A VOICE THAT DOES NOT FADE...

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will words will not pass away."
-- Mark 13:31

To what voices do we listen? By what words will we live?

As example, this morning I ran across a TV program that a year ago was stirring fierce debate. Its subject and subject matter were inescapable - being the focus of news reports, magazine covers, etc. Opinions varied. Voices spoke. The volume raised. And now - near silence.

The point is some voices fade and many words lose power. They meld into the cacophonous symphony of white noise that plays around us all the time. Some of these shouting voices raise the volume, demanding to be heard. But ultimately, it is not volume that creates words that last, it is the truth therein.

The Apostle Paul, in speaking to his protege Timothy wrote: "The Scripture is God-breathed and powerfully applicable for living;" (My translation of 2 Timothy 3:16). Jesus put it this way: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God;" (Matthew 4:4).

The point is, there is one voice to which we must listen. Its message is truth. Its content powerful. Its words, life. Peter said to Jesus when those around were abandoning the call: "... to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life;" (John 6:68).

God's voice is often a whisper - barely heard. And it is less perceptible with ears than with an open and a willing heart. He speaks through his word. He speaks through his children. Through his church. Through his creation. He is speaking. The question is: will we listen?

An Old Testament story tells of a prophet looking for God. As he stood in a cleft of the mountain, a mighty wind ripped through, but God was not in the wind. Then came an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Then a roaring fire blazed, but God was not in the fire. Finally, there came "a still small voice" - the voice of God's presence.

Words of truth are easily drowned out by the chaotic noise of life. We must learn to hear. We must seek to listen.

Ultimately, other voices will fade; their messages exposed. But the words of God are life.


God, open my ears, that I might hear...


For now...
D

Warrior...

MOTIVATION... 

It's an overused word and an undervalued commodity. I woke up this morning with the typical creaks, aches and pops of a guy my age. Second cup of coffee and gearing up for the gym. It's leg day... I gotta get psyched!

First, some reading and a little quiet time. Then I remembered something I DVR'd... WARRIOR...

One is motivated by painful regret, the other by love for his family.
A powerful story of motivation and overcoming.
Warrior - It's in my all-time top five. 

I flip WARRIOR on the TV...

The coffee cup is now empty, but my tank is full. Ready to hit it. (I realize this post has a high cheese factor... but you do what you gotta do!)

Ultimately, MOTIVATION must come from within! 

But we all can use some help in getting the inner WARRIOR out!

For now...

D

right BE-ing...

"Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures, nor the power of God?"     -- Mark 12:24

It is one thing to be wrong about something. It is quite another thing to BE wrong. (Period.)

Wrong opinions and perspectives can be changed given the right information. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent during Super Bowls and election seasons to change our minds; to help us make the "right" decisions.

But being wrong - on the inside - wrong of heart and mind, wrong of soul, is a far worse condition.

A group of religious "experts" came to Jesus in an attempt to trick him, to expose him. Their question was silly on the surface - seven brothers dying one after another, having customarily married the same woman... who will be her husband in heaven? However, their own question revealed the motive. It exposed their hearts. These men were from a group called the Sadducees. One of the hallmarks of their sect was that they believed and taught that this life was it. No heaven, no hell, no resurrection. Nothing.

It was not however, their opinions that condemned them. It was the condition of their BE-ing.

The term Ontology was often used both while I was in seminary as well as in undergrad secular philosophy classes. Ontology is defined as the nature of being. It is the who we are - truly, deeply; underneath external appearance, opinion, etc. It is our BE-ing.

Paul warns his protege Timothy about wrong BE-ing:

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient 

to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, 

brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure 

rather than lovers of God, having an appearance of godliness, but denying its power.  

-- 2 Timothy 3:2-5

Jesus once said that it is not what goes into a person that condemns - i.e. what we eat or drink. (And it is sad that religion focuses so heavily on such things.) It is instead what comes out the defiles. Out of our mouths (and in our actions and attitudes) flows our heart's condition. And by our words, attitudes and actions our hearts are revealed and exposed - for better or worse. 

Our BE-ing is revealed. 

The good news? Grace trumps wrong BE-ing! Grace is always the more powerful. As Jesus told the uptight, religious, treacherous Sadducees, the scriptures reveal the powerful grace of a God who can (and desires to) change our BE-ing. 

Christ accepted people where they were. He still does. But he never allowed them to comfortably remain where they were. He still doesn't. His desire is to transform our BE-ing. 

God, help me to BE...

For now...

D

A MIRROR DARKLY...

"Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied... Untie it and bring it."
-- Mark 11:2

God sees beyond what we see. He knows depths - both within us and around us - that we do not. He has purposes that we discover little by little. They are revealed daily, layer by layer. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; 

then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.   

-- 1 Corinthians 13:12

Frankly, we wish we could see more; know more. We wish... but God knows better. Jesus said:

"Therefore, do not be anxious... But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow..."

-- Matthew 6:31-34 

We often pray to know God's will. But could it be that deep in our hearts we pray such things in order to weigh his will against ours; only to decide if we will choose what he wants for us?

The fact is God has revealed his will. It is that we seek him... that we know him... that we, by his power, live according to what we know. And it is then (and usually only then) that he reveals more. 

And it is not in revealing our future that we find we can trust him. We trust him because he has redeemed us from our past. We trust him because his words are always true. We trust him because there is no lie in his promises. 

He sees what we do not. He knows what we cannot. 

And he will lead us to go places with which we are unfamiliar. He will ask us to do some things that are far outside our comfort. (Think about walking into an unfamiliar village and walking out with the first horse you see!) But even then, Christ has seen the end from the beginning. And we can trust.

God, you see what I don't, I will trust your eyes over mine...

For now...

D

CHILDLIKE...

"Let the children come to me..."
-- Mark 10

There is a vast difference between being childlike 

and being childish. 

Mark's gospel tends to be rapid fire. (We pick this up with all the "immediately's" scattered throughout.) In Luke's telling of this same story, he mentions that just before Jesus said, "Let the children come to me..," the disciples had been arguing over which of them was greatest.

Stop for a moment. Ponder that.

Yes, they had just come back from doing some pretty incredible things. All, by the way, because Jesus had empowered them. However, they somehow forgot this fact. They had also somehow suddenly forgotten who it was who calmed storms, walked on water, healed the blind and deaf and ran demons off into pigs.

It would be like sitting in a room with a couple friends, and Albert Einstein, and arguing which of you was smartest; or jogging along at Lake Hefner with some buddies, and Usain Bolt, and arguing who was the fastest. If we multiply these examples by 100 or 1,000 we still fall short of the silliness of the argument.

Let's take it up a notch. The disciples - who were an odd roundup of former fishermen, tax-collectors, etc. - stood in front of the ONE who spoke the word, and what was not became what is (John 1:1-4). They stood before the Light and Giver of Life and argued about which of them was the greatest!

Childish.

My guess is that Peter, James and John were right in the middle of the argument. They probably even played the Transfiguration Card at some point: "If you had only seen what I saw... but Jesus said I can't tell you. You probably wouldn't be able to handle it." 

Then Jesus points to a child and says, "The Kingdom of God is for the childlike," (my rough transliteration).

True faith is childlike... it is not childish.

Childish faith is self-focused... Childlike faith is focused on Christ.

Childish faith is arrogant (and usually ignorantly so)... Childlike faith is humble. 

Childish faith wants to be served... Childlike faith serves.

Childish faith argues... Childlike faith believes. 

Childish faith is not... Childlike faith is. 

The foremost quality of childlike-ness is this: A person who is childlike understands that he or she is a child. We are childlike when we love and receive love. We are childlike when we sense we are pleasing to God, not because of something we do, but simply because we are his.

(It is sad to say, but we live in a culture and time that robs the childlike-ness from children due to horrible or absent parents, cultural intrusion, etc. But that is a discussion for another time.)

For now our quest is to become as children; because that is what we are... Children of God.

God, I come to you as a child, help me to remain childlike and never childish...


For now...
D

Childlike

"Let the children come to me..."
-- Mark 10

There is a vast difference between being childlike 

and being childish. 

Mark's gospel tends to be rapid fire. (We pick this up with all the "immediately's" scattered throughout.) In Luke's telling of this same story, he mentions that just before Jesus said, "Let the children come to me..," the disciples had been arguing over which of them was greatest.

Stop for a moment. Ponder that.

Yes, they had just come back from doing some pretty incredible things. All, by the way, because Jesus had empowered them. However, they somehow forgot this fact. They had also somehow suddenly forgotten who it was who calmed storms, walked on water, healed the blind and deaf and ran demons off into pigs.

It would be like sitting in a room with a couple friends, and Albert Einstein, and arguing which of you was smartest; or jogging along at Lake Hefner with some buddies, and Usain Bolt, and arguing who was the fastest. If we multiply these examples by 100 or 1,000 we still fall short of the silliness of the argument.

Let's take it up a notch. The disciples - who were an odd roundup of former fishermen, tax-collectors, etc. - stood in front of the ONE who spoke the word, and what was not became what is (John 1:1-4). They stood before the Light and Giver of Life and argued about which of them was the greatest!

Childish.

My guess is that Peter, James and John were right in the middle of the argument. They probably even played the Transfiguration Card at some point: "If you had only seen what I saw... but Jesus said I can't tell you. You probably wouldn't be able to handle it." 

Then Jesus points to a child and says, "The Kingdom of God is for the childlike," (my rough transliteration).

True faith is childlike... it is not childish.

Childish faith is self-focused... Childlike faith is focused on Christ.

Childish faith is arrogant (and usually ignorantly so)... Childlike faith is humble. 

Childish faith wants to be served... Childlike faith serves.

Childish faith argues... Childlike faith believes. 

Childish faith is not... Childlike faith is. 

The foremost quality of childlike-ness is this: A person who is childlike understands that he or she is a child. We are childlike when we love and receive love. We are childlike when we sense we are pleasing to God, not because of something we do, but simply because we are his.

(It is sad to say, but we live in a culture and time that robs the childlike-ness from children due to horrible or absent parents, cultural intrusion, etc. But that is a discussion for another time.)

For now our quest is to become as children; because that is what we are... Children of God.

God, I come to you as a child, help me to remain childlike and never childish...


For now...
D

"... BUT JESUS ONLY"

And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. 
-- Mark 9:8

We all have spiritual high moments; sometimes even seasons. They are mountain top experiences of inspiration. These times are important and real. They are however, also temporary.

For Peter, James and John the mountain top experience was literal.  On a high peak they saw a transfigured Jesus (think whiter than white, with heavenly back-lighting). Then along side him were two giants of the faith - Moses and Elijah. (I've always wondered how they recognized the two - there were very few Instagram pics of the Moses and Elijah floating around at the time.) Then came an overwhelmingly thick and awesome cloud, with a voice speaking from it. Needless to say the view was spectacular; both inspirational and terrifying all at once.

As quickly as all this happened it was suddenly gone. No cloud. No heroes of the past. No bright lights. Just the the three guys - and Jesus. Mark writes, "... but Jesus only." 

Though the view from the pinnacle is inspirational, and again, vital from time to time, it is the exception and not the norm. Not for the disciples. And not for us.

Experiences above the treeline help set our perspective. They add vision and focus. They inspire. But at least two things happen down the slopes that seldom occur on the mountain top.

1) Ministry occurs down the mountain. Read the story. The disciples come down with Jesus and are immediately faced with desperate need. And Jesus did the miraculous. In the same way, we are called to - and given opportunity for - ministry down the mountain side.

Peter wanted to stay on the mountain. He wanted to prolong the experience. At least one father and son down the mountain were glad that wasn't the case.

2) Growth takes place in the valleys. This is not fun and doesn't feel good to write or read. But we need the valleys. These are the places of greatest growth. And it is in the valleys that we most learn that God is present; even when (and especially) we don't sense him.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I fear no evil, for you are with me."

-- Psalm 23:4

By the way ... but Jesus only, is enough. And really that's the point. The same ... but Jesus only that shone on the mountain top and was the focus of the heavenly cloud-voice walks with you and me down the slopes and into the valleys. When we have ... but Jesus only, we have it all.

God, ... but Jesus only is enough for me...


For now...
D