True Imitation

probably not comparing the

same versions of the $5 bill

but you get the gist.

I work at a place where quite a bit of money changes hands on a daily basis. 
They call me the “money-mama.”  I’m the one responsible for making sure the employees can make change for a $100 bill on a $6 transaction first thing in the morning.  I’m the one who makes sure all the big bucks are accounted for at the end of the day, and I’m the one who gives those same big bucks a send-off to the bank vault on a daily basis.  If there is one thing I’ve learned from handling so many Benjamins, Grants, Jacksons, Hamiltons, Lincolns, and Washingtons, it’s this:

I can usually spot a counterfeit at first glance.

The authentic bills all have identical characteristics, such as color, feel, and size.  Yet they are all different.  Bills that have been in circulation for a while are more worn, some may be a bit faded, and some may have a birthday greeting or short grocery list written on them.  The brand new ones are very crisp, almost to the point of giving you a paper cut, like the brand new $5’s from the bank that no one in my office likes to count.  All the bills of the same denomination have the same value, whether they are old or new.  Side by side the bills appear the same, yet they are each unique in that they have their own distinct serial number. 

Unless you have a counterfeit.  (Why someone would go to the time and trouble just for a counterfeit $5 is hard for me to comprehend.  But I’ve seen them …) If you are not aware the $5 is a fake, you might flip when you find out it’s a phony and its value has vanished.  The bill is nothing more than an imitation.

But imitation is not always a bad thing.  Jesus told his disciples on several occasions to do what He did – make more disciples by teaching others what Jesus had taught them.  He even had a heart-to-heart with eleven of the twelve men that were with him at the Last Supper.  He made it clear to them how others would know that they were having an encounter with his disciples. 

“You must love each other, just as I have loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34-35, CEV)

Keep in mind that John, James, Peter, and the other eight just spent three years following Jesus.  They had a pretty solid understanding of what brand of love Jesus was talking about.  But discipleship does not stop with the first bunch of followers somebody has.  These men had a job to do – they had to teach others, and teach them to teach others, and so on and so on.  The next generation did not necessarily see Jesus in action.  So Paul took the time to make it clear to the next group of up-and-coming disciples:

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Another follower of Jesus who lived centuries later, John Wesley, helps his generation, and future ones, by explaining it this way: 

“Be ye therefore followers - Imitators. Of God - In forgiving and loving. O how much more honourable and more happy, to be an imitator of God, than of Homer, Virgil, or Alexander the Great!” – (John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes)

John Wesley is not talking about Homer Simpson here.  He’s talking about great thinkers, philosophers, political leaders and military conquerors.  To put it in today’s terminology, God wants us to imitate the way He (and Jesus) loves and forgives others.  Imitating God is honorable – more honorable than imitating world leaders, or athletes, or celebrities, or even other church leaders. 

Of course, you don’t want to be called out as a phony follower.  That’s where the practice of discipleship comes in.  Find a mentor – someone who is a living imitation of Christ, who learned from a mentor who himself/herself is an imitation of Christ – and learn how to imitate them.  But don’t let it stop there.  Teach someone else how to imitate the One you are striving to imitate. 

I’ll close with this story.  It goes with what I’ve been talking about, sort of.  At least I think it is amusing …

When I was in my early 20's I was invited to my best friend’s house for a small dinner party. It was her first apartment, and she was excited about cooking for company, and all that. She decided to cook Roast Beef for her guests. As I was helping her prepare the meal, something about the way she prepared the roast caught my attention. I asked her, “Aren’t you supposed to cut the ends off?”

“What?” she asked.

I repeated the question. “Aren’t you supposed to cut the ends off the roast beef?  My mom always does.”

“Why would she do that?” She looked at me as though I was a crazy person, more so than the usual "Mary, you're crazy" look. Since I've never really been a kitchen person I did not have an answer to that, and just let her continue what she was doing.

The next time my mom cooked a roast, I asked her why she cuts the ends off when she prepares it. “Well, that’s the way your Nana did it. I learned it from her.”

The next time I was at my grandmother's place I decided to get the answer once and for all to this deepest ponder of my life.  “Nana, when you used to cook roast beef, why did you always cut the ends off?  Was it to make it more tender, or to cook more evenly?”

Nana put her hand on top of mine and smiled at me. “Honey, it’s because the pan wasn’t big enough!” 

And such is the Coble School of Cooking.  The best, being imitated by the best of what's left.

Light of the world

Hong Kong's Symphony of Lights

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” - Matthew 5:14-16

A couple of months ago I decided to do an experiment. Not out of boredom, but for a purpose. It was blog writing time. Pastor Chris and I belong to a group where we blog on the same topic every week. His is chrislogan.blogspot.com; mine is heyyoulady.blogspot.com. The topic for that particular week was, “What is seen in the light.” My experiment was to shut off the lights and put on a blindfold, then write my post, typing blindfolded. Here are some of my reflections of my time in the absence of light.
----------------------------
My vision has failed me. I rely solely on my remaining senses to make sense of my world. Smell – fragrance? Odor? It’s always been here; I never noticed, never needed to notice.

Hearing? I hear the tick-toc-tic-oc of the clock on the wall behind me. The time on its face is useless to me; I cannot comprehend what the hands on the clock are saying to me.

Touch. The slight raises on the F and J keys of my keyboard assured me that I was typing words, not gibberish, on my computer, although I did have some interesting typos.

Taste? The dryness of my mouth. The taste of anxiety. Perhaps even fear.

The air in the room had a coldness to it, a coldness that ought not be present. Such is the air of being without light. Of darkness. Of self-imposed blindness.

I have spent about 30 minutes or so blindfolded. I could not see light, or what is normally seen in the light.

Then I felt a little bit brave. I moved my desk chair to the middle of the room. I spun myself around several times. After I got over the dizziness I stood up and tried to find my way in the dark. Usually I can get around my house without thinking about it, because I know what’s where. But making my way while blindfolded was not as easy as you might think. What made it hard?

I had no point of reference. I did not know where I was or which direction I was facing. Consequently, I had a heightened awareness of my surroundings because of the obstacles I could not see, such as doorways – I did not want to walk smack into a wall. I had some boxes with items going to the Goodwill around the house, some with the lid flaps hanging open. And of course the coffee table. That hurts enough when you bump into it in the light!

Without light the world around us does not make much sense. The Bible tells us in 1John 1:5, God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. And what physical light is to our physical eyes, that it allows us to understand the world around us and make our way in the world, so is God to our spiritual eyes.

God is not an “accidental” God. Everything He does has a plan and a purpose to it. We’ve all heard that before, or maybe you told it to someone else at one time or another. Quite often we hear those words at times of our lives when we have trouble even seeing God, such as when we experience severe illness. Or loss of a loved one. Or find ourselves consumed with worry, or disappointment, or guilt.

I am not saying that it was part of God’s original plan that we go through dark times. In our Wednesday night adult Bible study, we have been going through the book of Isaiah. In our studies, we have seen time and time again where God has pronounced judgment on the people of Israel and her enemies. And time and time again there are prophecies of judgment to come in the end-times. And when God hands down judgment against the people who do not follow Him, you can count on it not being a good thing. But God does not “want” to hand down these hard consequences on the people. His desire is to be in a relationship with us, God as our Abba-Father to us, His beloved children. We see evidence of that by his offer of salvation through Jesus Christ, and His grace and mercy to those who repent and turn back to Him.

But if God’s original plan is for us to be in fellowship with Him, and if God is all-powerful enough to bring down judgment on people – which he does not “want” to do because He loves His people – then certainly God is powerful enough to restrain evil in the world. So why doesn’t He? Why doesn’t God prevent bad things such as evil and disease and death from happening in the first place?

To answer that question, let’s go back to the first place.

We read in the Bible that God is love. When God created Adam and Eve, He created them in His image. This included giving them the ability to love. God also knew that love that is forced or given out of duty, and not out of a heartfelt desire, is not really love. So instead of God giving Adam and Eve a sense of “obligation” to love and obey, He gave them the “freedom” to choose to love and obey. Life lived under “freedom” gives us the ability to choose our actions, attitudes and responses to others and to God, but does not mean we are independent of them – we are still accountable for what we choose to do. If God wanted to head off evil from the beginning, he would not have given Adam and Eve the freedom to choose their responses. While it would have prevented them giving in to temptation, it would also have meant that their relationship with God would have robotic, love would have been given out of obligation, and truly would not have been love at all. For God “not” to give freedom for us to choose our responses would have been contrary to God’s very nature of being love itself.

Of course, we all know the story from there. God with His infinite love gave the first man and the first woman the freedom to eat whatever wanted, with one exception. Satan enters in, does what Satan does best. He causes Eve to doubt God, deceives Eve, Eve makes the fatal choice of doing the one thing she was told not to do, and Adam does likewise. The couple was banished from Eden into an imperfect world, a world susceptible to evil, disease, death and natural disaster from that point in time, forward. For them it was as if their world had turned instantly from the safety and familiarity of what they knew in the light, to total darkness.

The Scriptures have many references to Jesus - and the powers of evil - using the metaphor of light and darkness. Jesus says in John 3:19-21, “Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done hasbeen done through God.”

I brought my Nook e-book reader device from home. Some of you might be familiar with these. You can download books and read them, without having the bulk and weight of a book to carry with you or to keep on your bookshelf. Since I like to read when I eat, I have a sheet of plastic over my screen to protect it from getting damaged or scratched. As you can see, I’ve been a pretty sloppy eater lately, with all the fudge, secret sauce, salsa and donut crumbs on the screen protector. If I tried to read through all the gunk on the protector, I would not be able to see much of what is actually on the screen because the gunk is hiding what is there. In our own lives, the light we have that comes from Jesus and powered by the Holy Spirit shines brightly, but when we allow our lives to be covered with things that take our focus from God, things such as worry, guilt, gossip, addiction or sin – that’s like trying to
read a book through a dirty screen protector. The light of Jesus exposes the gunk in our lives.

So how does our gunk get removed so Jesus' light is seen through us?

You know how it is said that Jesus is the answer? This is one of those questions.

How does our gunk get removed?    JESUS!

(Good. You’re still with me.)

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” You see that? When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, not only are we no longer walking in darkness, we are no longer walking alone! This reminds me of an experience I had at a family retreat not long ago. In this exercise I had to go through a human obstacle course. There were people paired up to make different kinds of obstacles. I was supposed to do things such as go over people lying on the ground; under a “London Bridge” made by junior high school students; and through “hoops” made by a match-up of a third-grader and her grandmother. Oh, and I had to do it all with my eyes closed. But I was paired up with a guide to instruct me how to deal with each challenge.
Most of the pairs who went through the course attempted to get through each part, with people twisting and bending to get through some of the tight spaces. Some did pretty well, and some had a little trouble. Me? My guide was a wise experienced man named Bob. When we came to a very difficult obstacle, Bob did not tell me how to get through it. He simply said, “We’re not going to do that one. Walk to your left and go around it.” I never even knew what it was!

And that is how it is when we follow Jesus. We walk in the light, with Jesus as our guide, to help us through the obstacles of life. And although we may have difficulties along the way, as long as we choose to stay in the light and do not stray into the darkness, Jesus often shields us from problems that we would be unable to handle on our own.

We also have the light of life. We are told in Matthew 5:14-15, we “are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”

So what does it look like for someone who walked in darkness, and was led by Jesus to come out of that darkness and let Jesus’ light of life shine through him? One example of such a life is Tullian Tchividjian, the grandson of a very well-known preacher.

Tullian grew up in a loving, nurturing Christian home. All through his life, he never doubted the existence of God, never disbelieved in the authority of the Bible and the reality of Jesus and the cross. He just simply wanted to have fun and live his life the way he wanted to live it without anyone telling him what to do. His great fear was if he surrendered his life over to the Lord, God would strip him of all of the fun and excitement that this world has to offer.

When Tullian was a teenager, he was rebellious to the point where it was tearing his family apart. His parents did everything they could for him: private schools and counseling, but nothing worked. One night after an intense argument with his parents, his dad told him to leave. In fact, the argument was so heated that it frightened Tullian’s younger brother to the point where he called 9-1-1. Tullian did leave the house – in the back of a police car. As Tullian said years later in an interview, “So there I am in my mom and dad’s driveway, sitting in the back of the police car looking out the back window at my mom who is weeping, literally watching her 16-year-old son sitting in the back end of a police car getting ready to be taken away. I felt no remorse. I felt no regret. In fact I was actually happy and pleased with my achievements. I was free to live every young guy’s dream.” And for Tullian that meant surfing.

He stayed with families of friends until he got kicked out of their homes too. He dropped out of high school, worked in restaurants and construction, stole from his employers, and spent all his money - not on rent and paying bills, but on drugs, alcohol, and girls. During this time, he met a girl named Kim who became a positive influence in his life.

During his early 20’s, Tullian reconciled with his parents, and started to make some changes in his life. He was living responsibly, holding down a job, paying the bills, earning an honest living. He said, “I felt like I was stumbling through life blindfolded, without direction or understanding. Life made no sense. I decided there had to be more to who I was than what I was experiencing.” He came to his knees one night in his apartment and knew something had to change. God was making that very clear in his life.

Something else was happening in Tullian during that time. He says, “My affections started to change, and my behavior started to change. I started loving the things I use to hate and hating the things I use to love. And I started pursuing the things I use to run away from and running away from the things I use to pursue. It was then that I knew an internal revolution had taken place. I had been saved." And it was because of Jesus.

Kim had also given her life to Jesus, and later became Tullian’s wife. They were married by Tullian’s grandfather, the Reverend Billy Graham.

Tullian only had a GED, but that did not stop him from going on to seminary and graduate school. He now pastors Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His light shines bright like a city on a hill, as he shares his grandfather’s passion see all come to Jesus Christ.

He says, "I wanted to shout from the housetops to the whole world what God had done for me. I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I think about where I was 15 years ago and where God has brought me and the opportunities He’s given me to proclaim the gospel in both word and deed."

Coming out of a life of darkness is not easy to do on our own. In fact, it can only be done by following Jesus, who gives us the light of life. Once we have that light, let it shine brightly before men so that they may see our good works and give glory to God!

Amen.

Special Gifts

Gifts.  We’ve all given some, and we’ve all received some.  Birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, re-gifts.  Some of my favorite gifts to receive – and to give – are the ones given for just cause – “just ‘cause” you are loved by somebody.  Whatever the occasion, the giver usually puts some thought behind what gift he chooses for the recipient.  I know when I give a gift, whether it is a book or clothes or flowers or food, I am particularly blessed to know that the person I give it to will use it to benefit himself and/or others.

Not long ago some members of my church went through a study series on Spiritual Gifts.  In one part of the study everybody had the opportunity to take a personal Spiritual Gifts Assessment.  This assessment was a questionnaire designed to reveal some areas where God has blessed each of us individually with strengths that we can use in our lives, such as wisdom, creative ability, teaching, intercession (praying for others), healing, helping where there is a need. 

The concept of Spiritual Gifts is no “new-agey” thing.  It has been around since the days of the New Testament.  Paul talks about it in his first letter to the church of Corinth: 

A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.  To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.  The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.  He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy.  He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit.  Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.  It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts.  He alone decides which gift each person should have. (1Corinthians 12:7-11 NLT)

Paul is not the only apostle who has browsed the Spiritual Gifts Catalog.  Peter’s been looking in there as well:

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.  Do you have the gift of speaking?  Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you.  Do you have the gift of helping others?  Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. (1Peter 4:10-11 NLT)

God gives us these gifts, not because it is our birthday or some other special occasion.  He gives them out of “just cause”.  And just as any giver of gifts, He gives them for us to use not only for our own benefit, but for the benefit of others as well. 

When I completed my Spiritual Gifts Assessment, it revealed that I had strengths in creative ability, knowledge, wisdom, and shepherding (guiding others in ministry).  Not a huge surprise to me.  In fact, the gifts God has given to you will usually coincide with things you already are somewhat good at and like to do.  Many of us use our gifts and abilities already, but do we use them to the full potential and purpose that God has in store for us?

This makes me think of a story that I was reminded of not long ago.  The story of the Eagle and the Prairie Chicken.

There once was a mother eagle who dropped her unhatched egg into the nest of a prairie chicken. After a time, the egg hatched, and the eaglet grew up fully believing that she was a prairie chicken. How could she have known any better? She copied her prairie chicken mother and siblings in all their movements. To feed herself, she scratched in the dirt for worms and grubs as all prairie chickens do. One would never know by her behavior that she was not a prairie chicken although she looked nothing like the rest of her family.

One day, while scratching for worms with the rest of the prairie chickens, she turned her eyes toward the heavens. Her heart filled with unexplainable rapture and a strange longing as she watched an eagle soar on the wind. She dared to voice her admiration of the eagle out loud to the rest of the group.

"Well, of course, we all know that the eagle soars! But you are just a prairie chicken. Prairie chickens do not fly and never will. Don't even think about it."

The eagle, who thought she was a prairie chicken, believed what was told to her. She stifled the strange longing inside of her and never let herself wonder again why she must stay on the ground with the other prairie chickens.

God created you and equipped you to soar like an eagle.  Don’t settle for believing you are not worth more than a prairie chicken life.  Use the unique gifts that your Creator has thoughtfully and purposefully chosen for you.  If you are not sure where to begin, start by taking a Spiritual Gifts Assessment.  Then find someone – for example, a pastor, a mentor, or even me – who is willing to explore the possible ways you can use those gifts to share with others in a way that will bless the One who gave them to you.  If you are interested in discovering your Spiritual Gifts, I would love to talk further with you.

That's rich!

That’s Rich!

When you hear that phrase, different things could come to mind.  For me, the first thoughts are Chocolate, Cheesecake, Cappuccino.  Or you might think of people, such as that “Little” guy who does impersonations.  That’s Rich!  And of course there’s what it costs to fill up a gas tank nowadays – too rich for my blood! 

There’s another meaning to the phrase “That’s Rich.”  I looked it up on UrbanDictionary.com.  It means, “when someone criticizes you for something that they themselves do,” or “when someone has the audacity to reprimand you when they are much worse than you.”  Very much like when adults tell kids not to smoke cigarettes while they themselves are lighting one up, or seeing the traffic court judge – the one who rolled his eyes when you said the picture from the red-light camera wasn’t you – at the DMV to get his own license reinstated after a DUI.  If you were to use “proper” language to express something “that’s rich” you might choose the word “hypocrite” to convey the same thought.

Hypocrite.  I found the word in the Webster’s.  It says, “One who feigns to be what he is not; one who has the form of godliness without the power, or who assumes an appearance of piety and virtue, when he is destitute of true religion.”  In other words, someone who gives the appearance of being “holier than thou” when he’s not. And you know what else? I didn’t see my picture next to the word.  I won’t say whose picture I saw there – he wouldn’t believe it if I told him anyway.  After all, nobody ever sees themselves as a hypocrite. 

As I was looking up all these definitions on the internet, drinking a Dr Pepper out of the 2 liter bottle and downing my Dollar Menu dinner, a younger family member IM’d me on Facebook.  We had a lengthy conversation about her desire to eat more nutritiously, and also about a couple of financial goals she has.  I made a point of mentioning some things that addresses both goals.  Things such as planning menus ahead of time for the week; cutting out the sodas; shopping from a list – if it’s not on the list you don’t purchase it; making it a priority to eat meals at your kitchen table with family; eliminating distractions such as TV and computers. It makes me feel good that she thinks so highly of me.  I hope she takes my advice to heart and actually follows it.  She’s young and smart and talented. If she’s diligent, she may even be rich someday!

And wouldn’t it be rich if that picture next to the word “hypocrite” started to look a little bit like me….

This little light......

All throughout history God has used people to do things for Him.  Even today God still uses people, presenting opportunities to all of us to tell others of His love for the world. His call may be subtle, such as simply noticing that someone needs help opening a door to enter or exit a building.  It may be a bit stronger.  He may but a burden on your heart to help people at the freeway offramps by offering them a snack bar or a piece of fruit to eat. You may feel prompted to bless others by sending a note of encouragement in the mail to someone you know is going through a struggle.  Or, you may be in a position where you can financially support an organization or cause that is close to your heart. These are all little things that just about everybody can do.  And for many people, that is enough, and that’s OK.  You are fulfilling what God is calling you to do at that particular time in your life.  
But for some others, doing these things may be just barely enough to appease our conscience.  For Susan Finch, giving a blanket to a homeless man was not enough.  Susan had been involved in raising money for a local women’s shelter in Laguna Beach, but wanted to do more.  When she tried to volunteer, she found out it required a lot of training.  Her time was limited due to owning a retail business and she was unable to help the shelter.  But she was determined to find a way.

Susan’s mother had an idea one day to make blankets for unwed mothers, and asked Susan to help sew them.  Susan used her connections with local picture framers through her art gallery and asked for their fabric remnants, and ended up with a pile of odd blue, black, and off-white fabric.  Right then, a lightbulb came on.  Susan had the idea for combining her love for quilts, children and helping others, rounded up a few locals with a similar passion, and Binky Patrol was born.  Not long afterward, an article was written in Susan’s local newspaper.  The story reached the staff member of a well-known national talk show, and within hours after airing, Susan received hundreds of phone calls from all over the country from people wanting to know how they could help. Over the past 15 years Binky Patrol went from a sign-up sheet with five volunteers, to over 100 chapters and thousands of people who have volunteered in one way or another.  In fact, our own ministry that gives blankets to the hospitals, WomenShelter, and police and fire departments started out as a Binky Patrol chapter. 

Binky Patrol didn't grow to what it is today because Susan set out to do something big. It is because of the thousands of volunteers, many of whom do just a little bit, that adds up to a whole lot.  No matter what God is calling you to do, no matter how small it may seem, it is not in any way insignificant. God can still use you, and wants to.  Jesus tells us, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”  The good works we do, even the little hold-the-door-open things, are like a light in that city.  Let your light shine!

What's the difference?

I have been cleaning out areas of my house and garage lately that have not seen light in quite some time.  I found some items of obvious sentimental value - high school yearbooks; a set of collector plates that my mother gave to me; a journal that I started writing when I was in 8th grade.  I also found some unusual items belonging to my ex-husband - some ugly neckties, a whoopie-cushion or two, a box of MAD magazines from the 60's and 70's, just to mention a few. 

I also came across a letter wrtitten about five or six years ago by a friend who was questioning whether or not God is what people say that He is. Because of some run-ins with over-zealous Christians, he was turning to a belief, which I will not name, with more differences than similarities to Christianity.  He went on to quote George Harrison, saying, "All religions are branches of one big tree. It doesn't matter what you call Him just as long as you call."  Apparently, according to my freind's conclusions, it doesn't make a difference what you believe, as long as you believe in something.  What makes one religion more "right" than another? 

It seems I've been asked that question in one form or another several times in the past month or so.  I can't speak for every belief out there.  I can only speak to what I know. What sets Christianity apart is how it views salvation and entry into eternal life. 

Have you ever pondered why God would allow you to enter into heaven?  Your answer may be something like, "I've lived a good life, haven't killed anyone, gave money to missions, helped out at church" and whatnot.  It's as though you are saying God keeps a score card of sorts, and if our score at the end of our life is good enough then God lets us in.  But there's an inherent problem with that thinking.  How do we know if we're good enough?  Is my "good enough" good enough to be "good enough" for you?  If it's not, then how can God be a fair, just God?

The truth is, good enough isn't good enough. Even King Solomon, a man who had wisdom, wealth and women beyond imagination, recognized that no one was good enough. He wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes, "Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins."  For a God whose standard is perfection, what hope do we have for spending eternity in His heaven?

Some faiths believe in reincarnation. A do-over. Another chance to get it right. Which we won't, because again, there is no one who is righteous, no one who never sins.  Some folks speak of a penance they have to do, a purification process of sorts, to add good points to offset the bad score you got for your sins.  Who decides how many "points" of penance you have to do to offset a certain sin?  Look at Adam and Eve. You could say that all of mankind has been doing penance for their sin in the Garden of Eden, and after how many thousands of years we still don't have enough points to make it right with God.

My friends and fellow ponderers, if you have not yet figured out, the point of Christianity is not accumulating points.  God knows we'll never ever have enough.  And because He knows, He gives us what sets Christianity apart from other religions.  He has mercy on us, and gives us grace.

Mercy? Grace? Who are they? 

Not Who.  What.  Simply stated, Mercy is not receiving a punishment we deserve.  Grace is a gift we do not deserve.  Let me try to explain.

Let's say that you and I were best friends through high school and college. After college you went on to law school, became very successful, and are now a judge.  On the other hand, I wasn't such the angel you once believed me to be.  I got into some serious trouble with the law, and ended up a defendant in your courtroom.  You knew I was guilty of what I was charged with; I knew I was guilty of that and even more.  As a judge, it is your job to hand down a punishment for what I did even though it was a punishment I could not afford to pay (say, a fine of $100,000).  But the penalty was a just penalty, because the wrongdoing warranted that kind of punishment.

You dismiss the court, go back to your chambers and take off your robe. After careful consideration, you make an unexpected move.  Because it broke your heart to see me, your friend, standing guilty before you and sentenced to a penalty I could not afford to serve on my own, you make an offer to pay my debt in full, and hand me a check for $100,000, from your personal account. No strings attached.

I am offered mercy - I am not required to pay the fine myself.
I am offered grace - You offered the gift of paying my penalty with no expectation of anything in return.
Justice is served - the penalty is paid.

Outrageous story? Never happen in a million years?  Ponder the thought again, my friends, because it happened. 

The apostle Paul says it in his God-inspired letter to the Christians in Rome:  "The payment for sin is death. But God gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

You see, God (our judge) knew that the penalty for our wrongdoings (the death penalty) was a price we could not pay.  Jesus' death on the cross was God's "$100,000 check" that God gave us as payment for our sins. 

We are offered mercy - Jesus paid the penalty for us.
We are offered grace - We gain eternal life in God's heaven.
God's justice is served - the penalty has been paid.

Why would God do this? 


Why?  Because He loves us!  Paul didn't tell the Romans that they were under a death penalty and leave it at that.  He says more:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 5:6-11, NLT)

Whether this scenario works is up to us, the ones who stand before the Judge.  We have the choice of accepting this free gift, by simply believing that Jesus died to pay for our wrongdoings so we could live. Or, we can choose to not believe, and keep trying to achieve a good enough score on our celestial score-cards and never attain a high enough score to impress God.


There are, of course, many other differences between different faiths.  If you take the time to follow the branches you find they are not all of the same tree.  Through faith in Jesus and what He did for us by his death and resurrection (by the way, no other diety can make the claim of being raised from the dead - Buddha and Mohammad are still dead) we can call out to the Living God who will hear and answer us when we call.

What is seen in the light

picture by frail0124
via photobucket.com

The other night I decided to do an experiment.  Not out of boredom, but for a purpose.  It’s blog writing time.  On several occasions in the past I’ve asked for input from my Facebook friends as research for whatever topic I’m focused on.  This time I decided to do my own research for a change.  The topic for the week?  What is seen in the light.  My research experiment?  Shut off the lights and put on a blindfold, then write my post. 

Yes, fellow ponderer, I typed blindfolded.  And I did pretty well, too.  I say that not to boast; it’s because I have used my typing skills almost daily over the past manymany years, and I don’t like having to go back and edit any more than what is necessary.  Here are some of my reflections of my time in the absence of light.  I have left out some of what I wrote, simply because the thought was too random, or the flow of thoughts didn’t make sense or repeated what had already been said.  However, I have not edited for spelling or typing errors, except where I have added a clarification in (parentheses and italics).

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Darkness.  Confusion.  How did I become this way?  Mind darting, but nothing to see, nowhere of safety to turnb. (turn)

Unsure of my surroundings, I do not know what isbehind me, next to me, hovering near me.

My vision having failed me, I rely solely on my remaining senses to make sense of my world.  Smell – fragrance? Odor?  It’s always been here; I never noticed, never needed to notice. 

Hearing? The tick-toc-tic-oc of the clock on the wall behind me. The time on its face, useless to me; I cannot read the hands, am unaware of w    cannot comprehend what they are saying to me.

Touch.  The slight raises on the F and J keys assure me that I am typing words, not gibberish, on my compu8ter.  Many tyupos, I am sure, but not pure gibberish.

Taste? The dryness of my mout. The taste of anxiety. Perhaps even fear.

The air in the room  has a coldness to it, a coldness that ought not be present.  Such is the air of being without light. Of darkness.  Of bself-imposed blindness.

I have spent the pasat 30 minutes or so blindfolded. I can see no light.  I cannot see what is seen in the light.

I had my office chair in the middle of the room.  I spun myself around several times.  After I got over the dizziness I stood==.  My objective? To find my way in the dark.  What made it hard? 

I had no point of reference.  I did not know where I was; where I was heading.

I –Walking through my house I have had a heightened awareness of my surroundings.  Not because of what I could see. --, but because of the obstacles I could not see.  The doorways, the moving boxes scattered throughout the house, some with box flaps hanging open.  The coffee table.

There is a light in the room near me, yet I cannot see it.  Because I have been cut off from it, ithe light means very little to me.  It is meaningle

Light is meaningless, until I surrender my blindness to it.

Jesus is meaningless to those who do not surrender their blindness to him.

How long?  How long must I stay blinded? When will I see light?

“Jesus said to the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?”

“I want to see.”

Jesus healed the blind nman at the city gate. Bartimaeus.

Jesus and his disciples went to Jericho.  And as they were leaving, they were followed by a large crowd.  A blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting beside the road.  When he heard that it was Jesus from Nazareth, he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”  Many people told the man to stop, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him over!”  They called out to the blind man and said, “Don’t be afraid!  Come on!  He is calling for you.”  The man threw off his coat as he jumped up and ran to Jesus.

Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”  The blind man answered, “Master, I want to see!”

Jesus told him, “You may go.  Your eyes are healed because of your faith.”  Right away the man could see, and he went down the road with Jesus.

--Mark 10:46-52

Jesus is asl=king, “Mary, what do you want me to do for you  What blindness do you want me to remove?”

Jesus, my experiment and reflections are showing me how lost and alonde I am without you, when I place myself in self-imposed darkness.  Like Bartimaeus, I want to see.  More than seeing, I want to help others to see.  To help them to see their darkness, to bring them into light.  My physical darkness is easy to change, to turn around, to repent of.  Once I make that change the light next to me will then mean something, make sense.  Spiritual darkness, emotional darkness, is not total, unless it iss chosen.  Jesus, You are light of the world. You tell us that we too are the light of the world. I want you to help me to help someone in darkness to make sense of Your Light.

But Lord, that means revisiting the darkness (my darkness).  I didn’t like it there.  I don’t like going back.

“I was there with you. You did not see me; I did not make sense to you. Yet I was there. DARKNESS COULD NOT EXTINGUISH ME. Their darkness cannot extinguish me either.”

I still am wearing a blindfold.  Yet I know there is a light next to me.

And the light somehow makes sense in the dark.

--------------------------------------------

Now, unblindfolded, I see. 

What is seen in the light is making sense.

And they all lived happily ever after...

Just a few weeks ago, the entire world had their eyes turned to England for the wedding of Prince William and the young Kate Middleton. Well, maybe not the whole world. I did not stay up late or wake up early to watch what was happening across the pond, but I did manage to see some of the highlights of the festivities. Events of such a grand scale and exquisiteness as a royal wedding may be excessive, yet people are obviously drawn to them.


I pondered, what it is about these two young lovers tying the knot that holds millions of observers with no connection to them completely agog with every detail of the day? And I came up with a couple of theories.

We like to see good news. In our present day, we are inundated with news stories of natural disasters – earthquakes, tsunami, tornados, flooding – where hundreds of thousands of lives are impacted in the blink of an eye. Not to mention the devastation mankind brings upon itself, through war (even when it is for the right reasons), crime, substance abuse, and abuses toward others. Plus our own personal drama – bills to pay, relationships that don’t work, illness …. You get the idea. There’s something good in seeing people smiling, truly smiling, even if it’s just for a day. (Looking at the picture of the Royal Family on the balcony, apparently the little girl got tired of complying with the “be happy” memo…)

We want to believe fairy tales can happen. Ask any six year old girl what her favorite movie is, and chances are it involves a Disney princess. And what happens in a movie with a Disney princess? The young heroine meets a handsome prince, there is a bit of conflict or tension, they end up falling in love, getting married, and living happily ever after. Of course there are some variations to the story – for example, in Beauty and the Beast the prince was not what most would consider handsome for the majority of the film; Aladdin was a commoner posing as a prince to win the heart of Princess Jasmine. But in the end, love triumphs over all. (By the way, did anyone else notice that the Royal Wedding came complete with a Royal Stepmother? Not implying Camilla is evil or anything like that … just sayin’ …)

As I pondered further, I think there is a deeper reason why we are all so captivated by the royal affair. It may not be easy to understand on the surface, so bear with me as we dive in …

It’s been said that the Bible is God’s love story to His people. Throughout Scripture is the metaphor of the Church, the collective body of Christians, as the bride, with Jesus as the Bridegroom. Back in the days of old, before there was a wedding there would be a time of betrothal. The bride and bridegroom were separated during that time, while preparations were made for the marriage. No matter how simple or elaborate the preparation might be, the bride’s foremost responsibility was to remain faithful during the bridegroom’s absence, for at the end of the betrothal period, he would return. There would be a wonderful marriage ceremony, followed by a glorious feast!

God has placed eternity in our hearts. And He promises those who believe in Jesus eternal life in heaven, our own happily ever after. We, as members of the Church, ought to remain faithful to Jesus as we prepare ourselves and wait in anticipation for the day that Jesus returns for his bride.

WiFi Madness

I cancelled my internet service at home a while back. Since then, I’ve either been using the computer at family members’ homes, or more often than not, taking my laptop someplace where I can tap into a Wi-Fi hotspot. A few weeks ago I discovered that I could tap into an unsecured Wi-Fi connection right here at my kitchen table! That is, when the connection is available. And the availability of the signal is often hit-and-miss, with more “miss” than “hit” in the evening hours when I want to be on line. It seems as soon as the connection is established and I open a web page, the connection is gone. This can be a problem, especially when reading and sending e-mails. If the connection fails, I cannot send replies, or even go to the next email in my inbox. I end up spending more time checking to see if I have a “live” connection, more than I spend actually online. An analogy might be that I’m spending more time asking “Are we there yet?” more than I’m spending time actually in the car. As much as I’m inconvenienced by this, I can’t complain. After all, I’m on someone else’s unsecured connection – their internet provider has no responsibility to me.

*grrrrr…..*

Tonight was another one of those “miss more than hit” nights. Oh, sure, I could have packed up the laptop and gone to a hotspot for a connection, but I didn’t have any internet business to take care of that couldn’t wait until tomorrow evening. I can’t post my blog directly to my blog, so the plan is to write to a word document, then copy and paste it to the blog. And I pondered, if God showed up, what would He be trying to teach me through this?

Guess what, dear reader … God showed up in the ponder.

In the shallow end of the ponder, God always shows up. He’s not a “hit and miss” God. He’s always there, always available for connection. You don’t have to ponder too deeply to discover that.

In the deeper parts where others wonder if you are going to come up for air soon, I pondered about losing the connection. Paul tells us, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17. And while you’re looking it up, Paul gives us some other valuable tidbits … but I digress…)

Pray without ceasing. Reminds me of a parable that Jesus told about a widow who presented her case before a judge, pleading for him to give her fair treatment in court and granting justice against her adversary. (The story is in chapter 18 of the book of Luke.) The judge was not what you would consider a people person. He really didn’t give a flying (fill in the blank) about the lady, or even God for that matter. So brushed her off, and went on to the next case. The woman persisted, though, and kept pleading her case, kept asking for justice. Apparently this went on for some time. The judge kept dismissing her, but she refused to give up. Finally, the judge decided he’d been pestered long enough. Even though he didn’t care one iota about this widow or her case, he gave in, and saw that justice was served, so that she wouldn’t wear him out with her constant cries for help.

Things could have ended differently for our widow. She could have given up. Or, the judge could have banned her from returning by imposing a fine or providing “public housing with open bars” for a night or two. Certainly she had more “misses” than “hits.” But because of her persistence in trying to connect with the one person who had the power to help, the judge took notice, took her seriously, and finally heard the case and rendered a decision.

Every minute of every day, God hears us plead our case for help. We serve a God who wants to give us good things in our lives. We ask for things that we believe are within the scope of God’s will for our lives, things like healthy family relationships, provision for our most basic needs, people to come along side of us, for wisdom. Sometimes we don’t sense God’s answer, so we get frustrated and think He doesn’t care about our request. And in our frustration, we give up.

Jesus goes on to explain the parable to his followers:

The Lord said: “Think about what that crooked judge said.  Won't God protect his chosen ones who pray to him day and night.  Won't he be concerned for them?  He will surely hurry and help them.  But when the Son of Man comes, will he find on this earth anyone with faith?”

Pray without ceasing …

Try connecting again ...

Oh yay!!! I'm online!!!!

Copy. Paste. Publish. Done! Thank you, Lord!

Childlike Faith

One of the oil islands off of Long Beach.
Not Hawaii.

Children amaze me. They believe in nearly anything, as long as the person telling them is someone that they trust. I remember before I entered kindergarten I honestly believed that Santa Claus squeezed through the mail slot on Christmas Eve to deliver gifts (we didn't have a chimney), that it was a good idea (at the time) to write my name in purple crayon on the wall in the hallway, that the oil islands off of Long Beach were really Hawaii, and that my daddy could fix anything.

With these beliefs came grand expectations: I could peek out the mail slot in search of Santa; mom would treasure my artwork; the world was smaller than it really is; and daddy could make all things good as new again. I believed in all these things because I had complete faith and trust in the people who loved me, an unwavering faith that they would never do anything to harm me.

The faith of a child.

But then I grew older. I made discoveries about the world around me. Things weren't as I once believed. People don't fit through the mail slot. Crayon marks belong on paper (inside the lines), not on walls. Luaus are not common on the oil islands. And there are some things that are beyond repair and have to be thrown away.

Often times when we first encounter Jesus we are no longer in a state of wide-eyed wonder of a child. Yet there is something about this Son of God that makes us want to know more about him.

It's been said that children are a reflection of their parents. And Jesus is no exception. God has chosen reveal Himself through His words and actions, and Jesus is God's perfect self-revelation to us. By studying the words and actions of Jesus, we learn that God is faithful to keep His promises and is worthy of our trust. And our response to this is "faith."

Jesus holds children in very high esteem. He even tells us that unless we change and become like little children, we will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. When we come back to the place where we can trust Jesus with a childlike faith we will receive more blessings than what will fit in any mailbox, realize that our names are engraved on the palm of God's hand, stand in awe of the beauty of the vast universe that God created, and have full access to our Father in heaven, who truly does make all things new.