can't or can't hardly?

I remember when, as a child, I would get frustrated and say, "I can't..." My dad invariably would respond with, "Can't or can't hardly?" I'd cry out, "I can't do this!" and he would say, "Can't or can't hardly?" I might say, "I can't wait!" and there he would be replying, "Can't or can't hardly?" It was maddening, but I would realize that in almost every instance my frustration did not come from inability but impatience.

Lately I have been musing over occasions which cause me to say, "I can hardly wait." At this time of year, a big one is family vacation. I look forward to getting away from routine, into the mountains, out of the heat. I like to travel anyway, and my friends know that I'd be gone all the time were it not for little, insignificant things such as having to work for a living, high fuel prices, etc.

I have a close friend who lives in Tucson, and we both look forward to being able to get together on a vacation trip. We've camped together in the past, but the last time was five years ago, and we "can hardly wait" to do so again. Looking forward to getting together isn't so much for the vacation or the camping, even though we both enjoy those; it is for the reunion because we love each other as friends and brothers in Christ.

Lately I've been convicted that, while I have [truthfully] said, "I can't wait for Jesus to come back!" it is not the same kind of yearning. I commented on this to another friend over coffee this morning, and he referred to Jesus' return as [the beginning of] the ultimate vacation; if I look forward to it through the lens of my own understanding (What will it be like?) as an eschatological topic, I won't yearn for it like I will seeing a brother again. But that's the key--I can hardly wait to be together with my closest brother, Jesus! (See Romans 8:29-20, Hebrews 2:9-13.) As A. W. Tozer said,

It is precisely the "yearning" and the "fainting" for the return of Christ that has distinguished the personal hope from the theological one. Mere acquaintance with correct doctrine is a poor substitute for Christ, and familiarity with New Testament eschatology will never take the place of a love-inflamed desire to look on his face.

extraordinary days

The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.

—G.K. Chesterton

My wife and I married 28 years ago today. I adore her, and although we, like most people, have had ups and downs, our life together has been and is wonderful. Along the way, it got substantially better when through Christ, God drew me back into relationship with himself. I can almost reach out and touch the difference in my relationships with my wife, my kids, indeed, all the people in my life, made when Jesus Christ is at the center of my own life.

Every day is an extraordinary day when one walks with the Lord. We are ordinary people, an ordinary family, but we are useful in God's hands. That is not a statement about us but about God--join me in praising him and glorifying him, today.

care and feeding

I love to teach, and so far in my life I've had any number of opportunities to do so. I worked as an instructor for a computer company about twenty years ago, but the most memorable and rewarding opportunities I've had were at my church, sharing with others from the word of God. Not only were there huge blessings in guiding others in the word, but God used those times mightily in my life, teaching me his word.

I remember that one struggle that I continually dealt with was the temptation to let any preparation for a class supersede or replace my own personal study and quiet times with the Lord. I had early recognized a difference in preparing to teach and daily devotional reading of the word. I could never quite put my finger on the difference until I read this comment from C. S. Lewis:

A man can't be always defending the truth; there must be a time to feed on it.

That helped me greatly because it not only asserted the necessity of personal time in the word apart from class preparation, but somehow I also sensed a warning to be certain I was defending the truth rather than my beliefs. Of course, my heart's desire is that I know and believe the truth, and that where the personal time in the word comes in.

Even when not teaching, attending a class is no substitute for private, personal time in the word. As beneficial as the class is, reading and studying together with others, discussing, learning from one another, it can't replace the bringing of an open heart and teachable mind to a loving personal God in his word.

I'm not doing any teaching right now, and that is a mixed blessing. It is good in a way to have a rest (and continue to feed on the word,) but I pray that God will sometime, somewhere, open a teaching opportunity for me and then push me to serve his people that way.

a quote of the day

I don't usually post quotes without comment since I blog to share thoughts in me stirred by various quotes, or else the thoughts I had which brought a certain quote to mind. However, I thought I'd share this from Charles Spurgeon unencumbered.

You cannot preach conviction of sin unless you have suffered it. You cannot preach repentance unless you have practiced it. You cannot preach faith unless you have exercised it. True preaching is artesian; it wells up from the great depths of the soul. If Christ has not made a well within us, there will be no outflow from us.

my life?

We started a new sermon series at my church yesterday, on the parables of Jesus. It began with a great discussion about new wine in old wineskins. I don't remember if the pastor used these exact words necessarily, but I came away with the thought that Jesus does not want to be a part of my life--he wants to be my life, if I'll let him! It brought this quote to mind.

There is only one relationship that matters, and that is your personal relationship to a personal Redeemer and Lord. Let everything else go, but maintain that at all cost, and God will fulfill His purpose through your life. (This includes meeting the needs of your heart.) One individual life may be of priceless value to God's purposes, and yours may be that life.

—Oswald Chambers

you too can be unpopular

Among my earliest memories are times at church with my mother and sister, and in particular I remember quite a number of Bible verses that I memorized. (Cool--I must have really memorized them!) Among countless gifts from God is a pretty good memory, and one of the verses I remember is Proverbs 27:6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.

I must confess that most of the times in my life that I have meditated on this verse, it has been from the standpoint of the recipient of the wounds or kisses, as the case may be. Recently, however, the tables have turned and my thoughts have tended to my choice of giving the wounds or kisses. On a number of occasions that I can think of, I'm afraid that my dealings with people in my life have been more on the order of deceitful kisses than faithful wounds. The interactions that I am thinking about were not overt deceitfulness but subtle complacency--at their core, just plain selfishness.

What has brought this line of thinking about is not the verse in Proverbs but another passage of scripture. I have mentioned in the past (several times, I believe) that I breakfast with a close-knit group of men on Thursdays for Bible study, fellowship, support and accountability. Several weeks ago, we began reading the book of Galatians together. Early on, Galatians 1:10 leaped out at me.

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

The last sentence in particular seized my attention, for the apostle Paul seems to set in direct opposition the pleasing of people with serving the Lord. I think that most of us try to please people around us, especially those that we call friends. We like to see those people closest to us happy. But Paul teaches, in essence, "I can either please people or be a servant of Christ."

The error (seeking to please people) is very subtle and is easy to wrap in a veneer of "Christian virtue." But Jesus' command is "Love one another, as I have loved you." As C. S. Lewis said,

Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.

Viewing this through the lens of Proverbs 27:6, sometimes the choice is whether to love or please someone. Looking back, I think that sometimes my motivation to "please" a person was fear of being hurt myself. However, Jesus loves me perfectly and will not leave me, so the step of faith is to love people with his love, seeking the loved person's good even if it hurts.

We certainly don't want to set out to wound a friend, but choosing to do what is in a person's best interests may be painful. It may be easier to do what seems to please everyone, but how often do we recognize, let alone believe, that the more popular path consists of the actions of an enemy rather than a friend?