What else do you feed yourself?

Not only is it important that we actively and intentional seek to fill ourselves with wholesome truths from scripture like the promises and assurances that we from God.  It is also vital to the Christian Soul to actively and intentionally filter what he or she sees, hears or reads. Philippians 4:8 exhorts us to think on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable--if there is any moral excellence, and if there is any praise--dwell on these things."  Yet so often in our world today, a world of the endless noise of mass media that bombards our senses most every waking hour, much of what we take in would not make it into the list above.
Recently I caught the first few minutes of a TV show, a a rare occurrence as I do not have a TV where I live.  This show happens to be the most popular comedy sitcom on TV.  The first four minutes, even before the opening credits, were pretty much filled with immorality.  Now I enjoy movies and television as much as the next guy.  It is now so commonplace to make light of immorality and display impurity in jest.  Violence, greed, sex, lust, adultery and the the manifold vices that our flesh is plagued with are glorified in stunning High Def in prime time.  Romans 12:2 Says that we should "not be conformed to this world," but this world beckons ceaselessly from every medium calling for our conformity.
Reading scripture and listening to messages from the Word are immeasurably necessary as has been mentioned.  But what about the other things that we take in?  The magazines, news, TV shows, movies and the incessant 24-7 mass media that surrounds us.  Are we as careful about what we allow ourselves to see, hear and read as many are about the food that they eat?  Subtly and not so subtly the noise that surrounds us is not without its effect.  Our Culture is increasingly being lulled into a indifferent stupor that is numb to this noise.  And with the statistics of divorce, drug use, depression being more or less the same between Christians and non-Christians it is clear that we have conformed.
The second part of Romans 12:2 tells us to "be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  We renew our mind by what we put into it, and what we thinking about.  Almost always what we think about depends on what we put into our minds to begin with.  So be careful little eyes what you seen, and be careful little ears what you hear...  We are called to be a people set apart and different, and our mission is to change the world, not be changed by it.

Dear Lord,

Help us o discern the things that we observe and

hear with wisdom, and give us the grace

to turn off the noise that surrounds us and to seek

things true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable.

In Christs name,  Amen

What do you feed yourself?

There is an Old saying that most, if not all, will be very familiar with.  It is the mealtime mantra of mothers and the health conscious.  "You are what you eat."  Though this is very true and proven to be important for a health lifestyle and physical training, it is also true for food of a different sort. "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has a value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (I Timothy 4:8)  What we feed ourselves, that is what we listen to, read, and watch, from the quit whisperings of the enemy to the noisome bombardment of twenty first century twenty-four-seven multimedia has a profound effect on the spirit and the soul with far reaching effects into our life. 

Quite recently I came across an intriguing statement.  I am not sure if I read it or heard it from one of the many preachers I enjoy listening to on Moody Radio throughout the week, but the statement, more or less, was this.  “Our problem is that we spend more time listening to ourselves rather than talking to ourselves.”  As is often case, if one is careful enough in observation, profundity exists in the obvious.  This has certainly been a struggle for me through some of the harder seasons of my life.  A good friend and counselor of mine has often said “what you feel and what you think will lie to you.”  What is whispered to our self from our hearts and minds and our environment is frequently hijacked by the enemy, the “father of lies.”  Quietly, if we are not wary enough to perceive it, these whispers will breed a decay of the soul which leads to fear, doubt, loss of joy, loss of peace and to despair.  Think about the last trial you faced, or the one you are facing.  What did you hear from yourself?  For me it was often discouraging banter.  Lies such as, “this is a hole you will never get out of,” “You will never finish paying for this mistake,” “God is surely unhappy with you,” “you always fail, and always will,” are just a handful of the destructive whispers that I would hear while listening to myself.  What about you?  What whispers do you hear in trials, mistakes or difficulties?

The weapon against the discouraging lies we hear when listening to ourselves is speaking truth to ourselves.  A very wise woman that I know told me often when I was facing various trials that Truth needed to be spoken into my life.  But, to speak the truth into our lives we must first, of course, know that truth.  Lies hold us captive but “the truth will set [us] free.”  This truth is God, and is found in His word.  This is why it is vital to Christian survival to be in God’s word and be in it regularly.  It is there we discover the truth of God’s goodly nature and His promises to us.  These words are strong rocks to stand on, the strongest in fact (consider Matthew 8:24-27).  The scriptures are filled from Genesis to Revelation with promises God has made to His children and the truths of His nature.  Psalm 23, Isaiah 43, Psalm 27:13, John 16:33 and many other passages present these promises and truths. Indeed the whole of scripture is one grand promise whose fulfillment is found in the central character of Christ who redeemed us to Himself.

Knowing the truth is one thing. Regularly reading God's word and memorizing it is very healthy.  It feeds the spirit and nourishes the soul.  However, it must be believed and trusted, and it must be listened to.  Instead of listening to yourself, which is quite passive and easy and takes little effort, you have to actively work at speaking truth to yourself.  It takes a concerted effort and considerable discipline, whatever the situation or season you come to, to develop the practice of speaking truth to yourself.  It is a choice to turn away from lies and grab a hold on the truth moment to moment and day to day.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for your word, which is so vibrant with your "great

and precious promises" and your many truths.  I pray that all of us develop

the regular practice of speaking THE Truth, your truth into our lives.  There

will be hard times in this world, but you have overcome the world.  You walk with us

through every season.  May you give us eyes to see your presence, and ears to hear

your voice.

Amen  

The Fundamentals: Part two

Previously I posed “Fundamentals: Part One.”  If you have not yet read that post I suggest that you do before reading this one.  I would also like to briefly follow up that post with one further point about reading God’s word.  To simply read the words on the pages of your Bible is not “digging” into the word of God and does not have any great effect on the soul of the reader.  One can briefly skim over the words of scripture without encountering the divine.  It is not some item to be marked off our religious check list of holy activities.  Jesus spoke of those who have ears and hear but do not listen.  There is a similar distinction when approaching scripture.  One can read the words, memorize them even, but they do not take them in or to heart.  In Psalm 1:2; 119:15, 97 we are presented with the idea of “meditating” on God’s word.  This is reading with desire to know God (not about Him).   The second part to this is that we must “be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving [ourselves].  Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking for His own face in a mirror…  But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works—this person will be blessed in what he does  James 1:22-25 (HCSB).”  Suffice it to say that in reading God’s word I mean to say that one should intently study it and actively seek the voice of God.  This is accomplished through prayer.

Most are familiar with the term prayer.  It is central to the western religious traditions and many others.  Prayer ranges from the panic stricken cry to God in the midst of great strife or disaster to the deep cry of a broken spirit to the heights of praise and adoration of the divine.  But people, even Christians have varied ideas of what prayer is and what its purpose is.  This is what I hope to address here.

The old testament word that is most often translated as “pray” is פָּלַל or pālal, a derivative of this word תְּפִלָּה  The word פָּלַל is related to the verb “to judge,” but indicates the notion of entreating with or appealing to someone, most likely a superior.  In the new testament we have προσεύχομαι, or proseuchomai, which comes from two Greek words πρός, which is a stronger form of πρό and means “toward” or “with regards to” and εὔχομαι or euchomai, which is the word for a “wish”, “petition” and “request.”  Classically it is the technical term for calling on, or to, a deity.  It literally means to make a wish towards or petition towards.  In both the Old and New Testament the term prayer suggest the idea making a request to someone who has authority. 

So, first and foremost, prayer is an act of submission.  If one makes an appeal to a judge, a king or superior, he or she is in effect stating that he or she does not have the authority or power to bring about whatever it is that is being asked about.  This is very important to keep in mind when thinking about praying.  Prayer is an act of worship and praise because it gives God honor and glory by ascribing to him power and authority in our lives and submitting to that power and authority.  Whatever it is we do when we prayer performs this function if our prayers are the true prayer of a humble heart.  If God is thanked, then He is thanked for something that He did in and of himself, something that only He can do.  If He is praised, then that praise due to His nature in His own being.  If He is asked to perform some act, He is asked because He alone is sovereign, has the knowledge, wisdom and power to act.  What a wonderful gift this is to the children of God. 

A second aspect of prayer's purpose in our life is that it is a time where we quiet our mind, heart and soul and where God speaks to us, imparts wisdom and discernment.  The Holy spirit, which searches the deep things of God (I Corinthians 2:10) prompts and guides us.  Prayer is not just the act of submitting our requests to God, thought that is part of it.  It is a time when we get alone with God, as Jesus often did, and hear from him as he speaks to our hearts.  It is likely that no audible voice will be heard from heaven.  What will be heard is the patient loving voice of the creator that brings peace, comfort, love, and joy to the hearer as well as instruction and admonition.  It is the place we go to to align our hearts and minds to the will of our father who is in heaven.  So that we can better understand His word, this world and our place in His kingdom    

Ultimately we find that prayer changes us.  We go to God with our complaints, concerns and desires.  And through the process we humble ourselves before our maker, listen to His voice and find that we have been changed though whatever situation or issue we are praying about may remain the same.  We may pray through tough times and find those tough time remains, but what we also find is that God's grace is sufficient and he is as near as our next breath.

Happy New Year

Well it is the beginning of 2011, the first year of the second decade in this millennium.  So Happy New Year!  I decided to make no “resolutions” this year but rather to make goals.  Among those is to post a blog once a week.  This, as ever, is a work in progress and there is no telling what might show up, from poetry, thoughts on Life and God to academic pros.  Who knows what else?  I figured that I would waste little time getting the first of, hopefully, at least 52 posts in this year.

The New Year always seems to bring on a more reflective and introspective atmosphere.  It is a time when many look over the last twelve months and evaluate progress, changes, and often mistakes.  Many have lost someone close to them, while others have perhaps welcomed someone new into the world.  For my part 2010 was truly a dynamic year.  Usually I am very happy to welcome a new year with all its potential and promise, but this year I am happy to see 2010 go.   Will 2011 be better I wonder?  As I have pondered for myself the many events of the last year and gazed into the possible tomorrows a small voice whispers in my ear.  “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  How profound!  These few words at the end of Matthew Chapter Six are full of wisdom. 

What is central to this verse is the idea of being present.  So often we are either looking regretfully, in one way or another, to the past.  Perhaps a mistake was made or an undesired change took place.  So we look back and wish we could change things, write wrongs, take back harsh words, and step up where we didn’t and so on.  On the other hand we look toward the future with anticipation or fear or perhaps both.  On the one hand we look for better days.  We say when I achieve or get such-and-such then I will be happy.  The future is largely unknown, and so we often fear it as well.  Will my job last?  Will my finances remain in good shape?  And the list goes on.  They saying goes that eighty to ninety percent of the stuff we worry about never happens.  But we have to do something right?  All the time and energy we spend worrying over things causes great anxiety and distress.   But in the middle of this tempest the savior softy speaks.  “Why do you worry?”

The truth is that we serve a sovereign God who is defined by His goodness and love.  He desires the best for His children.  Yet often times this “best” does not seem good to us.  These are places where our wills and desires rub up against the Will of our Creator.  Why?  We don’t trust him.  When things start to go a direction that we don’t like we question his methods and perhaps his motives or maybe both.  Wisdom and experience, however, teach us that He is indeed good and loving.  All the bad ends I have experiences have led to better beginnings.  And, as a wise man I know says, God has always blessed me, what reason do I have to believe He will not continue to do so.  It takes strong will sometime not to despair and to rest in the loving arms of the Father.  But it is a safe and goodly place.  And we must hold on to the promise of God’s love and goodness with relentless tenacity whatever may come our way.

Times can be hard.  That is indeed true.  Remember God is for you!  He desires good things for you, the best things even if we cannot understand how.  So when the times are good, give thanks, and be present.  For every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.  And in those valleys that we are sure to wander in remember those good times when all was well.  Pray for strength, courage and greater faith in God’s love.  For these times will pass and you will look back and perhaps see the hand of God guiding you lovingly to green pastures and still waters. 

Blessed be your name

When the sun’s shining down on me

When the world’s all as it should be

Blessed be your name

Blessed be your name

On the road marked with suffering

Though there’s pain in the offering

Blessed be you name.

Joy and peace be with you in all your seasons.

Happy New Year

The Fundamentals: Part one

Returning to fundamentals is a principle that is prevalent in most, if not all, disciplines.  It is useful when the complexity of a hypothesis, theory or idea exacerbates any attempt at a solution.  "Going back to the drawing board" is an opportunity to step back from a problem, clear the clutter from the mind and focus on things that are known to be true.  This often provides a different perspective and allows one to see potential errors or mistakes more clearly.  In other cases, such as sports, a frequent fault, failure or inability to achieve certain objectives can be a sign that a fundamental or fundamentals that are not being utilized or followed.

In the Christian walk a similar impasse is often experienced, which is almost certainly an indication that a fundamental has been neglected.  Commonly this shows up when their is discord or a lack of peace in our lives.  Typically the distress we are facing is a result of a bad or incorrect belief, namely that God is good and His plans are good, and that He is to be trusted.  This particular trail is one that I am rather familiar with.  Yet most recently God has, through various means, has brought to my mind two critical fundamentals that I have been neglecting.  Neither of these are novel or profound, which I think is why they are so often neglected in one form or another.  For whatever reason complexity and profundity are attractive, and those things that seem simple are deemed inferior.  But the reality is that for the Christian these things are very necessary to the health of our souls and are relationship to God and to people (Matt 22:37).  I thought it might be worth posting for the benefit of others.

The first of these is fundamental of digging into God's truth, His word, which has been handed down to us in Scripture.  The Bible offers us God's story and how he has interacted with His people throughout history.  We are told II Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."  The phrase "inspired by God" is important to note.  It is the Greek word θεόπνευστος from God (θεὸς) and Breathed (πνεῖν).  So the intention here is that, however the Word of Scripture has come, it has its Origin in God.  It is in its essence, its purpose and its subject the words of God in a very literal sense.  The Word of Scripture is inerrant, that is without error, in terms of its composition in the original languages.  I took the time to bore you with this point because it is of immense importance.  Because if we have handed down to us to very words of God that he wished for us to have in order that, through it, we might be taught the truth, rebuked  of our own sin, corrected in our theology, trained in reflecting the righteousness of God so that we might come to look more and more like his son, then we ought to spend time reading these words and do so daily. 

The Shorter Catechism of Westminster states that the chief end of humanity is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.  Scripture is the primary way in which the Holy Spirit, the "counselor" that Jesus promised (John 14:26), instructs us about the nature of God, His will and how we are to conduct ourselves as His children.  The point is that God has revealed Himself through prophets in varying times and ways and ultimately in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2).  This revelation is recorded in Scripture.  If we would Know God and have a Relationship with him to such an extent that we, through Christ, are able to fulfill His will of Looking like Jesus then we must read His word.  It is essential for the success and spiritual well being of those who are called by Him in His Son Jesus.

I hope that you have enjoyed this, and I welcome any comments or questions.  My prayer is that this will be beneficial also.  This is the first of two parts.  The next one will be on Prayer.  Until then God bless!

A new direction

OK, it has been way to long since I have posted something.  A lot of things have happened since then.  So allow me this brief, shall we say, personal note.  For some time I have felt that God has been calling me to write.   There may be some who know me that might scoff at this statement, but their opinion no longer concerns me.  To be honest there have been some who purposefully or I perceived as trying perceptively dissuaded me from writing.  But this Blog, in truth, is an act of faithfulness for me.  It is also a forum for me to discover what I enjoy writing about, to practice writing and get feedback and hopefully also generate positive discussion.  It is a very new and somewhat unfamiliar thing for me, which is the cause for this note.  I tend to formulate ideas as I go revising, changing or updating them “on the fly” when necessary.

Now most recently I have felt call to a general direction for the subjects I should write about, or to put it more correctly, what I should not write about.  I feel that where I am being led as far as subject matter will be more beneficial for you, whoever you are, and more beneficial for me as well.  I hope that your numbers will increase, and with that increase that there will be greater interaction between you and me.  So thanks in advance for your patience.

The Ground Zero Mosque

Much has been made in recent days about the proposed mosque some two blocks from Ground Zero (The site of the September, 11^th attacks).  The proposal by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has struck a chord with the American public.  And rightfully so!  However, we must be certain that it is striking the right chord.

Now, it must be said that there is sufficient room for debate on the relativity of religious freedom these days.  And it may be pointed out also that the congregation and leadership of the Orthodox Church building that was destroyed on September 11^th have been caught up in the mire of bureaucratic      red tape.  And those who seem to be running to defend the right of Imam Rauf to construct his mosque haven’t said or done much to aid this church.  But I digress!  Much of the media, talking heads and politicians have spoken at length about the constitutionality of the situation.  This in my mind is somewhat surprising because scarcely anyone talks about the constitution nowadays, especially on the left, and it was likely quite a chore to find their respective copies or send an aid to buy a new one. But in reality this isn’t a question of whether the proposed mosque is constitutional!  To me that particular topic is meant only to mislead the public. 

As far as I am concerned the Imam has every right to build his mosque anywhere he desires provided that it meat the zoning codes and all the rest.  There is no legal issue at play here and no room for there to be any legal hindrance of the mosque.  Now before you go all crazy on me and start talking about the funding the intent and all of that, hear me out.  I am simply saying the government does not have a dog in this fight, at least for the present.  It is true that if we do indeed discover that funds linked to terrorist’s organizations or other entities that support them are being used to build this mosque then this becomes a different issue entirely.  However, while we are on the subject, the fact that the US State department is paying at least part of the expenses for Imam  Rauf to travel to the middle east to “foster ‘greater understanding’ about Islam and Muslim communities in the United States” is somewhat constitutional questionable.(http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/10/tax-dollars-to-build-mosques/)

What is at issue here is propriety.  If, as the Imam has said, the purpose of this mosque and cultural center is to build bridges and promote cultural diversity, then forcing the proposed mosque on a people who do not want it seems a strange way to go about encouraging peace and brotherhood.  For instance, if I wanted to do something for a friend to help them out in some way, but they vehemently reject my offer, then it doesn’t help the situation if I force them to take it against their will.  This in my mind is where the true debate lies.

We must look at the history and the possibility of more sinister motives behind the mosque.  Historically Muslims have had a long standing tradition of building mosques on sacred or important sights of those whom they have conquered. (http://www.hudson-ny.org/1496/mosques-on-sacred-sites-of-defeated-enemies)  The very name of the proposed Mosque, the “Cordoba House” suggests this.  After the Muslim conquest of Spain in 784 they destroyed a Visigoth Church and erected the Great Mosque or Mezquita.  Of course we are all aware of the Dome of the Rock which was built over the site of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.  There are many other occurrences of this sort throughout history.  And even though this idea may have nothing to do with Imam Rauf’s proposed mosque it will certainly be seen by many of the “Radical Muslims” as a symbol of victory.  They see themselves at war with the west, with the infidel (that’s me, and likely you).  Having a shinny new multi million dollar mosque near ground zero would mark the spot of their greatest triumph over the west thus far.

Yet the government has very little authority to stop this mosque from being built on the grounds of propriety, and neither do we.  At best we could attempt to persuade the Imam to consider another location, but such attempts so far have proved unsuccessful.  In my opinion the proposed mosque will move forward and be built.  So what then?  Well in either case we must have our eyes open.  We need to be aware of why it is that Imam Rauf is so determined to build the mosque on the site near the place where Muslim terrorist killed nearly 3000 innocent people especially when the vast majority of the people he is trying to reach out to appose the mosque.  What is the real intent and purpose for the mosque?  These questions are but a part of much larger questions about Islam in America (a topic for another time).  We must move forward with our eyes opened in this whatever the outcome of this particular case may be.