Christianity

Circumstance

Circumstances, the events or conditions in our lives that we experience, don’t have an inherent value besides what we assign to them. A flat tire, while certainly a negative experience, is still just an event. Most of us have probably heard the saying, “attitude is everything.” Again, it’s not a difficult concept to embrace, but I think as we encounter various circumstances during the course of a typical day, we forget that we are in the business of assigning power, minute by minute, to our experiences.

As Christians, our prayers may include asking God to keep our families safe, to provide for us financially, to give us our favorite parking spot at the supermarket. Do we worship a living God who knows us intimately, who we trust to provide for us through all that we encounter? Or do we make of our God a servant who is responsible for fulfilling our every whim? Of course we serve a loving God who wants every good thing for His children, but our relationship will be stymied if we choose to rely on a temporal view instead of God’s eternal view. Only one of those two attitudes can cause us to survive and thrive through a voyage that may bring us fair or contrary winds.

True Wisdom

“How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding. For her profit is better than the profit of silver and her gain is better than fine gold. She is more precious than jewels; And nothing you desire compares with her.” Proverbs 3:13-15.

Teach me where to find true wisdom, Lord,
the only one who knows my days.
Every time I’ve leaned on what I know, I’ve discovered the error of my ways.
Help me to hold fast your words.
Be my shelter while I’m on this earth.
When I believe I’m too little or too much,
teach me what you say I’m worth.

Help me to not abandon your instruction, Lord.
Help me to not turn away,
for the difference between my mind and yours, Lord,
is like that between night and day.
You who founded the earth and the heavens,
the only source of true light,
when my eyes can’t see what’s before me,
show me the way and the life.

Mine?

First, I would like to say thank you to Tony Roberts, of the blog “A Way With Words” http://writingforfoodinindy.wordpress.com for nominating me for the “Very Inspiring Blogger Award.” (See left) I’ll post more on this later. Now, on to today’s post.

‘The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,’ declares the Lord of hosts.
Haggai 2:8

“But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.
1 Chronicles 29:14

Our attitude towards money and time often reflects that of our children’s towards their possessions. Anyone who has had to referee an argument over the ownership or right to play with a toy is familiar with the back and forth exclamations of: “Mine!” “No, mine!” Our perception of what we own or deserve is often skewed by our sinful nature. It doesn’t take practice to develop, it’s right there from the moment we take our first breath, and we may not always know what we want, but we’re pretty sure we want more.
You probably have a drawer of things that you just can’t seem to give or throw away.
Mine.
We have garage sales to get rid of our clutter, only to take the money to buy other people’s clutter.
It was yours, now it’s…
mine.
If you have the wherewithal, you may just fill a warehouse full of beautiful cars, boats or whatever.
Mine.
Matthew 6:28 says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Where is your heart?
Really, where is it?

Here on earth in the mire
I find of my own making
gathered tight in my arms
the things that I’ve been taking

only to find what what I’ve held so tight
turned to refuse and dust.
What first appeared as jewels and silver and gold
turned to sand and rust.

What if I became instead
a caretaker, investor, steward
eager to add value for my Lord
instead of by possessions lured?

Would my attitude change?
Would I become a conduit?
Would I by his love and wisdom give away
all of the time and money and things
by fear of loss kept to stay?

Instead of building prisons of possessions
by our Lord’s mercy might we open doors.
Pray blind eyes like mine be open and see
to give away God’s stores.

An Understanding Heart

Sebastian Temple composed a wonderful hymn in 1967 based on the “Prayer of St. Francis.” The refrain from that hymn says:
Oh Master, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console.
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love with all my soul.

The great King Solomon, the son of King David, represents one of our best models of a wise man. The wisdom he possessed came through his proper relationship with God. The Bible mentions Solomon’s request of wisdom from God in 1 Kings 3:2-4:34. In verse 9 he says, “So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” Solomon knew that if he was to have any chance of being a proper King and judge over his people he would have to see with God’s eyes.

When I look at the world, Lord
I see through the lens of my own clouded eyes
and it becomes a scene of my own making.
With Your surgeon’s hands clear my sight to see in hearts
as though from a dream I’m waking.

Holy

Just bring up the word “holy,” even among Christians striving to escape society’s race to the bottom, and you’re likely to get feedback ranging from doubt to despair. I wish. You’ve got to be kidding. Me? You? But there it is, in 1 Peter 1:16. Peter, referencing passages in the Old Testament, says: “because it is written “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Unlike the animal sacrifices of the past, which had to be done again and again, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was done once. Once to cover our sin. Once to allow us to enter into the presence of God. Once to give us the power, with the arm of our Lord over our shoulder, to walk in holiness. We fall, over and over again. We get up, over and over again… until we rest.

God, look with me. See in the mirror there. How can that man there be holy? He falls and he fails and his clumsy attempts are so laughable. Really? But you’ve still called us to be…

Holy
just as our Savior is
Holy
written in your word
why God, can’t I just be good?
Holy
it’s a word meant for better folks
people with clean sheets and shiny floors
and a conscience not full of shame
Jesus, I’m desperate for your name.

Thank goodness we don’t have to do this alone.
Thank God

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

I’m a Christian. A reasonable response to that statement might be, “So what?” After all, what does the world outside the Christian church see as examples? Consider the Protestant church. There are so many to choose from. We’re protesting, all right. The problem is, everyone has a different idea about what it is we should protest. Even if you only consider the major players, there are a lot of choices. It’s almost as though every time someone got ticked off with the pastor, he got the rest of the pew to get up and start another church. “Let’s have our services on Thursdays. There’s gotta be a scripture that says Sundays aren’t right.” And just like that, The Church of Let’s All Watch Football On Sundays and Go to Church on Thursdays is born. 

So what’s the current status of the Christian church? Living in the time and country I live in, there certainly isn’t much risk. When Christianity was born, believers were hunted down and were tortured or killed. What about now? You still need to make sure you’re in the right country before you admit to following Christ. In China, unless your church is state sanctioned, you can be arrested. Recently an American pastor with duel citizenship was arrested in Iran. Apparently Iran was okay with him having dual citizenship, but being a Christian pastor was beyond the pale. Those are just a few of the many examples we could cite. I think the Jewish leadership mentioned in the Bible’s book of Acts was onto something when they first considered how they should handle what was at the time the fledgling Christian church. After considering several instances where other movements had fallen by the wayside, a Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel said, “So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.” Acts 5:38-39. Smart man, that Pharisee. So here we are, somewhere around 2,000 years later. With all its arguing, schisms, and imperfections, the Christian church remains, even where governments insist on trying to stamp it out.  

So what is a Christian? Certainly, we must accept the whole of the Bible, in context. The fact that the Bible has survived virtually unchanged for so long and has been reprinted in so many languages is unprecedented. The many prophesies concerning Jesus Christ and the development of His lineage are amazing in their accuracy. Recently we celebrated Christmas, the miraculous introduction of our savior to the world.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16.   God sent His son to be a sacrifice for mankind’s disobedience, inherited from the first man. Jesus himself was never one to mince words. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” John 14:6. This was no timid statement. Note that He didn’t say He was only a way, a truth, or a life. In order to accept Christ’s sacrifice, we must first admit we have fallen short. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. We must then make a personal declaration… “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:9-10 


I believe the bold, unvarnished message of salvation should be the foundation of every Christian church. Also high on the list in my estimation should be the care and growth of those seeking to follow and imitate Christ. We, of all people should be most humble, knowing the cost paid to redeem us. As Christians, we need to understand that each person we meet has a unique path to walk, a unique history, and a unique burden. Abigail Van Buren put it well when she said, “A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.”

“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.”
Steven Wright

Faith

What does faith mean to you? For many, it may denote your religion, which box you check on the questionnaire. For some the issue is not something you want to share, so you might check the box which says, “refuse to state.” For others, faith is worn on the sleeve, something so powerful and all encompassing that it leaks out everywhere, as though the individual is unwilling or unable to keep it inside. For some faith is more a matter of action. Take Gandhi, for instance; He clearly acted out his faith by combining his words with a very active, though non-violent approach. For each of the major world religions, a prescribed life and method define their specific approach to faith.

For Christians, faith is defined by the way of life and belief both demonstrated and taught by Jesus Christ. The bible addresses faith many times in both the old and new testaments. Faith or a lack of faith in God and His plan for mankind seems to be the hinge which swings those many figures in the bible toward a successful or unsuccessful outcome. My favorite scripture defining faith is Hebrews 11:1, which says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

In following posts I’ll illustrate what my faith means to me.