He cares for YOU!

  I Peter 5 begins by speaking to pastors, among the other instructions which follow that first paragraph comes the instruction to cast our cares or anxieties on the Lord.  Reading that recently, I began to think how God might take care of those burdens.  But the passage has a different point, His care is not for our cares; it is for us!  His concern is for His sons and daughters, not their problems.  Their problems are simple for Him; they, however, are incredibly important.  It was with those thoughts, that I gave a second stanza to a poetic verse I wrote several years ago.

My Lord Cares

“He careth for thee,” and not just for thee,

But for all of the “thee’s” on this earth.

He bled and He died; He lives, glorified,

Declaring “thee” consummate worth.

“He careth for thee”: ‘twas not for thy cares,

That the Savior came down to this earth.

He bled and He died; He lives, glorified,

Declaring “thee” consummate worth.

Signs seen in a WY Rest Area...

Crossing Wyoming on Monday, it seemed best to us to be in a car not a bus when we stopped at this Rest Area.  Being a bus did not look safe here...

This is not just a matter of perspective; that's really how it looked! Bus, onward to the prairie!

Dogs, however, need not worry for their safety.  They will NOT be thrown away.

My private opinion is that the notation was needed to avoid confusion...

(The rest stop is on I-70, near the middle of Nowhere.)

The Mighty Fortress is our God

While singing "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" yesterday evening, I was reminded that this song is a poem with a message woven through all four stanzas, the stanzas really do not stand alone.  This song, which must be nearly five hundred years old, is a worshipful battle-song about the Mighty God triumphing over the Prince of Darkness.  We, His people, participate in that victory because God chose a Man who was also the Lord of Armies to fulfill that victory, and we have received His Spirit.
Themes: God's strength, Satan's attacks, the Trinity, guaranteed victory through Christ

A mighty Fortress is our God,

A Bulwark never failing;

Our Helper He amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing:

For still our ancient foe

Doth seek to work us woe;

His craft and power are great,

And, armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal. 

Did we in our own strength confide,

Our striving would be losing;

Were not the right Man on our side,

The Man of God's own choosing:

Dost ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is He;

Lord Sabaoth His Name,

From age to age the same,

And He must win the battle. 

And though this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed

His truth to triumph through us:

The Prince of Darkness grim,

We tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure,

For lo! his doom is sure,

One little word shall fell him. 

That word above all earthly powers,

No thanks to them, abideth;

The Spirit and the gifts are ours

Through Him who with us sideth:

Let goods and kindred go,

This mortal life also;

The body they may kill:

God's truth abideth still,

His Kingdom is forever.

Evangelicals and Muslims Together?

  Sunday, CNN featured this article on its website, "How Evangelicals Could Grow to Love Muslims." I agree with the guy's basic premise that evangelicals could get over their prejudices against Muslims, just as they got over their one against Catholics from 50 years ago.  The subplot is that they would also make natural allies for Republican social conservatives since many Muslims are socially conservative.  (This same would apply to Latino immigrants; if the Republicans would compromise on the immigration issue, they could gain a powerful constituency that would be a very natural alliance.)

 Anyways, I considered posting the article on Sunday because I thought it said a useful thing.  The  'need to hate [or simply, be against something]' which the article matter-of-factly mentioned is certainly not a Christian ideal.  So, there ought to be some question as to what has hijacked our thinking so that the outside world doesn't even know us by our love!  

 But it was the headline article on Hank Williams Jr.'s tirade against President Obama, mentioning Islam, today which made me decide to blog.  Now, the President has attempted to make it clear that he is a Christian in his own understanding.  Obviously, he could be lying.  But, that's not really the issue.

  Would it be a bad thing if he were a Muslim?

  No.

  Not from a Christian perspective, other than in regard to his soul - followers of Jesus have usually lived under unbelieving rulers.  From an American perspective (which should be secondary for followers of Christ), it would also be a positive outcome of our values to elect someone who was not from the majority faith.  It would be the most basic expectation of our values to say that someday someone of another faith would lead this country which claims to hold freedom of religion as a core tenet.  Otherwise, we undermine the core of the word freedom and relegate those of other beliefs to second-rate status ...if it would be 'un-American' to have a President who claimed something other than Protestant-ism.  But, that's a sidetrack.

 To return to the original article, it is noteworthy that all sitting justices on the US Supreme Court are Catholic or Jewish in faith.  (Remember that this religion was formerly vilified in US politics.)  Now, of the four Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates, only one (Barack Obama) claims to be Protestant - the others are confessedly Roman Catholic or Mormon.  Politics is an odd world, but amid the many shades of gray which it creates, Christians should try to live out their Lord's commands, not become party to one earthly agenda or another.

 As for Americans generally, it is vain to decry one who 'takes away your freedom' and at the same time say that that one has no right to power, when it is the freedoms you cry for which he champions by being in the position he is in.  Neither race nor religion nor gender are sufficient to disqualify someone from office based on American values.  I do not speak for Christian values here, though if the freedoms that are being championed truly were derived from Scripture as many claim, than that also must be considered.

Eternal Expansion

  I was reminded this morning of the fact that in many ways we have no idea what God has prepared for His people in eternity.  Certainly we have glimpses, but eternity is rather veiled.  The passage that reminded me of this is Isa 9:6-7 which describes the Son who has been given to us, giving Him glorious titles of divinity and goodness.
 Then, it says that the increase of His government and of peace will be unending.  What will the everlasting expansion of administration of the Prince of Peace look like?  How will peace grow forever in a place of perfection?  What mysteries does the Might God and Father of Eternity have in store for us?

Shame.

  In the video I am about to recommend, Brene Brown shared truth that our culture and our selves need to hear.  I came across it on Anthony Bradley's website and watched it because I thought it would be relevant to something I've been thinking about.  It was relevant to a whole lot more... me, the world I live in, the world I'd like to live in.  How to live 'whole' lives, why we don't have the connections to others that God made us to have, the depths of our need for honesty about our brokenness, and many other insights.  May you find a needed part of God's truth in this video, for your self and then for your neighbor.





Two tidbits: "You cannot selectively numb emotion."  "Courage... the ability to tell who you are with your whole heart."


I rarely watch 20-minute videos; I never take notes; I always listen while working on something else.  I watched; I took notes; I focused.

Beyond the Dream (Team)

Obviously it is not news that Kobe and LeBron have both said that the 2012 USA Olympic mens basketball team could beat the 1992 'Dream Team.' Obviously it is also not news that Jordan and Barkley have ridiculed the notion. Frankly, it is ridiculous!

I am a casual basketball fan at best, but when I can glance at the names on THE Dream Team and know of all but one of them (Chris Mullin), and he's still a Hall of Famer, that was a stacked roster. Beyond that, not only was the Team itself inducted into the Hall of Fame, everyone on it except the single college player (Christian Laettner) was individually inducted into it. It seems ludicrously absurd to suggest that the current US team will come even close to having 11 of 12 members in the HOF, much less being inducted in as a team. I think, Kobe is the only one on the team that is a lock for the HOF...

Having said all that, there is one similarity between the two teams, Coach K...

... and now, this casual fan will return to rooting for the USA and hoping for another gold medal by the mens basketball team!

Between Two Fires - evangelical Palestinian followers of Jesus

  Today I finished reading Between Two Fires: The Untold Story of Palestinian Christians.  I suppose it would be as surprising to most Western Christians as it was to me to find out that there are Gospel-believing and -obeying Christians, assembled as churches, ministering in the various sections of Palestine.  In all my reading and conversations, this has gone almost completely unmentioned.  (I came across this book while reading an excellent book by Nabeel Jabbour.)

  The testimonies of those who sacrifice and serve daily to share the good news of Jesus in words and works to those around them will be a source of encouragement and exhortation to any believer.  As the marginalized witness to a marginalized people, these brothers and sisters demonstrate what it looks like to love the Lord God first and then to love their neighbors (often, enemies) as themselves.  This is seen in the grime and the dirt of real struggles and failures and growth.  The book is mediocre in style and format but stellar in content.  I'd strongly recommend Between Two Fires to all those who love to see the Body of Christ in action and those who care deeply for the lost around the world.

 Technical details: It's a relatively short read at approximately 127 pages.  There's an excellent addendum at the end.

High and Low: Man and God

  Reading in Isaiah 5 this morning, I noticed an interesting comparison in verses 15 and 16.  The context is God's condemnation and judgment upon His people.  He says that this judgment will result in those with lofty, proud (literally 'high') eyes being brought low.  Then, He says that He, their God, will be exalted (literally 'high') when this happens.

  This is fascinating since the normal expectation when a god's people are crushed by another people is for that god to be humbled, brought low.  So, how is it that this God is exalted in His people's humbling?  

  The Lord of the Armies is exalted even when His people receive defeat and humiliation at the hands of others because He sent the defeat and humiliation.  He is the God of justice and righteousness, not some territorial god who is personally threatened by the success or failure of His worshipers.  Instead, He demands that His people be holy and obedient and clean, seeking to be as He is.

  And this was utterly impossible.

  

  And so, God Himself was humbled and exalted...

  ...so that His people might be people of justice and righteousness and humility, till the day He exalted them under His own exalted lordship.  He suffered judgment so that He might bless and heal them.

(images from here and here)

The Mountain of the Lord - an eschatological speculation

  I read the beginning of Isaiah 2 this morning and was struck by the way the God's temple is described: it is described as if it could literally be a Temple Mountain or a Mountain Temple... as if this great temple from which God will teach and judge the nations might literally be built into a mountain or carved from a mountain, a temple that would be by earthly measures worthy of the God worshipped there and the King served there!

 So, I looked around to see what the best mountain temples currently look like.  None fit the image in my mind, although some are impressive.  I'd love to see someone draw a magnificent imagined Mountain Temple.  But for now, here are the best mountain temples I could find...

A Temple in China

Honorable Mentions:

Monastery at Petra

(Petra's temple wasn't built into the mountain apparently.)

Monastery in Turkey

Aztec Temple