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?

grand funk (with apologies to rockers everywhere)

It seems that quite a few people in my life are particularly burdened these days. It seems more and more common to hear a comment like, "I've been in a funk lately." If you're hoping for something profound from me about this... Sorry! But you know me and my quotes, and as I [this morning] encountered even more who seemed listless and fatigued in so many ways, several quotes and the associated rabbit trails of thought came to mind.

First and foremost, I identify. I've had some particular struggles for a while now; I know and understand some of the things that have brought on these struggles in me, but there are other feelings I have but don't really know why. As a result, when I read scripture it seems dry and vague; when I pray I think that I sense distance between me and God. When I figuratively stand aside and look at me, it kind of sticks out that my relationship with God is under assault! This just serves to illustrate why it is so crucial to base my relationship with him on the truth of the word rather than my experience. I must continually remind myself of this; even when my experience might suggest otherwise, the truth from his word is that his love for me is never-ending and never fails. His wisdom in guiding my life is implicitly perfect and trustworthy. His power and faithfulness to deliver on what he has promised cannot be thwarted or denied. On these bases, I read and I pray; this morning I thought about the great expositor Matthew Henry, who said

When I can not enjoy the faith of assurance, I live by the faith of adherence.

At my church, we have taught for many years that feelings and emotions are not trustworthy to base decisions and life choices on. I think that some heard that feelings and emotions are bad, but this is not what was intended. Rather, my life, my walk with God, is based on the truth of the word, and so I walk on, regardless of how I feel.

Abraham Lincoln said,

To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own.

This verbalizes the other thought I had: What an opportunity to serve when I encounter someone who is struggling! And while I might ultimately desire to help someone let go of a burden, my best service is not necessarily to preach or give answers but to laugh with, cry with, live with, love on my neighbor! Jesus is the great physician; I by his power want to render service that is useful in lifting that funk. Consistent with Lincoln's comment, I see in me the forgetting of struggles when God opens opportunities to serve and I focus on the needs of others. So often the best service is genuineness and open, willing fellowship.

In my own case, I'm amazed at how God has repeatedly, in the midst of simple fellowship with his people, revealed Himself to be the solution to the "struggle of the day." Most frequently that has taken the form of something being said that takes my mind back to specifics in the scriptures. All the while I thought I was serving the other person!

If you're feeling burdened, strugglilng, in a funk, take heart; walk on in your relationship with God, no matter how it "feels." Love on the people God has placed in your life, and don't be surprised when he uses your service to bless you.

bragging on God

Tomorrow my daughter leaves on a short-term mission trip to Russia. This will be her second trip there, and to say that I am very proud of her would be understatement. However, I am always mindful that she is the fabulous young lady that she is because of God and the way He has gifted her. Now thereby hangs a tale.

This morning as I sat eating breakfast, she came in and sat down with me. During the course of our conversation she mentioned that she needed to come up with a devotional for the [Russia] team. You see, the team does a devotional together each day during the trip, and each team member leads at least one of those sessions. Predictably, I began thinking of what I might do if the assignment was mine. After a moment, my mind went to Psalm 34:1-3:

I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul will make its boast in the LORD;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.

O magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

I talked to her about verse 3 in particular, where in the New American Standard Bible it is rendered "O magnify the Lord with me." (In the New International Version, is says, "Glorify the Lord...") What does it mean to "magnify the Lord?" Make God bigger? When one looks at the moon through a telescope, the moon doesn't get bigger--we see it bigger. And I think that's what the psalmist meant--glorify the Lord, see Him bigger, as big as he truly is. Too often we look at God through the eyes of our own understanding, and so we'll always see him too small. Let me mention a quote here that I've mentioned before:

If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshiped.

—Evelyn Underhill

But verse 2 was the nugget for me this morning; the psalmist said, "My soul will make its boast in the Lord." I'm proud of both of my kids, but they're God's kids first, and they are fine people not because of me but because of the way he made and gifted them. Praise Him!