Guarding Pompeii

I heard someone describe something they had seen at Pompeii, I don't know if it is true or not, (I haven't been able to find any info about it from a second source) but the illustration still holds whether it is true or not.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story of Pompeii, there was a famous eruption of Mt Vesuvius in Italy sometime in the first couple of centuries AD. The city was so close to the volcano, and the eruption happened so quickly, that much of the city was buried in ash and volcanic material before the residents had any time to flee.

The city was completely buried and eventually lost to the rest of the world until some 1400 or 1500 years later. It was eventually discovered that the ash had preserved the burial places of the people and animals of the city. As the city was excavated they would fill with plaster any cavities that they found (cavities left behind after the bodies decomposed in the newly formed rock), and then continue the excavation to reveal a plaster cast of the person exactly as they looked at the time of their death.

There are dogs in anguish, people fleeing or huddled into corners, or even still sleeping!

The story goes, however, that there is one plaster cast in particular worth mentioning.

A roman guard standing at his post. Unmoving, and unflinching as the clouds of super-heated ash, and the eruption of rock and earth come hurtling toward him...

ObortionCare

Life Has Changed

"For thousands of years people have experienced both the pain and pleasure of working with their hands. People could measure and visibly see the impact of their work. No one could deny that a carpenter had put the finishing touches on a house or that a farmer had produced a crop in his field.

The modern workforce is different. It is hard to measure the transmission of data. It is hard to feel like you have accomplished anything when the fruit of your work is lost somewhere in cyberspace. Life has changed."

-Hermanito

Count them or Weigh them

Which One?

'Oh yes, I've read that book!"

(Click the title link if you want the whole thing)

You see, the flow of human events around academics proves that they too are sinners. They too are ready to give in to the pulls and pushes of the social context. Another little piece by Lewis called "The Inner Ring" is one of the most important things for any Christian academic to read. It is a story about how we hunger all of our life to be included. And that is one of the main reasons why reason has to be redeemed. I often jokingly say, but not so jokingly, that the lie most commonly told in my context is "Oh yes, I’ve read that book." Now why do we say that? Because we want to be included, we don’t want to be left out. We want to be "in." The whole word "party" is an interesting word; it means "to be a part of." We like to be included; we like to be brought in. Only the strength of a greater community that is provided by Jesus Christ can stand against that. And that’s why Paul refers to the church as "the pillar and ground of truth" (I Tim. 3:15).

It is only the person in a redeemed relationship to God that can stand for truth. Truth is too hard. You often hear the verse quoted to the effect that "The truth will make you free." The truth will not make you free! That verse doesn’t say that! Read the whole thing! It’s about discipleship: "If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-33) But today we no longer have to know the truth. On the elevator in the Humanities building at USC it just says "…The truth will make you free." Truth will not make you free - it’s probably better said "the truth will make you flee." Truth is hard to live with. And that is one reason why there has to be a community of redemption that comes down to earth and provides a context in which people can truly walk free, in the truth, because they are supported by their spiritual redemption before God in relationship to Him. They’re living in what I call "a conversational relationship with God."

Dallas Willard

I Can't!

I recently heard a friend of mine preaching (I believe it was his first sermon).

The great thing about this is not the sermon (although I really appreciated it! ...the insights into what Church should be, and his passion to give Jesus all that He is worth!), but rather the man who delivered it!

Several years ago, this man wrote me a letter. We had asked him to assist someone else in leading one of the Discipleship Groups at the Church. He responded by writing that he couldn't possibly be the one to help lead because he was so messed up himself. He felt like he had no business leading anyone...

The funny thing is, he is now helping to oversee all of the groups at the church!

It is a true saying, "God doesn't call the equipped, rather, He equips the called."

Do you want to get well?

Have you ever felt hurt, snubbed, or slighted?

Have you ever felt like someone had injured you emotionally?

Here is a thought; the reason you feel that way has at least as much to do with your perceptions as with their actions or intentions...

That is (at least to me) a troubling thought.

...at least to the selfish part of me!

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Think about it, someone can step on your toes and you can burn with resentment, or brush it off with a laugh. It has a lot to do with your perceptions of whether what they did was intentional or not, or other such factors...

This means we have a lot more control over our alienation, anger, and indignation than we might otherwise think...

...and so it means we have a lot less legitimacy to our claims for revenge!

What if?

I just listened to a good friend give a sermon, he asked the questions:

What if I really believed Jesus is Lord?

What if I really lived my life like it were true?

What would happen? What would my life look like?

For some reason, I can never tire of hearing that question, perhaps I need to hear it every day? I am a living sacrifice, daily I crawl off the altar, and daily I must crawl back on it...

Exposed

A friend of mine wrote:

"There is power when we uncover sin!" -Bean

Wow, there is a bold statement! But scripture is clear, if we will confess our sins, He is faithful to both forgive us and to purify us. Yet, we all have the tendency to hide from God, from each other, or even from ourselves; we inherited this from our spiritual parents. Adam and Eve made their fig-leaf clothes and hid in the garden; we continue to hide to this day.

So the question falls to us, and to our sin...

Do we keep it covered up?

Why?

Don't we want it dealt with?

It is time to "pull the fig leaf..."

The Disloyal Saint

The Old Testament Saint, Ruth, abandons her culture, her people, her country, her heritage, and her god...

She is a model for us who must do the same. When it becomes apparent that our loyalty to this world is simply just a chain around our necks binding us to a sinking ship, we must show the same disloyalty she showed.

When it becomes obvious that our culture, our people, our country, our heritage, and our gods, are simply different faces on a sick and depraved system; it is then that we must reject them all for what is true and good.

The only hope of rescue and salvation.

God is With You!

Every Sunday morning we go to a local nursing home and serve food and drinks and then sing songs to Jesus. It is a blessing to the residents and the staff...

This morning, I was the one to get the blessing.

An old woman, named Juanita (with all of two and a half teeth), always claps incessantly whenever the music starts. I have had a few terse conversations with her since we have been there, and I would have assessed her as 'not all there,' but not 'totally gone.' She usually has something to say that has something to do with Jesus.

'Praise Jesus,'

'Thank God for Jesus.'

This morning I went over near her and a couple of other older ladies and began to play my guitar and sing. Then I began to talk to Juanita, or rather, she began to talk to me. Prophecy over me is more like it!

God is with you! He loves you!

You know what you want, why don't you just go get it! He is with you. He is with you!

Thank God for Jesus!

Praise Him!

You just take it easy, He is with you. God is with you! He loves you!

You just take it easy!

He is with you, so just go and get it...

I wasn't sure how to respond, so I cried, and said, 'Amen!'

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I hope when I am old and crazy, there is nothing left in me but Jesus. When I open my mouth, if it doesn't make sense or if it does, at least it is about Jesus.

Tom's Idea

How many of you have heard the saying, "God first, family second, ministry third."

I remember once, long ago, saying that to my Pastor's wife. She responded by disagreeing, and saying, "no, it is all God! If you just make Him your everything, He will put everything else in it's proper place."

I really liked that, it made a lot of sense to me, because, often times, the whole 'family before ministry' is really a way to make family before God; it is a cop out.

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So a woman asked that exact question in our Discipleship Group this past week. "Who am I supposed to love more, God or family?"

...and so, I explained to her what my pastor's wife had once explained to me...

Unfortunately I wasn't doing such a good job explaining, because our friend didn't understand what I was getting at and she asked, "Am I not supposed to love my family at all? I am only supposed to love God?"

Then Tom chimed in:

"God is the lens through which we see our family... and everything else!"

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It isn't that God doesn't want us to love family, or to prioritize other good things in our lives, but rather He wants us to prioritize our lives around Him and His agenda. Saying "God, family, ministry, in that order," makes God one priority among many, even if He is the first priority. God should be the one who sets our priorities for us! He is above all of our other priorities...

God is not the biggest planet in orbit; rather He is the sun, the gravitational center around which the planets orbit.

Whatchathink?

Engage

Who do You Follow?

...and do they know where they are going?

(Click the title link)

No Longer a Joke

A long time ago I heard the following one liner:

'You spend the first year of your kids lives teaching them to walk and talk, and the rest of their lives yelling at them to sit down and be quiet!"

It really made me laugh when I heard that!

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Three kids later, it doesn't really make me laugh; it's just too accurate a depiction of my daily reality to be a joke.