When a Lame Man Walks

[i]

Thursday, February 28, 2019

They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade, where the man was holding tightly to Peter and John.  Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd.  “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this?  And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness?  For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this.   This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him.  You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer.  You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!  “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before.  Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.  Acts 3:11-16(NLT)

It’s hard to admit, but I often get blindsided by miracles.  The culture of the 60’s and 70’s, my young adult years, questioned miracles and protested everything.  It’s not enough that I’m an introvert by nature, the prevailing unrest of American life in the mid-20^th century, an outgrowth of Vietnam and the sexual revolution, climatized me to keep my mouth shut, for fear of being lumped-in with lunatics and the religiously-deceived.  I became a poster-boy for the old saying: 

It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

The major problem with this philosophy, however, is the need to speak truth.  When you don’t speak, the truth goes impotent in you…and you get used to it!

Peter, the impetuous disciple, was anything but an introverted shrinking violet when it came to speaking-up.  Well, except for that time outside Pilate’s house just before the rooster announced the dawn of Peter’s shame for NOT speaking truth.  But, when the Apostle finally found his voice again, God used it for witness all over the Kingdom.

Over the course of my life I watched (introverts do that best…watch…from a safe distance) the rise of the Silent Majority, dubbed-so by hyper-conservative Reverend Jerry Falwell.  He was quite right on so many issues, and the silent ones followed, supported, and watched, as the left-leaning opposition pummeled him as obtuse and a hate-monger.  Jerry’s long-gone now, but his tribe still is a majority, albeit a fading voice in the culture of America’s comfort with untruth.

So, what do you do when a “simple” miracle happens right in front of you?  What if a lifelong-invalid gets out of the wheelchair and begins running 100-yard sprints around the mob of untruth?  Do you just watch in awe, questioning how in the world that happened; wondering if it’s a trick, or if he was pretending his illness before?  I can tell you from personal and very painfully-regretted experience, for a disciple, keeping silent when God uses a megaphone to get his point across is not the answer; sometimes you’ve just GOT to speak up and praise His name!

I’m less-silent now than in my early years.  At times learning to speak-out has been more than a little uncomfortable…but my discomfort hardly compares to what my Lord Jesus Christ endured when he took my sin to the cross. 

For You Today

The very least a disciple can do is speak-out the truth when it’s right in front of us.  Be on the lookout today for that lame man; God may be up to something that will open your eyes…and your mouth!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   via Pixabay.com

Cleaning Up the Mess

[i]

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!  It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to fall into sin.  So watch yourselves!  “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.  Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”  Luke 17:1-4(NLT)

General Conference 2019 is in the books, and now comes the clean-up.  It’s not just sweeping-up debris left in St. Louis’ Dome Conference Center, but the debris of tempers that flared, hearts that broke, spirits that are crushed, and lives that must be lived.  No matter which side you may have been rooting-for, or if you were just observing, shaking your head at it all, votes were cast, one side declared in the majority, and the division in the United Methodist Church will continue.

As does the struggle between darkness and light…everywhere!

Jesus reminded us that temptation to sin is endless…and those who promote such with their words, attitudes, and actions will suffer judgment at the hand of God.  For those who “won” in St. Louis, this is no time to gloat.  Gloating is rubbing salt in the wounds of a rebuked person, and, frankly, losing a contentious battle with 13 million worldwide participants, before a world population watching Christians duke it out in the Dome…well, that’s enough salt for one day.  In fact, it’s enough salt for a lifetime.  It is now time to lay down the banners and placards; the process is over, and readiness to forgive is all that should be on the table.  Jesus said we must be ready to forgive endlessly; 70 x 7 is a really big number!

Just one thing about the winning side – there is no winner when Christians brawl.  It makes little difference who the aggressor was, who carried the day’s vote, or whether the decision made was right, wrong, or inconsequential; the most consequential piece of fallout is that denominational squabbles are not played-out in a vacuum; the world has seen people who purport to be disciples of the Prince of Peace acting like World War II was just a minor disagreement.

I have heard sociologists and psychologists hold that it takes roughly 10 positive words to overcome one negative word.  If that is true, and I strongly suspect it is, the four days of this General Conference will put off any kind of sweeping revival for the cause of Christ by at least two centuries and another dark age.  In the end, I’m certain there is rejoicing in the pit of Hell.

And, with those words still ringing, annoying to the bone, I will quit talking about General Conference, and the Methodist bruhaha.  It’s time to get on to something important.

For You Today

Let’s let Scripture speak a word of healing for today:

Be still in the presence of the Lord,
    and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
    or fret about their wicked schemes.

Stop being angry!
    Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
    it only leads to harm.
For the wicked will be destroyed,
    but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.  Psalm 37:7-9(NLT)

This is how to clean up after the storm…even if you helped make it!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   via The United Methodist Church website

More Harm Than Good

[i]

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you.  For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together.  First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it.  But, of course, there must be divisions among you so that you who have God’s approval will be recognized!  When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper.  For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others.  As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk.  What?  Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking?  Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor?  What am I supposed to say?  Do you want me to praise you?  Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!  1 Corinthians 11:17-22 ^(NLT)

Disclaimer

For those of you who are not United Methodist, please forgive me for airing the laundry; this is a watershed time for the children of Wesley, and these morning devotionals are filled with prayer for my tribe.  We will likely return to a more general approach after the final vote on Tuesday.

This title (More Harm Than Good) is an unlikely one for a denomination that has its root in the sweeping Methodist revival across America in the 18-19^th century, which leader, John Wesley, is quoted as saying we must:

Do all the good you can, 
By all the means you can, 
In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can, 

At all the times you can, 

To all the people you can,

As long as ever you can.

But as my tribe meets in St. Louis to decide if we can live together any more, I’m wondering how much damage the fracas will total when all is said and done.

For the past 50 years (ever since the 1968 merger of Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren to form the United Methodist Church) this denomination has been always at the forefront in social justice issues.  The current embroilment is human sexuality, mainly whether the long-standing doctrinal posture that …homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching will stand, or if we must change to allow full-inclusiveness for LGBTQ persons, particularly in ordination, i.e., clergy orders.

Admittedly, I have no simple solution, nor do I think there is anything approaching a simple solution to the dilemma that confronts the United Methodist Church.  But there are two concerns that mitigate against a Hallmark Movie ending to this debate under any circumstances:

Unity

Anytime you have two or more groups which hold a significantly-different opinion (i.e. doctrine) about an issue, you have an impasse; that is to say, a brick wall.  Take, for instance, a marriage where the husband is in favor of monogamy, and the wife favors an open marriage, where she is free to date (and sleep with) other men.  Unless one changes his/her mind, there will always be contention and unhappiness, or that which ends the so-called unity, namely divorce.  There are no other possibilities. 

Conscience

In this case, the progressive side of the (so-called) “United” Methodist Church is asking the traditionalist side to affirm that their doctrine of homosexuality, trans-sexuality, bi-sexuality, cis-gender, and anything-goes-uality, regarding gender and orientation is just as valid as heterosexuality.

Regardless of millennia of ecclesiastic thought, debate and accepted Scriptural understanding, stated, written, and practiced, progressives want traditionalists to now change their minds and accept/practice/live with what is heretofore deemed sexual perversion. 

I have no simple answers, but this much is not in question – how can any group ask the other group to violate moral conscience, and still call oneself a Christian?

For You Today

Please join me in praying for my tribe’s delegates, for clarity of the Mind of Christ, as they vote later today…lest we do more harm than good to the Body of Christ.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   via The United Methodist Church website

Waiting in Pain

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Monday, February 25, 2019

O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage!  Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me.  Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins.  My guilt overwhelms me—it is a burden too heavy to bear.  My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins.  I am bent over and racked with pain.  All day long I walk around filled with grief.  A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken.  I am exhausted and completely crushed.  My groans come from an anguished heart.  You know what I long for, Lord; you hear my every sigh.  My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind.  My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease.  Even my own family stands at a distance.  Meanwhile, my enemies lay traps to kill me.  Those who wish me harm make plans to ruin me.  All day long they plan their treachery.  But I am deaf to all their threats.  I am silent before them as one who cannot speak.  I choose to hear nothing, and I make no reply.  For I am waiting for you, O Lord.  You must answer for me, O Lord my God.  I prayed, “Don’t let my enemies gloat over me or rejoice at my downfall.”  I am on the verge of collapse, facing constant pain.  But I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done.  I have many aggressive enemies; they hate me without reason.  They repay me evil for good and oppose me for pursuing good.  Do not abandon me, O Lord.  Do not stand at a distance, my God.  Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior.  Psalm 38:1-22(NLT)

Waiting is always hard; just ask a 4-year-old who is trying to go to sleep on Christmas Eve.  But waiting when you’re in pain and have no answers is the hardest assignment known to humankind.  And what makes it harder is when the heavens seem silent and indifferent to your pain.

King David understood his life was on the verge of collapse, physically, mentally, and, worst of all, spiritually.  Relationships, respect, and his very life were at an all-consuming low.  He’d offended God, and everyone imaginable, and he was paying for his sins in overwhelming, consummate grief; David existed just a breath away from all kinds of death, with an elephant sitting on his chest, laughing at how the former conquering darling of Israel, now struggled to get just one more filling of air into his lungs.  The words describing his anguish roll like an inventory of judgment:  crushed, groaning, heartbroken, convicted, weakness, dim vision, disinterested, pursued, trapped…and forsaken.  He was waiting in pain with no answers.  In response to David’s circumstances was that thundering silence of the absence of hope.  He knew there was no way out. 

Amid this Psalmist’s prayer we hear the cry of desperation:  You know what I long for, Lord; David longed for an end to it all.  The only question was how long will this take, and how shall it end?  Visions of a whole bottle of pills danced through David’s imagination; or would it be falling on his sword, or an enemy’s sneak attack while he slept, or perhaps just start the chariot in the closed garage and wait for the fumes to do their blessed work.

The prayer came quickly at the end, but it was attached to a lifetime of having placed himself firmly, unquestionably in God’s hands.  David, despite his sin and shame that the whole nation knew, was still a man after God’s own heart[ii] and he was committed to not speaking another word in this life if God didn’t answer.  His prayer was four words long:  COME   CLOSE    QUICKLY    SAVIOR!

That was it; no defenses, no excuses, no bargains, no claim of victim status; David knew his condition was his responsibility; he had no mitigation to offer as reasonable, and knew he needed the mercy of God; he only asked forgiveness.

And in the end, he got just that…and more:

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!  Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!  When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.  Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.  My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.  Interlude  Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt.  I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”  And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.  Psalm 32:1-5(NLT)

For You Today

Need we even say it?  Confession IS GOOD for the soul!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:  via Pixabay.com

[ii] Acts 13:22

Against the Tide

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Friday, February 22, 2019

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.  For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions.  These are not from the Father, but are from this world.  And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave.  But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.    1 John 2:15-17^(NLT)

It’s amazing how often things just seem to fall in place.  The first thing I do in the morning (after letting the dogs out to prevent a tragedy) is post the day’s devotion, on social media.  I had already begun considering what to write about on this text, and the first item in my Facebook news feed was an article posted by my next-door neighbor, Matt, who is a police sergeant, as well as worship music leader at his church.  The article quoted today’s verses and ended this way:

We must not dilute our message, ignore Bible principles, employ worship music that is dissonant, harsh, sensual and suggestive, or seek to make the church appealing to the appetites of ungodly people, even to reach them. The true gospel will never be attractive to the unsaved in general, nor will it ever make them feel comfortable. Paul declared, “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness….” (1 Corinthians 1:18)[ii]

This is so appropriate for how today’s church attempts to hold the Gospel in worldly hands.  It reminds me of gift-wrapping a Jared’s ring in a garbage bag; the Gospel is too precious to be treated that lightly.  And yet, too many pastors and church leadership buy-into the trap of trying to present the Gospel in inoffensive, bland ways, when Scripture clearly states just the opposite.

The Gospel represents following Christ as swimming against the tide, not cruising down the river the way it wants to take you.  Discipleship is not about ease and getting what you want (as you’re liable to hear when you tune into the Texas smile hour on Sunday mornings).

Have you ever heard this phrase coming out of a parent’s mouth:  I want my kids to have it better than I did?  You may have said that yourself; I did!  But that’s because difficulty is just that…difficult, hard, adversity, struggle.  Any parent in his right mind knows it’s hard to watch your kid suffer.  But, if history is a teacher in any way, we must pay attention to the reality that the struggles of life are the best teachers.  That’s because in adversity we are strengthened.  Cut down a tree

[iii] and look closely at the rings; each one represents a year of growth.  They’re not all the same because the weather conditions, sun, rain, storms, soil, and diseases are so variable.  The hardest woods, used for the best construction and fine furniture, have faced more difficult circumstances than those growing under the best conditions.  Pain in a human life, as C.S. Lewis put it, is God’s megaphone, speaking in the loudest way, the most vitally-important life-changing words to our hearts.  Storms aren’t easy or welcome, but (again with C.S. Lewis), my God how we learn!

John, the beloved disciple, Apostle, and perhaps the closest to Jesus during His earthly ministry, said to be careful about the things that appeal to physical pleasure and pride in possessions or accomplishments; these things are not gifts from the Father in heaven…they’re temptations from the ruler of Hell.

For You Today

It’s hard to do that…push away from the physically-appealing, especially when every corner of this world’s system punches all the right buttons to make the good life of affluence, ease, and coolness seem like the brass ring to be grabbed! 

But this begs the question:  Whom you want to please?  Pleasing self with physical pleasure, possessions, and accomplishments will seem just great…for a while; but the end picture isn’t pretty.  Pleasing God by serving Christ in a surrender of self is what leads to eternity of joy, peace, and fulfillment.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:  via Pixabay.com

[ii] Paul Alexander, Why We Don’t Have Contemporary Music In our Church

[iii] Tree image via Pixabay.com

Surrendering the Spots

[i]

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.  So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.  But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.  For the sinful nature is always hostile to God.  It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.  That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.  Romans 8:5-8(NLT)

For most of my life I have struggled with the issue of surrendering my will.  As I look back over the sermons preached since 1978 there is a pattern that is clear.  No matter where the sermon starts, it always finds its way to whether the leopard will consent to surrendering his spots.  Will I allow my will to be subordinated to that of God?  And, will I live the surrendered life willingly or grudgingly?  I certainly can’t compare my life with someone like the Apostle Paul, but this is the same issue with which he grappled:

So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good.  The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.  I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it.  Instead, I do what I hate.  Romans 7:14-15(NLT)

In as simple an illustration that is common to all who do such silliness as make New Year’s resolutions (of which I am chief), New Year’s Day always sets me up for a fall. 

I seize the moment of resolution, which may have to do with less chocolate, more walking, and no fretting.  However, by about 3:00 that afternoon, the refrigerator and couch are calling my name in headline, BIG, BOLD, RED letters!  And I fret myself to a frenzy, once the chips and Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups™ are gone.

So, today’s devotion is for anyone who’s ever suffered a lost night’s sleep, or severe indigestion due to choking on broken resolutions, not those promises that are superficial, like overeating, or lack of exercise…but for breaking your resolve to be the kind of person God would want to hang-out with…it’s time to relax.  Really?

Yes…relax.  If it were not possible to have a healthy, sustainable, and victorious, overcoming lifestyle, God would not have gone through so much trouble to say it is possible.

For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.  1 John 5:4(NLT)

As the old saying suggests, no self-respecting leopard is ever going to change his spots.  Those spots have been with him a long time; and, besides, he’s a leopard, and leopards always have spots.

The same is true with humans; our spots are our tendency to be wretched.  And there is no way to change or delete that tendency.  Just look at the news – the tendency towards evil screams in 24-hour cycles of shootings, war, madness, cruelty, with the endless list of how we shake our fists at the God who created us.

John Newton understood this inability to shed our spots, that human and evil nature which Paul said made him a wretched man; Newton wrote[ii] that God’s grace had to save a wretch like [him]; like me.

But God not only identifies this problem…our problem…He has done something about it.  God had Paul write:

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 7:24-25(KJV)

For You Today

Are you tired of those spots?  The surrendered life awaits.  Surrender you to Him; He will deal with the spots the way you can’t.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:  via Pixabay.com

[ii] Amazing Grace

When Only an Insult Will Do

[i]

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table.  His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom.  Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness!  Fools!  Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside?  So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.  “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees!  For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God.  You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.  Luke 11:37-42(NLT)

Jesus was wildly popular with the disenfranchised, the common people, poor and meager, but, with the rich and powerful…not so much!  Perhaps one of the reasons a Pharisee would invite Jesus to his home to eat is that he was well aware of the political power-play manual’s cardinal rule:  keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer!  Simon, the Pharisee wanted an up-close and personal look at this guy whose preaching was turning the political status-quo on its ear.  This was dangerous stuff, and he wanted to examine his enemy. 

Pharisees were religious power brokers, and, as such, they were clever in political maneuvering; they were manipulative, ruthless, and focused on winning.  The problem with smart people, however, is the inability to keep one’s mouth shut.  One of the Pharisees tried to bust Jesus for coming to the table without attending to ritual…7 dips in the water pots, or pours over the hands to satisfy the Law, and then you could eat.  Jesus, ever the controversial adversary of control freaks, named the rule-keeper, FOOL!  Sometimes only an insult will do.

The whole point of eating with the Pharisees was to expose their duplicity.  They were experts in keeping the bare minimums of the Laws and traditions of the elders, but when it came to throwing their lives into the spirit of the Law, they came up miserably short.  Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees are careful to tithe on even the tiniest bit of produce but ignore the needs of needy people.  Jesus reminded them God didn’t so much need 10% of the rosemary and thyme their gardens produced, as to see justice and fairness in the Pharisees’ everyday living.  The Pharisees had the responsibility of ruling with righteousness over God’s people; they had a duty to alleviate suffering amongst the poor, but they spent most of their energy on controlling everything to their liking…power, prestige, and wealth for them and their close allies.  Jesus came to drive a wedge between truth and evil.  Sometimes only a shocking insult will awaken dull senses.

One little side note here (at the risk of being called a Pharisee); please note Jesus did NOT say that the tithe is wrong; he said just the opposite – we ought to tithe.  Rather He was making the point that there are more important things than the tithe, and all those important things include better relationships, care for all persons, and honesty before God in everything.  He was saying, your pocketbook issues are important, but they don’t matter, unless your heart is right. 

For You Today

I love the imagery of the old saying, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.  The bath water is used up; a baby is just beginning, so keep the priorities in good order! 

In the same way, while you’re keeping all the rules of your faith, make certain you don’t ignore the purpose of your faith, loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength…and live that love by loving the neighbor you’d rather not!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:  via Wikimedia Commons