I kept thinking that I’d find the time to make it up, it was only six miles after all. Here it is Monday morning and I never found the time.
What’s the point in sharing this, other than some pathetic whining on my part? We talked a couple of weeks back about how people have three distinct attributes: mind – body – spirit. Each needs to be nurtured for your healthy well-being. Sometimes time studying (homework), time exercising or time with God can get short-changed. Discipline is not always about being perfect. As much as anything discipline is how you react to your short-comings. Am I going to quit training for the race since I missed a day? Of course not. Just the same way, I expect each of you to continue to make time for God, even though sometimes we forget.
What are you currently doing to get to know God better? Do you regularly make time for prayer? Do you set aside time to study the Bible? Do you review the Sunday school lessons on the weeks you miss? If you’ve already made a commitment to building your faith, stick to it! Even if sometimes you miss a day! If you haven’t, set up a simple plan today and commit to it. Write it down! (You can adjust it later if it doesn’t work out). Believe this, if nothing else: The Spiritual Race you are running is much longer, harder and more important than any silly road-race of mine. Train well!
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I started an essay on being clean a couple of weeks ago, and will eventually finish it and post it here I suppose. The trouble is, it sounds a bit overly stylized and pretentious. The sort of thing that is easy to casually mimic and cynically ridicule; the sort of thing I don't want this space to slide too far into.
My point in starting to write it was to address the topics of self-righteousness, trite-ness, easy grace, and false self-confidence. (Oh, is that all?). As we came out of the Easter season this year I was struck by how neatly wrapped up everything is. The Story started at Creation, started again at the Flood, re-started again at Christmas, and concludes with Easter Sunday. That's it. It's done. Christ is victorious, your salvation is offered to you as a neatly wrapped package with a bow on it. It's all almost too easy in a life that is always almost too hard.
If we could live in that moment of Christ dieing and rising for us, how much happier we would be. But then the alarm clock goes off and another day begins. (That sentence structure isn't pure but Dickens used it all over the place.) We find again that we are but humans, fall short again of God's glory, hurt ourselves and those around us, and prove another time that we don't deserve to be called by His name. I think that something good can come directly from this inadequacy however, even though, like Paul, I would never suggest that we are in any way better for sinning. Rather than feeling smug about how wonderfully special we are as Christians, the real path to continuing spiritual health is to be continually in awe of what Christ did for us, knowing full well that we did not, do not, will not, can not deserve it. We can't ever feel set above other people because we know that Christ died for us not because we were holy, but “While we were yet sinners.” As we understand this more and more we become humbled by the knowledge, never arrogant about it.
It is wrong to be self-righteous, because we are not righteous. Our God is. The course of our lives will not ever be determined by a trite saying, Sunday School lesson, web-page essay, sermon, verse, retreat etc. Life is way to long, complicated and day-to-day, requiring a day-by-day relationship with God to see you through. Grace is not easy. Surrendering to Christ is the hardest thing many people do. Some may even find it too hard. The confidence I hope you feel in your salvation should not come from anything you have done, but in who your Saviour is. Look at it this way: I do not worship Christ because He promised to prepare a place for me. Rather, even if I'm sent to the Hell I so truly deserve I will continue to proclaim and honor Christ because of who He is.
Dear reader, I write too much and say to little, I do apologize.
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Helpless, dependent, week, needing others, needing parents, needing friends, needing our siblings, needing your dearest love; in need of protection, shelter, food, transportation, camaraderie, covering, love. Independent, strong, self-reliant, self-sufficient, prepared, someone who can be counted on, a winner; able to provide others with food, shelter and support. Which are you? Which do you long to be? Sorry, you have to be both all the time and always. The so-obscure-they-never-actually-existed rock band “The Strawmen” (associated with The Seventy Sevens) observed "Western man. Man of Steele. He's pretty fast but he cannot feel" and many better bands have riffed on the same theme.
So what's this about? A cliché of mine I share with teenagers (redundantly) is that nobody comes and waves a wand to declare you a grown up. Not even on your eighteenth birthday. Not even when you graduate. Life is day-to-day. One of the deepest (and most important) longings of teenagers and young adults is independence. Crucial to normal development, because soon you will indeed be on your own. But on your own? Independent? Really? I wish. I sometimes do.
Have you ever been sick on your own? I mean pucking, can't stand up, burning up miserable? I hope not, not yet! Have I? You betcha. Even in Korea, a mile or two from home. What did I do? I needed people. Sometimes family, sometimes friends, sometimes strangers.
I like to think of myself as strong and independent and all of that, but I started this essay to tell you that I've been reminded this week how dependent on others I still am. My car picked this week to die, and I can't get anywhere without it on my own. I've had to depend on the kindness of friends even to get to work in the morning. I had to trust my mechanic to diagnose the car trouble, and let me know it was over. I had to talk it over with family to decide what to do.
Dependence is not a good thing, it's not a bad thing. It's just life. We desperately need each other, even through all of the misunderstandings and hard feelings life brings. Should it be any wonder that we desperately need a savior just as bad? Modern man with science and wisdom to shame the ancients, but right to the core I remain in desperate need of the love of Jesus of Nazareth. Life is a beautiful thing, even today, even with no car!
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I stopped this week to consider my earlier post on mortality, which seemed to jive with this week being Easter and all. I recently listened to a couple of lessons on Lazarus. Lazarus, of course, was famously raised from the dead at the command of Jesus shortly before Easter. In fact, in one gospel accounts of Holy Week Lazarus was attracting almost as much attention as Jesus because people wanted to see the guy who’d been dead. Now this was hardly the first time Jesus had raised a dead person, but it was significant because Lazarus was “ dead as a doornail “ to quote Dickens. He’d been wrapped up, mourned, and buried a couple of days ago. Understand that up until this time there was great uncertainty about any kind of resurrection. The Old Testament prophets sometimes seemed to hint at it, or suggest that they’d seen a famous historical figure in a vision, but there was no explicit promise of resurrection. In fact, an influential religious group, the Sadducees, taught that there was nothing after death at all. Earth shaking, heart melting, history splitting, covenant changing: Jesus of Nazareth can overcome even Death. On Easter Sunday Death was ultimately defeated when Jesus overcame even His own.
It also seems mind-crushingly unfair. Just a couple of weeks back we read how the disciple James, one of Jesus’ three closest friends, died violently at the hand of one of the King Herods. Then there is the specter of Jesus crying at the loss of his cousin John the Baptist. Or even crying just before Lazarus is raised. The Lord of the Morning has come, the Eastern Star, the Holy One, the Branch of Jesse, the one who would have his heel bruised but crush the snake’s head, and death still, still imposes the crushing weight of separation and loss. Yet now we do not suffer the wound without hope, as they did before Lazarus. Jesus is “ the Resurrection and the Life.” “O death where is thy victory? O grave where is thy sting?” The Lamb of God has come, and only asks that we accept Him. Trust Him, and know that you are loved.
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As I sit to write this I’m ripping A Russ Taff record. Maybe better to say Thee Russ Taff record, since I have little interest in much of the remainder of his oeuvre. He had sang with the Imperials for a while, I don’t have any of those albums and they’re probably closer to Kent’s taste than mine anyhow. Even the Imperials records I like are probably somewhere between what Kent would enjoy and what I consider to be music. Yes it’s a vinyl record. It was the 80's and I didn’t like the way cassettes always seemed to self-destruct after a while, but ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!! This turntable is running too slow. Just a hair, but it’s there. The thing is, this record rocks. Not with the condescension of a crooner who wants to sing something for the “kids,” but with the passion of a brilliant artist. 1987 was a monstrous year for music. Anyhow, this gets to what I sat down to write about. Easter cries out for passion, for great emotional highs, crushing lows, for the burning of The Spirit, for those rare, elusive, crucial moments of clarity when you are aware of God’s presence and your place in His world. I think--I hope--that you’ve come to recognize that I’m very sincere about my faith, but you also know that I don’t try to touch deep emotional places with my arguments. I have no idea how to take a group to some frantically emotional state where they could feel something of the presence of God. I don’t think that’s a gift I’d choose if it were offered to me. This, as much as anything, is why I’ve been encouraging you to seek out songs, poems, stories, etc. that point to Easter. Art is the communication, or sharing, of emotion which cuts directly to the soul. At the end of this day, it is indeed our souls that must cling to Christ and all of my impassioned logical arguments will amount to so many words (though there is truly nothing more rational than needing Salvation).
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February, ugh. I like the Fall well enough, and even don't mind the winter too much for a while, but by February I start to get impatient for Spring. I know that I shouldn't. Being impatient is a sure way to miss the opportunity of today. Life is a gift and each day should be savored after all. Still, I get tired of being cold, tired of the dark, tired of salt on my car, tired of bad driving conditions, tired of coats and hats and gloves, in short ready to be tired of being hot. Nearly all of the major innovations throughout history have come from temperate climates like ours. There are probably many reasons, but I like to think that the press of the seasons keeps us moving forward.
In the Church our season is now Easter, when we take time to remember, reflect on, and celebrate what Jesus gave us, and how much it really cost. It comes every year, just like Christmas, only ten months from today, but that is a good thing, for we are forgetful by nature, and a challenge to somehow experience the Passion anew again.
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So now it is Lent. The year marches on, Easter and Spring are fast upon us. Lent is, in a nutshell, a time of preparation through fasting and prayer. It is roughly the six weeks before Easter, forty days not counting Sundays. Many Christians observe this time by giving up something for the season as a fast, most notably Catholics join together and forgo meat other than fish on Fridays. Others save and give a special offering at Easter in observance of the Lenten season, which is more common in the United Methodist Church. If an offering of money doesn’t work out, how about an offering of time? You could set aside time each week for prayer or reading the Bible beyond what you normally would.
Whatever you decide, I encourage you to take some time this Easter season to rediscover just what it was Christ did for you and what you mean to Him.
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What’s the deal with the sheep? And why does the Sunday School teacher ask absurd questions without really ever explaining what he was on about?
Jesus is for losers, that was the name of the essay. That was the name of that strange song. God calls us to holiness. Sin is bad because those things, that stuff, those decisions will hurt you. It is also our very nature.
So what’s the deal? Does following Christ mean that I’m doomed to being a wallflower? Hmm. Interesting question. First, of course not. Many of the most fascinating people of all time have had deep, passionate faith. On the other hand, you are called by God and, in effect, set apart. We are known by the name of Christ, and should live to honor that name. Does that mean a lifetime of saying “no,” even at times when our very hearts object? I suppose so. Does this mean that you’ll make the same choices and decisions that I or your parents would have you make? No, of course not. I think that’s what Paul was getting at in Romans and the other epistles. The Old Covenant was about laws and rules, the New Covenant is about Grace, and living steadfast in love with Christ.
So what does that mean? Should I go to that party? Should I not see that movie? Will I go anyways but feel guilty about it? Sorry, no easy answers, but again I testify that Jesus loves you.
As I was writing this I heard Hugh Heffner on TV talking about overcoming his conservative Methodist upbringing. That’s fine Hugh, enjoy the party, but I still believe.
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So, anyhow. It’s the new year. I can’t help but be a bit down. After all of the excitement and stress in December, I’m suddenly in the slow lane and not even any projects at work to distract me. Some days are like that, some years are like that. I’d say that life is like that, but honestly I haven’t a clue what you’ll find. I do know that for all of the things we each have in common with our fellow souls we also have whole universes of differences. Each person lives in a world shaped by their experiences and can never hope to fully understand another’s, which is most pointedly felt by family generations (See the play “Over the River” at the BCT for more on this topic). Unless I hear a better suggestion, I’ve decided what to do for the “Spring” session in Sunday school. Not vain enough to inflate the importance of our time together, but sincere enough to believe that it is important. In the end, I hope the time will help your faith to grow and mature, but such matters are, after all is said and done, in God’s hands.
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I remember when I was young asking a senior what it felt like for his graduation year to have finally arrived. His lack of enthusiasm surprised me, but I understood later when my own graduation year showed up on the sign at Time’s Square. It’s not that it wasn’t exciting to see the year I’d looked forward to, thought about and worked towards arrive, it’s just that I was caught up in the daily business of living and it was a busy time. For me 2008 looks to be pretty unremarkable here at the outset. For others it will contain weddings, births or graduations which will be fondly remembered for a lifetime.
So what will 2008 be for you? What will you remember from 2007? What will 2008 mean to you spiritually? Will you resolve to read scripture more? Spend more time in prayer? Finally understand deeply and personally how much God truly loves you? Grow angry at God because of events in your life that overwhelm and hurt?
Time will tell. Some things will be forgotten, some we will take with us forever. I only promise that God really does care, and each Sunday there will be a time and a place set aside for you.
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Music is weird. In so many ways it would seem like it should bring us together and help us to share feelings and ideas which we find hard to express. The reality is that even though most of us enjoy a range of styles of music, there is so much out there in so much variety it is always a surprise to find someone who truly relates to the same music in a similar way.
I followed the “contemporary Christian” music scene for a lot of years. I found it liberating, and it clicked with me listening to people with a Christian world view sharing about and wrestling with living by faith in the very worldly world.
I do not, and have never (I hope) thought of “CCM” as superior or somehow “holier” than other music. Listening to the “right” records can’t save your soul, only Jesus can do that. It was just that this little subculture had artists that I dug, so I kept following it and discovered more and more. I can be pretty dense, but gradually through this music I came to appreciate the much wider pallet of emotional colors found in the world around me, and by this how complicated faith can really be. I also time and time again saw people associated with this scene be proved to be mere human beings, publicly falling short of the standard set by the God they encouraged people to follow. Still, we are saved only by grace not by our righteousness and I try to admire them more for taking the risk of pointing their little lights towards God, rather than dwelling on their shortcomings.
I added some links above to some music sites, not because I in any way expect you to run out and embrace any of the music I like, but rather to try to share some things I enjoy.
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Sleep. I’m in favor of sleep. I recommend sleep. I just don’t take my own advice nearly often enough. Like a two-year-old child I try to keep going until I collapse, then end up missing important things in the morning (like Sunday School!). Still, here I am at work past 9 trying to sort out a few more bits of computer code before calling it quits. I’ll be at my other job until midnight tomorrow.
I recommend sleeping, as I said. I’ve done all sorts of crazy things to my sleep schedule over the years. All-night study sessions as an undergrad with Mountain Dew & M&M’s. Falling asleep just inside my apartment door after driving home at 4am when I did get some sleep. Trying to function in class on three or four hours rest. Collapsing on my homework night after night in high school, trying to earn another grade. I’m not sure what it was all for (or is for), and I certainly don’t recommend it. Just the same, I know you won’t listen to my voice of experience, and I’m ok with that. You will, each in your own way, test your limits and find some the hard way. Good for you! Such is life, and the stuff of a life well lived. But if you crimp the sleep thing as I do so often, remember that I told you so!
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So what’s the deal? All of these passages in Paul’s letter to the Romans go on and on incessantly about the sinful flesh and living in the spirit. I mean, the whole “living in the spirit” thing sounds pie-in-the-sky and beyond me and just what the heck is this about sins of the flesh anyways? Was Paul just really hung up about sex?
Well, yes and no. First off, sexual sins are sins, and nowhere in the Bible is it stated otherwise (in spite of some really sincere efforts to find an exception). Deal with it. He’s God. Paul’s writing is not some kind of repudiation of sex, however, as it might seem to some. When Paul speaks of “sins of the flesh” and “fleshly desires” he means all sins. What hypocrisy it would be to elevate sexual sins to some kind of special level of badness, and then self-righteously excuse ourselves of sins of vanity, arrogance, pride, coveting, self-righteousness, contempt, lying, dishonoring our parents, or whatever your sin-of-the-week is. Who will find greater favor in the eyes of Jesus? The man who keeps his belt tight, but then vainly lords it over those who are weaker, or the man who fails but begs Jesus for forgiveness?
You are human, and none of us can live without sinning, the Bible says it is our very nature. Still, I encourage each of you to live trying to always do the right things (in pursuit of righteousness) in a simple, humble, profound way. One of our first lessons together, and a theme I often return to is that God did not make up his rules to punish us, but rather to protect us. Sin, all sin, tears us down and ultimately destroys us. Jesus sets us free.
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The rule of thumb working with teenagers, young adults, and sometimes even with people well into middle age is that they feel like they will live forever, so don’t waste time discussing mortality, and I hold pretty close to that. Unfortunately, mortality is omnipresent with life, and tragic pain and loss so often impacts even young lives. This always raises an (the) important question, of course: “So what then shall we do to be saved?” This was the question put continuously to Jesus, and then to his apostles, and now to you and me, even as we ask it ourselves. The answer echoes down through the ages, simple and profound: Confess your sins, repent, follow Jesus (“I am the Way the Truth and the Light”).
Love life, life is good. Live life, life is a gift. Cling to life, life is precious, but not more precious than your salvation. This world is full of many wonderful things, but at the end of the day it is a fallen world full of pain, confusion and separation. In this world we need a Savior, not just for someday, but profoundly for today. So, knowing the Savior how do we cope with living in the fallen world? For that we will turn our attention again to the apostle Paul and his letter to the Romans.
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I don’t have the slightest idea of what a personal page on a Sunday School web-site should be or look like. It could easily degenerate into some sort of narcissistic tripe or pontification on unrealistically holy platitudes, and maybe it will, time will tell. Here at the beginning, however, let me first say that I have confidence in you. You as people, you as a generation, and most pointedly, you as the Church. What has it been, 80 generations since Christ? More? The world is spinning faster, at least that’s what the band Bloodgood said, and the days of sandals and swords are further away than ever. The cynics will say that it’s over, the lamps are out of oil, faith is a relic of a bygone, simpler time. I disagree. You will out-shine the current generation and your challenges will be greater. God is raising you up and you will find your faith more than equal to the task. Though the bridegroom has tarried, He will return to find his bride still faithful.
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