love

Consider the Source

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My wife and I are opposites in many ways, but I guess it’s one of the things that keeps our relationship interesting. Consider how the two of us eat and read. When I’m finished eating, Lori will often be only half way through her plate. However, while she can read a book in a day, I’ll take weeks to plod my way through the same tome. Of course, those are inconsequential things in the bigger context of a marriage. Right at the top for both of us in a list of priorities for maintaining our relationship would be our faith. Our goal individually and as a couple is to check our attitudes toward every aspect of our lives through the prism of how God sees it. God is our most reliable source. Hebrews 13:8 ESV says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. In our lives, where so much is uncertain, we can always count on the teachings of Jesus to be our solid and reliable guide. If Jesus is your source, if he is your rock, in a game of rock, paper, scissors, rock should win every time.
Although currently the reputation of the news media as a whole is under fire, ideally, professional journalists should rely on multiple sources when the truth of a story may come into question. Reliable sources are a news organization’s life blood. The reason is if a story is proven to be untrue, it can cost that organization readers or viewers, which will translate into lost business. While we’re on the subject, remember that “the media” relies on advertising dollars to exist. When you click, view, and read you are telling advertisers what you support. In that sense, the media is us. It will live or die based on the attention it receives. But even if selling news isn’t your business, other people are judging your credibility every day. We’ve probably all had conversations with others regarding whether we can believe what someone else has said. If something that person said didn’t ring true, we might say, “Well, consider the source,” meaning the person in question didn’t have a reputation for telling the truth. When it comes to our relationships with — I guess just about everyone, trust has to be at the top, and once you become known as someone who lies, mishandles information, or is in other ways untrustworthy, you can expect that bond of trust to become broken. Truth and trust help to bind us together and free us to be the men and women of God we were always intended to be. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32 NIV

Since I started this post off by talking about my wife, and thinking about the racism and hate that’s been so present in our national discussion lately, I thought I would mention something she taught me about the subtle racism that can infect our everyday speech. Let’s say you’re relating a story to a friend. The story involves a person of color, let’s say, black. When you tell that story, is the fact that the story involved a black person relevant? Would you have mentioned their color if they were white? Our descriptions of people can play into all sorts of stereotypes designed to divide into categories of inferior and superior without our being aware of it. When we allow racism and hate to become part of us in even subtle ways, we are pulling away from the source of love, truth, and eternal life who is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I don’t have to tell you who the source of hate, division, and the father of lies is, do I?

“Laundry is the only thing that should be
separated by color.”
Author Unknown

Be the change.
Reflect the source that flows through you,
perfect love that casts out all fear.
Be the hope,
the good news of salvation,
of changed lives,
and dried tears.
Strength doesn’t always
reflect expectations,
and soft words
can turn away wrath.
Offer to kneel with another,
an other.
Encourage a better path.

©Joel Tipple 5/31/2020






In Your Eyes

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Unless you are blind, when you encounter someone, you probably use the information their facial expression provides you to help assess their mood. Whether they are angry, sad, or somewhere in between, their smile, or lack of one, can go a long way toward helping you figure out where they are emotionally. However, these days many people are wearing masks when out in public in an effort to slow transmission of the covid 19 virus. In that case, we automatically turn to another major source of body language, the eyes. It’s often said that eyes are a gateway to the soul. Eyes help us see what’s going on inside another person. Meeting, or failing to meet another person’s gaze can often be a clue in itself. With practice, study of the eyes can even tell you whether the person you’re interacting with is being genuine. Poker players will often wear dark glasses in an attempt to keep other players from guessing the quality of their hand.

More about eyes:

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Matthew 6:22-23 NIV

Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.
Proverbs 21:4 ESV

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.
Psalm 119:37 ESV

22 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Luke 10:22-24 NIV

“When a person starts to talk about their dreams, it’s as if something bubbles up from within. Their eyes brighten, their face glows, and you can feel the excitement in their words.”
John Maxwell

“It is necessary to keep one’s compass in one’s eyes and not in the hand, for the hands execute, but the eye judges.”
Michelangelo

The pane of your windows
barrier between outside and in
melts away with emotion
through that membrane so thin
Thoughts come/go, an instant
without attention you might miss
Truth escapes your edit
though you try to hold it
like a fist
When invited, God’s spirit
makes a home
in the heart He resides
so one to another, sister and brother
His love shines through the eyes

© Joel Tipple 4/5/2020












What Love Requires

 So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth.  And I pray that he would unveil within you the unlimited riches of his glory and favor until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with his divine might and explosive power. Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.
Ephesians 3:14-19 The Passion Translation (TPT)

Earlier this week I was helping a gentleman at work who is one of our regular customers. He’s one of those folks it’s just a pleasure to be around, always encouraging and friendly. No matter what kind of day you’re having, people like this have a way of making it better. On this day in particular I noticed he was wearing a unique cross. It had a sort of steampunk metal look to it, and I told him I liked it. In reply, he said it was a gift from a friend when he moved years ago. Here’s the story. My friend worked for one of those laundry delivery companies that serve businesses. One day, as he was making his rounds, he came to one shop in particular where he had established a friendly rapport with a lady who worked there who happened to be African American. He told her he was leaving the area and this would be his last time delivering to them. She said, “Wait, I have something for you.” She disappeared into the back, and when she came out she had the cross in her hand and asked him to take it. He was surprised, and when he told her as much, she said the reason she was giving him the cross was he was the first white man who had ever called her, “ma’am.” I was both moved and taken aback by the story. Thinking this must have been a very long time ago, not that racism should have ever been the norm, I asked him what year this happened. He said it was 1995. It seems to me our relationships with people of different colors and cultures have been moving forward at a snail’s pace, that is, when they are moving forward at all. I’m concerned that not enough attitudes have shifted since my friend was given his cross.

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit . . . Next to the blessed sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (New York; Harper-Collins, 2001, first paperback edition).

Jesus said to love God
with everything you have
and love your neighbor as yourself.
How many days have I begun,
leaving those words on the shelf?
It’s easy to treat well
those who do the same.
It’s easy to not fear
those with similar skin
and names.
Let me be the bridge
to Jesus’ love
even when it’s not natural
or easy.

© Joel Tipple 8/10/2019

Love Isn’t Easy

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35 ESV

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
Romans 13:8 ESV

My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.
1 John 3:18

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Matthew 5:17-18 ESV

When Christians get together and discuss the state of the world and how it relates to them, the conversation often turns to the general decline in standards of conduct and the increase of sinful behavior. We can probably agree that it’s easier than ever to step across the line when the other side is just a click away, but anyone questioning the growing absence of a moral compass may be judged as being unfairly restrictive of freedom of expression. Consider the way today’s world views and interacts with Christians. While many locations around the globe range from being restrictive to downright dangerous for Christ-followers, even countries with a Christian tradition are finding ways to marginalize them. So it’s no surprise that the church finds itself trying to choose someplace between adopting a foxhole mentality of drawing away from the world to the point we risk losing touch with our communities to becoming just another political group vying for its own special interests. Just how are we to be the salt of the earth? I’m convinced we must love each other desperately, sacrificing for each other while at the same time standing out as a beacon of light for our communities, and not just the parts of our communities easiest to love.

Love isn’t easy,
not as Jesus commanded.
And it wasn’t just the Pharisees
our Lord reprimanded.

In our age love ranges
from dear to trivial,
from life-giving
to simply convivial.

But to impact our world
nearly enough,
beyond our judgement,
they must know us
by our love.

© Joel Tipple 7/27/2019






Don’t Wait

The first funeral I remember is one I didn’t go to. I don’t know if my parents decided I was too young or if I was given the choice of going and decided to opt out. I do remember what I spent the service’s time doing while I was waiting at my aunt’s house: I read a book called, “Rascal,” by Sterling North. Wonderful book, but I digress.
For as long as we have records to tell us what humans have been up to on earth, we’ve had rituals associated with death. Christians believe a person’s afterlife experience has everything to do with whether the man or woman asked for forgiveness of their sins and committed to a relationship with Jesus Christ. But even within the Christian faith, funerals and memorial services vary greatly in style and tone. What’s true of an Irish Catholic service is not for an Irish Protestant. What’s true of Greek Orthodox is not for the Southern Baptist, and so on and so on. Any way you slice it, these celebrations of life can be tricky affairs for our emotions to handle. The grieving process involves pain, even when the person we’re saying goodbye to left a long and fulfilling life. If we’re not ready for them to go, or if the hole left in our life seems impossible to fill, the trauma can take a lifetime to resolve, if it’s ever resolved at all.
It may sound trite, but I’m convinced how we handle death has a lot to do with how we handle life. What I mean by that is, if you had told your loved one all the ways they had contributed to and enriched your life, if you had told them not just that you loved them, but why, would it make dealing with their passing much, much better? Beyond that, and beyond whether it would be a good thing to do, isn’t it absolutely the essential thing to do? I believe it is.

If I didn’t say, loved one, how much I love you,
if I didn’t say how much and all the whys,
if I put it off till all of our todays ran out,
would there be too much pain to say goodbye?

If I didn’t lift you up
when you were discouraged,
feed you when you were too weak,
If I didn’t give you the words
Jesus said were most important,
when the time came to say goodbye,
how could I speak?

Sometimes in life we see death coming,
but too often it comes
and we didn’t know.
Since we might not see tomorrow
the people we care for today,
let’s not put off the loving words
that we owe.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going. Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
John 14:1-7 ESV

©Joel Tipple 7/6/2019

Respect

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So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12

Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
1 Peter 2:17

My first job was working for our family business. In the little town where I grew up that happened to be a service station. Typical of small-town America, “Jack Tipple Motors” did everything from selling and servicing cars to fixing lawn mowers and pulling wayward motorists out of ditches. Beginning in my adolescence, I learned the subtleties of pushing a broom and as I got older did other jobs like running out to the gas pump when a car made the bell ding. That’s back when “full service” was the norm. My dad taught me by example and instruction the way I should conduct myself when serving the public. Although I never had the knack or inclination for the technical aspect of the business my Dad was in, I learned how to work hard, be reliable, and treat people with respect and courtesy.

One such learning opportunity came when a sales representative was visiting the shop one day. He had just finished showing my dad a display and I thought this would be a great opportunity to show off something witty I had probably picked up watching TV.  Although my dad had a sense of humor, I had not yet learned the art of when to speak up and when to remain silent. This was probably not the first, and certainly not the last time I would have to learn this sometimes painful lesson. As the sales rep wound up his talk I piped up and asked, “Got any more bright ideas?”  Everything stopped. Rather than the hearty laughter and knee-slapping I expected from the adults in the room, there was silence, an expression of hurt from the salesman, and anger from my dad. I had managed to simultaneously embarrass the salesman and cause my father to lose face. I don’t remember the details of what I was told after being marched off to our office. The lecture was brief, heated, and included my going back to the salesman and tearfully saying I was sorry. After all these years, the memory of that moment still makes me cringe.

Are you a miser?
Is respect your currency?
Do you dole it out
to those you think most godly?
Are you only a respecter
of those who stroke your ego?
Consider carefully…
before saying no.
Do you jealously guard
what you believe your place to be?
And who put you there? Was God the authority?

The love of God
we express for all we meet
must surely
generously
share a dose of dignity.
Befriend someone
who needs a friend,
but remember…
You can’t lift someone up
by looking down on them.

“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
Winston Churchill

© Joel Tipple 5/4/2019

Some Comfort

20190413_214413.jpgIt is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV

Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Psalm 86:17 NIV

Inspiration came to me this week via my allergies. Here’s why.  I recently ordered some handkerchiefs, because… well, when your need is as great as mine, tissues just don’t cut it. By the way, did you know that a standard men’s handkerchief is 16 x 16 inches? And if you want something smaller, you have to get women’s handkerchiefs. And they’re more expensive. For less of the same material. They call that the pink tax. But I digress.
One of my earliest memories of my dad was a time as a small boy when I was hurting. I don’t know whether I was suffering from an ear infection or just a garden variety earache, but whatever it was, it was causing me a considerable amount of pain. I don’t know what other steps were being taken to alleviate my distress but seeing how upset I was, my dad gave me his red handkerchief. Aside from being practical, at that moment it simply felt like love. Now, when I pull out my own handkerchief, the material reminds me of that moment and my father’s love.

Some bit of comfort,
from a father to a child
can spell the difference
between calm and despair.
A hug,
compassion,
bound up in a bit of cloth,
can be as vital
to  the one who needs it
as air.
Not every effort we make
to share God’s love
need be expensive
or grand.
Sometimes all we need to share is a smile.
Sometimes all we need to give is a hand.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.
Proverbs 18:10

© Joel Tipple 4/13/2019

I’d Rather Be Blind

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
James 2:8-9

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
“I Have a Dream” Martin Luther King Jr.

If what my eyes tell me when I see you
prevents me from getting to know you,
I’m better off blind.

Jesus died for all
and He admonished us to be kind,
no matter what kind.
Even “that kind.”
And what is “that kind?”

The lazy, hateful, divisive,
assumptions
we make,
make us all poorer.

If we claim to have Christ
in us,
then we should be all about
breaking down barriers
between ourselves
and the “different.”

After all,
some rules
were made to be broken…
not just bent.

© Joel Tipple 11/16/2018

A Courteous Life

“Life is not so short but there is always time for courtesy.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Romans 12:10 ESV

Life is messy. No doubt. Even in a human life seemingly charmed there must come a share of grief. My prayer has never been that God would keep me from all trouble, only that I would be given the grace and resources to carry myself well. An important part of that I think is the most courtesy I can bring to all my relationships, from those closest to me, as well as those who cross my path only briefly.

It starts with your first
please.
It continues with your first
thank you.
Let us give thanks for every parent
who sends out into the world
a loving courteous human boy
or girl.
Where do we get the idea
that putting others before us is wrong?
Do we even want to live in a world
where caring doesn’t belong?
I’ll open the door.
I’ll pay for your coffee.
I’ll look you in the eyes and really care
that your day is good…
or gets better.
Courtesy mostly doesn’t cost much,
but the lack of it always cost more.
And the gift the giver gives
comes back
pressed down and over.

© Joel Tipple 10/13/2018