It's Beginning To Be a Lot Like Christmas

As we’ve studied and celebrated the Feasts, it’s reminded me of the importance of Christ centered activities.  Not just because it’s fun (although it is.) But because doing things WITH God’s people lets us focus on both the horizontal AND the vertical.

Here are some of the things we have planned for the Season of the Incarnation:

Jubilee Events

11 December Wednesday            6:00        Jubiwednesday; History of Carols, Spaghetti.

13 December     Friday                    8:00        RSVP, please, for Holiday Inn at the Pennings.

15 December     Sunday                 10:00     Prayer

                                                                11:00     Worship (Day of Atonement, Psalm 32)

                7:00 ANDREW PETERSON IN (sort of) CONCERT!

                          Please RSVP… so we can talk about snacks.  But if you don’t RSVP:

                                PLEASE COME anyway.

18 December     Wednesday        6:00       JubiWednesday and Musical Performances!

24 December     Tuesday               6:00        Christmas Eve Candlelight Servicve

1 January             Wednesday        2:00       New Year’s Day Game Afternoon!

ThanksEating

ThanksEating

There are a LOT of ways to display and manifest a thankful heart.  Sometimes we speak words of thanks.  Sometimes are eyes are windows into our gratitude.  Sometimes our smiles shout louder than our lips. 

But at this time of year, we give thanks by eating.  Together.  Maybe sharing the work.  Not eating in rhythmatic unity, but eating at the same time with some people we are grateful for, and grateful to. 

If you can’t make it this year, we understand that there are MANY thankful locations.

But if you can… join us at Jubilee at 6:00.  It’s not yet too late. 

Happy ThanksEating

Thanks

Give Thanks in All Things

Be thankful in all things.  I Thessalonians 5:18

I was taught to say, “thank you.” 

It’s polite.  It’s good manners.  It’s proper.  It is the right thing to do.

And sometimes those “thank you’s” seem strange.  Recently when ending an annoying political survey telephone call I said, “thank you,” at the end of the call.  Why was I saying “thank you?”  I certainly did not feel grateful. I hadn’t learned anything.  I hadn’t enjoyed the call.  Polite habit pulled the words from my scowling lips without me thinking about it.

I have done this before.  I have said “thank you” even when I wasn’t feeling grateful.  It isn’t merely that I have thanked political survey telephone callers for calling me.  I have thanked bill collectors for taking my money.  I have thanked insurance companies for giving me bad news.  I have thanked employers for firing me.

But that isn’t really being grateful.  It’s just being polite.  And our gratitude to God is not supposed to be polite thanks.

He doesn’t tell us to SAY “thank you.”  He tells us to BE thankful.  BE grateful.  BE aware of His gifts.

It is more than mouthing the words.  It is more than gathering once a year and muttering a few benign comments just before digging into the turkey and mashed potatoes.  It is more than getting emotionally mushy when thinking about family gatherings.

Being thankful means being aware that HE is really the One responsible for your bank account.  Your dining room table.  Your income.  Your security.  Your family.  Your friends.  Your health.  Your shoes.  Your teeth.   Your personality.  Your pick up.  Your microwave.  Your snow blower.  Your front lawn.  Your son returned from Iraq.  The safety of your neighbor still IN Iraq.  Your radio.  Your dog.  Your everything.

Do more than give thanks.  BE thankful.

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Wednesday        6:00 pm               JubiWednesday

Sunday                 10:00 am             Prayer

                                11:00 am             Worship

November 21 7:00 pm Hobby in the Lobby/Book Club “Cards on the Table” by Agatha Christie.  Led by DeAnne Penning

November 27  Thanksgiving Eve Dinner at 6:00 Hooray!

December 6, 7, 8  5:30 – 9 pm  Living Nativity 

December 8 Chili cook off and Christmas celebration at the Sunnydale Community Center.

December 15 7:00 Andrew Peterson Sort of Here!

Decomeber 24 6:00 pm Christmas Eve Candlelight Service

WIFOM

The World of WIFOM

In the film, The Princess Bride, the short bald genius, Vizzini, debates with himself about which glass of wine is poisoned.  He argues in a circle about whether The Wine In Front Of Me is poisoned… or the other cup.  And because he has no firm logical foundation, but rests his arguments only on his own brainpower and reasoning, he ends up dead.

We call that circular and foundational arguing, WIFOM.

And without the absolute truth of God’s Word, we live in a world of WIFOM.

When we base our ethical questions on whether the action we consider is right for society, or someone else, or myself, we end up in WIFOM.

When we base our financial questions on whether the decision we are making is right for MY family, or YOUR family, or the GENERAL good, we end up in WIFOM.

When we are pragmatic, self-serving, self-trusting, small minded, we end up in WIFOM.

Wisdom is simply (however difficult it is) accepting God’s definitions, God’s plans, God’s revelation, God’s Word as foundational to everything.  It is choosing God instead of me.

And it always defeats WIFOM.

I Might Be a Cyborg

I’m a Cyborg

Year by year, more of ‘me’ is being replaced by technology.  The lenses in my eyes are artificial.  My ears need mechanical aids.  I breathe at night with a Darth-Vader-like mask.  And more.  And more.

I wonder if soon, I won’t be recognizable.  Or if I will stop going to the doctor, but instead visit the mechanic for a tune-up.

Maybe, though, it is a good way to understand the process of growing in Christ. 

The broken parts of me are gradually being replaced.

My anger is replaced by Christ’s patience.  My greed is replaced by Christ’s contentment.  My lust is replaced by Christ’s love.  My lack of God-focus is replaced by Christ’s adoration of His Father.

It is even a better picture than I first hoped.  Because while I SAY those things are changed… where they ARE changed is not really Me.  It is Him.  Just like those mechanical bits and pieces are not really ME.  But they are General Motors, or IBM, or Robotics Are Us.

And my pride doesn’t like the need for replacement.  Just like my pride doesn’t like the need for Christ.  And the replacements are not really ever complete, because technology improves.  Just like my need for Christ is not completed, because not only do I keep needing Him, but the more I know I need Him, the more I know I need Him more.

Maybe I like my replacement parts more than I thought.

It's Autumnish

Genesis 8:22  While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.

Autumn Colors

The Autumnal colors seem a little bit late.  By now, usually the trees’ palettes include oranges and reds… but we seem stuck in green and brown.  But I know it’s coming, and I see signs.

I could attempt to recall my College Plant Biology Class and attribute the colors of fall to a chemical reaction caused by an increase of something-or-other due to the decrease in both average daily temperature and total daily sunlight hours.

Or I could remember that God sets the seasons, changes the colors of His trees, sends the brisk first frost, covers His fields in a blanket of cold restful snow, hatches the acorn egg beneath the mulch of decades and makes sunflowers both bright and tasty.  And I could remember why He does those things.

The annual regular change of seasons is a reminder of God’s faithfulness.  Even when our society slips farther from adoration of Him, He sends Autumn.  Even when we notice less and less that He loves, He changes the color of your elm tree.  Even when we forget to thank Him, He brings fall, and fall weather, and fall afternoons, and fall football.

I sometimes have not liked fall, because our calendars seem to be slipping inexorably down towards winter.  But I’ve been wrong. 

Fall is God’s faithfulness today.  Autumn is a nudge towards noticing that God is reliable.  "

Don't Know Much About Skunks...

How Smart is a Skunk?

I have a skunk trap in my shed.  It is baited, hair-triggered, and designed to appeal to the average skunk.

But that ole skunk refuses to get caught.   Every night, somehow, he cleans the bait from the trap, leaves an unpleasant calling card, and causes disappointment for me in the morning.

I can’t imagine how he is outsmarting me.

And it has reminded me that I am not as clever as I think I am.

What seems sure is often unreliable.

What seems known is often wrong.

What seems absolute is often unclear, upon reflection.

If only I had an expert.

An expert skunk catcher would know what to do.   A skunkologist would show me a better way to set the trap.  A skunk nutritionist would describe a more attractive bait.

Or maybe I need a cute black cat with a white stripe painted down her spine.

This is why I am trying to depend more on the simple Word of God than on my own figurings.  This is why I am endeavoring to use GOD’S definitions instead of my own.  Particularly in such things as Sin, Peace, Wisdom, Salvation, and even Hope.

Because I am often wrong.
But the expert isn’t.

New!

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isa. 43:18-19 ESV)

New Things

The New Year’s Eve celebration in Sydney, Australia went terribly wrong.

The billboard announcing the arrival of the new year mistakenly presented: HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2018!

And the world smiled.  Those silly Ozzies.

But maybe they actually got it right.

Who doesn’t like new things?  Even though we respect traditions, collect antiques, and look back fondly to the good ole days, New Things are exciting!

Think about the recent celebration-days.  Few of us wrap used toys and put them under the Christmas tree.  “Re-gifting,” while economically wise, is usually viewed with disdain.

And of course, New Year’s Day, while looking backward and forward, focusses more on the coming year than on last year’s activities.  We don’t make Old Year Resolutions.  We don’t cheer as we throw away last year’s calendar. 

Unless you were in Sydney this year.

The context of Isaiah’s statement is paramount.  God isn’t promising us to always give us bright shining New Things.  He isn’t merely encouraging us to be forward thinking, constantly updating, bigger and better, replacement mentality type of people. 

When He promises us that He will make all things new, it is in the context of the terrible status of the past.  He doesn’t just promise to ‘make a way…’ He promises to make a way (a road, a pathway, a solution) through the (empty, dark, scary) wilderness. 

When He promises us that He will give us ‘rivers in the desert…’  He promises to give us rivers (reliable providence, a connection to community, constant freshness) instead of the desert of yesterday (loneliness, thirst, fear, death.)

The ‘New’ is contrasted with the Old.  Always

Tomorrow He makes all things New! He gives a fresh start.  A SECOND chance.  A FIXED tomorrow of yesterday’s BROKENNESS. 

Merry Merrying

“Merry” is a better word than we usually think it is.

While today, we use the word to mean cheerfully, gleefully, happily grinny… that is not what the word originally meant.

When Shakespeare, renaissance historians, or hymn-writers use the word, “merry” it is stronger than our modern usage. 

Robin Hood’s Merry Men were not party animals.  Shakespeare’s Generals, when encouraging soldiers to be Merry did not want them to be laughing and taking it easy.  And when carolers sang of the need for us to rest, merry, they didn’t want us to relax and think happy thoughts of sugar plums.

To be ‘merry’ was to be strong, heartened, courageous, and faithful.  The Merry Men of Nottingham lived sacrificial lives, devoted to ending tyranny with the strength of their will, the vision of their leader, and their amazing archery-skills.   Shakespeare’s historical leaders fought against all odds, storming the walls once more, expecting to lose but hoping for victory.  And the carolers were aware that winter is harsh, that pain seems to rule creation, that standing in the storm requires strength, perseverance, and faith.

When I wish you a Merry Christmas, I am not hoping that you laugh a lot.  I am hoping that you strengthen your resolve to live for that infant King.  I am encouraging us to fear not, though the dark seems strong.  I am desiring to see Christ’s Kingdom storm the gates of hell and bring the glad tidings to all who will hear.

Merry Christmas, indeed!

Christmas Music

And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."  (Rev. 21:5 ESV)

Christmas Music

I have a new CD.

Okay, it’s not really new.  It was given to me a few years ago.  I listened to it a time or two, and then it stopped working.  It would repeat lines, skip from track to track, and generally sound horrific.

I really liked the music on the CD, the one time I had heard it.  But then I couldn’t hear the music anymore.

And then last week it started working again.  I am not exactly sure why.  Maybe some gunk got wiped off.  Maybe a bit of static got discharged.  Maybe my CD player overcame some technical difficulty.

But I can hear the music again.

God had more than a new CD.  He had created a new universe.  And before long, it broke, too.

Adam’s rebellion made the music of the universe warped, off-key, and ugly.   Weeds grow too fast, bacteria cause disease, hearts are too-often cruel, and NOTHING works the way it’s supposed to work.

So God fixed the universe.  He knew what He was doing.  He had to rebridge the gap between people and Himself.  He needed to justly make right what had become wrong.  And the way to do it was for the Perfect God to become a man, yet remain Perfect God.  And so a baby was born in Bethlehem.

And the music played again.

Of course a lot more had to happen.  Jesus had to live a perfect life on our behalf.  He had to suffer in our place.  He had to die in our place.  He had to overcome death, the ultimate punishment for Adam’s rebellion.  He had to be established as King of His Father’s universe.  And all those things happened.

So that the music would play again.

Christmas music is more than elevator music.  It is a reminder to me that God has fixed the Music of the Universe. 

Listen with Joy.

Lights

Matthew 5:14   "You are the light of the world.

The Light in the Darkness

I was very annoyed one evening when sitting behind a teenager in a movie theater who was wielding a cell phone.  It was not the ringing of the phone that annoyed me, because the teenager had the phone set to “manner” mode.

It was the light.

She checked her phone at least ten times during the movie, and the light, suddenly appearing in the dark theater, drew my eyes like sugar drawing flies.

No doubt she thought she was being polite.  Her phone WAS quiet, after all.  But her light in the darkness, however unintentional, came close to ruining my enjoyment of the movie.

But it made me wonder how many lights I unintentionally shine in the movie theaters of life

Robert Burns wrote a poem, To a Louse, in which he watches a louse (singular for “lice,” I suppose) crawling on the fancy hairdo of the woman in front of him in church.  Her little insect guest drew and held his attention, and in result:  he didn’t think about the woman’s beauty, the sermon’s message, or the hardness of the pew seat.  All he could see was that bug.  He ends by suggesting that we all consider “how others see us.”

Christians are called to be lights in a dark world.  Usually we assume that the light is a good thing.  But sometimes I fear we are unintentionally distracting lights.

When we answer the hunger of a foreigner with cold preaching about religious differences. 

When our condemnation of sin is louder than our proclamation of the sweet gospel. 

When we say, “there, but for the grace of God go I…” instead of, “there go I , just with a different sin.”

When we respond to the loss of a mother’s soldier-son with cold criticism of political processes.   

When we see the unlovely, and instead of giving them grace, we emphasize their unloveliness. 

I wonder how often we are shining bad, distracting light, ignorant of what others see.

I reckon that more people are saying, “Sir, we would see Jesus,” than we think.

Why I Now Love Snow

Why I Now Love Snow!

Sunday evening it snowed.  And for the first time in decades, I did not hate it.  I might go so far as to say I liked it.  I might have enjoyed it.  It made me smile.

But not because I enjoyed the snow itself.  Not because the nature of that evil, winter-embedded, effect-of-the-fall has been altered or redeemed.

No.  I now love snow because someone I love smiled at it.

I am not sure why THIS smile made a difference in my too-small heart.  Certainly, over the years, others whom I love have smiled at snow, and nothing in my attitude has changed.  But this time it was different.

The moment that I watched my granddaughter’s smile as she experienced snow warmed my heart towards that monstrosity.  The moment I watched my granddaughter’s smile as she experienced snow melted my hatred of that frozen, cold, awful useless stuff.

She loved it… and so I did, too.

While I sometimes claim independence of thought and emotional reaction, when someone whom I love loves something, it often changes my reaction to it.

She loved it… and so I did, too.

If this is true for Willa and snow and me, it is even more true for Jesus and me.

Jesus loves a lot of people that I have decided not to love.  And my love of Him needs to alter my attitude towards them.  While you might think I am speaking about ‘all the people of the world,’ I am not, yet, stretching my mind that far.  I am speaking about Christ’s beloved bride… His beloved believers… His Redeemed.

So many of whom I don’t love.  Far too many.  Disagreement about political ideology, personality quirks, past offenses, present jealousies, small-mindedness… these things have given me ‘permission’ to not love so many of Christ’s children.  But Jesus loves them.  Jesus LOVES them.  He smiles.  And it needs to warm my heart.

Jesus even loves me, whom I don’t often love.  I find it easy to listen to Satan’s accusations, the world’s disdain, and the memory (and presence) of my old man.  And forgetting Jesus’ smile, I despise myself.  But He loves me.   He LOVES me.  He smiles.  And it needs to warm my heart.

Not because myself or these others are all that loveable.  We often aren’t.   Just like snow that gets under collars, causes much shoveling, chills feet and fingers, signifies winter’s misery, and is just plain horrible is not all that loveable.

But Willa loves it.  And so do I.

Jesus loves you… and so do I.

Alone

Watching the political circus last week… listening to popular music… observing the extremes that people (good people, too) go to in search of companionship… all have made me think about loneliness.

It’s not good for humans to be alone. (Gen. 2:18)
God knew what He was talking about.

We argue about being disenfranchised, change our personality to be more attractive, search for and take on quests, and walk around in hopeful wonder among beautiful people… all because we don’t want to be alone.  Or to feel alone.  Or to have others think we are alone.

As I consider it… most of my sins are motivated by a feeling of loneliness.  Most of my problems are caused by me seeking to end loneliness in unnecessary ways.  Most of my fears center around loneliness.

When Jesus stated that He came among us so that we would have abundant life, I am convinced that this is a big part of the abundance to which he was referring.

We aren’t alone.

Of course, most obviously, He meant that we aren’t alone because HE will never leave us or forsake us.  We need to hear that because we often don’t SENSE His presence.  He promises it because He wants us to find it through faith, not through our senses.  It is comforting because HIS promises are better than our knowledge.

We aren’t alone because HE is with us.

But He doesn’t just leave us there.  He created the Covenant Community precisely because it is not good for us to be alone.  He formed the church precisely because it is not good for us to be alone.  He introduces us to Christians around us precisely because it is not good for us to be alone.

We aren’t alone because HIS BRIDE, the church, is with us.

This is where we should search to end our loneliness.  This is where we can dig to find the treasure of companionship.  This is when we are knitted together in an anti-loneliness web. 

We aren’t alone.

Sigh of relief.

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Wednesday        6:00        COLD WEATHER food!  JubiWednesday.  The armor of God.

Sunday                 10:00     Prayer Meeting

                                11:00     Worship

                                12:30 ish  SECOND SUNDAY DINNER

October 19/20 The Second Jubilee Non Camping Campout!

                                We will meet for dinner (hot dogs and such) at 6:00. 

                                Followed by a family friendly, exciting, enjoyable, relaxing MOVIE.

                                Followed by discussion… but not TOO much.

                                Saturday morning, we will meet at 7:30 for campstyle breakfast, prayer,

simple Bible reading, and fellowship.

October 25 Hobby and Book Club in the Lobby.  “Martin Luther Had a Wife,” led by Patti. Snacks.

i

Delight

Delights

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Ps. 37:4 ESV)

God is good.

We say that sort of thing a lot. 

But I have recently noticed a particular way that it is true.  A great way.  An exciting way.  A majestic way.

I am starting to notice that God not only gives us, His people, the desires of our heart, but in a strange and smiley way He gives His adults the desires our hearts had when we were children.

I see children who love their families grow up to find such solace in family.

I see kids who love baseball grow up to be able to take part in basebally activities as adults.

I see young folk who love laughter grow up to use laughter in their adult lives as a balm to others and to themselves.

I see little folk who love drawing grow up to gift their communities as adults through their artistic activities.

I see that God gives good dreams, and then let’s us fulfill them.

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What Do I Know?

What Do I Know?

I don’t understand the Algebraic Formula for graphic an equation for a circle.  But I know how to ‘do’ it.  I know which numbers to plug into which spots to solve or create an equation that graphs into a circular shape.  It’s simply true.  Not because I have used any superior brain power to make it true.  But simply because it is true.

Electricity works the same way.  So does microscopic surgical cell repair.  So does quantum physics.  So do a lot of things.  It is not my reasoning that makes something true.  Facts are true NOT simply because I have figured them out.

And things about God work that way, too.

He isn’t POWERFUL because I have determined through Scripture, logical deduction, or even observation that He is powerful. 

He isn’t Holy because I have determined through Scripture, logical deduction, or even observation that He is Holy.

He isn’t Gracious because I have determined through Scripture, logical deduction, or even observiation that He is full of Grace, eager to be Gracious, the epitome of Grace.

While I can sometimes use my reasoning mind to discover these things (and more) about God, He is those things whether I discover them or not.  Or even if I agree with them or not.

The Facts of God simply are.  I can attach to them with reason, observation, or faith.  But those things don’t MAKE God-facts true.

My reason, just like my feelings, are good and useful things to discover God and His ways.  But His ways are beyond my control.  His ways are true.

So very true.

And when my brain is fuddled or confused… that is comfort.  When my reasoning is faulty, it doesn’t change Who He is… and that is comfort.   When I don’t understand or understand wrongly, He still is Who He is.

That’s a fact.
And I can rest on that.

Feelings...

It’s not about feelings… it’s about facts.

Sometimes I hate my clock.  I don’t always feel tired at “bedtime,” you see.  And I don’t always feel like it is time to get up when the alarm alerts me. 

But my feelings don’t matter.  I have places to go and people to see.

What if last week I claimed it wasn’t raining because I felt dry? 

What if I don’t feel 56? Or 57?

No, I have not gone all grumpy, cold-hearted, and mechanistic.

But I have realized that we give too much attention to our feelings, particularly when it comes to our relationship with Jesus.

Some days I don’t feel loved by Him.  I often don’t feel forgiven by Him.  I am not always basking in the wonder of His providence. 

But my feelings don’t change the facts.

He loves me (Jeremiah 31:3.)

He protects me (Matthew 10:29-31.)

He has forgiven me (I John 3:16.)

Those are the facts.

Talents

Talents

Words have interesting connections, sometimes.  In the Old Testament, a ‘talent’ was a small bar of precious metal.  Think silver or gold.  King James’ English simply used the transliterated word, rather than alter it to “hunk of gold.”

So when Jesus told the parable about the Master who goes on a journey and gives some of his wealth to his servants to look after while he is gone, Jesus says that the Master gave them talents.  The servants used those talents with a range of intentions and results.  But it is clear that he did NOT give those talents to his servants for their own benefit.

Those talents were not for them.

While perhaps not the most theologically profound application, the parable touches home when we use the word, ‘talent,’ instead of ‘talent.’

The Master has given to us a talent or two, too.  

And we use them with a range of intentions and results.

But He didn’t give them to us for our own benefit.  He gave them to us to expand His kingdom.

Burying them in the backyard is not really an option.  (Even if your particular talent IS digging holes…)

Northern Lights

Northern Lights

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1

I don’t understand Northern Lights.  I have read scientific descriptions of what causes them.  I have studied models of orbit and atmosphere that explain how they appear.  But I still don’t get it.  

I haven’t seen them often.

But a few years ago, while driving late at night in Eastern South Dakota, I saw them more clearly than I ever had.

The Northern sky seemed covered with a writhing edgewise ribbon of bluish light.  The light-ribbon shifted in atmospheric energy winds… rippling with a surreal sense of physical presence.  If I could have jumped high enough, it seemed like I could grab it.  Whatever it was.

And I could almost hear it.  At the edge of auditory existence, the Northern Lights nearly hummed and teased me with an almost understood symphony.

Stopped by the side of the road, pupils dilated, mouth agape, you could have mistaken me for an ancient traveler overwhelmed by a sudden display of wizardry or magic.  But this was real.

It doesn’t happen often in this cynical and over-confident world.  But I encountered something I didn’t understand

And rather than ignore it… or explain it away… or rationalize… I was just amazed that God makes such things

I need to be amazed like that more often.  Every time a baby is born.  Every time a seed sprouts.  Every time a bird flies.  Every time a fish nibbles at my hook and then laughs away.  Every time old eyes flash with youthfulness.  Every time a violin sings.  Every time someone lost comes home.  Every time I make a friend.  Every time I remember yesterday.  Every time I forget sorrow.  Every time someone laughs.  Every time I can shout about Jesus and not face arrest.  Every time I wake up.  Every time.  Just every time.

Joy in the Morning

The Joy of Antiques

For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Ps. 30:5 ESV)

People enjoy antiques.  Those old bits of furniture, decorations, and nick-nacks that add such flavor and classiness to living-rooms, porches, and walls.

But think for a moment about what those antiques really are.

Antiques are old, broken, worn out things… that have somehow been fixed and made beautiful.   There is something about them in fact, that is more beautiful than when they were new.  When fixed and redecorated they are indeed something shiny and bright, but with an attachment to when they weren’t.

When it comes to furniture, antiques are richer than brand new.

When it comes to sentimental things, antiques have more connection than new things.

When it comes to you, too… the old broken you is what makes the Jesus-fixed you precious.

The purpose of being broken is being fixed.  The reason we have problems is to enjoy the solution.  The best thing about the night is not the darkness, but the dawn.

I’m an antique, and I will be an antique forever.  While we know of the old nails and split wood, I am no longer broken.  While we don’t forget yesterday’s brokenness, in Christ, we are fixed and made new.

And it is beautiful.

Huh? Always learning...

The value of questions…

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Heb. 11:1 ESV)

One of my favorite regular Saturday Night Live Skits involved Rosanna Rosanna Danna.   She would begin the skit expressing great anger (or at least angst) about some current events issue, but with some clear misunderstanding.  For instance, she once complained about “too much violins on television.”  Then eventually, she understood that she should have said, “too much VIOLENCE” on television.  She usually concluded her false and foolish tirade with a blank look at the camera, and the phrase, “never mind.”

I remembered her this morning.  I received an email asking: “Are we praying too much for education?”  My mind raced through the implications and inferences found in that question.  Can we pray too much for ANYTHING?  Is the question intended to spur us on to ACTION instead of mere prayer?  Should we in fact be starting a revolution AGAINST our present educational system, instead of praying FOR it?  

What did the author mean?

And then I looked more closely… and saw that the email read: “Are we PAYING too much for education?”

Never mind.

But in the end, I had a pleasant few minutes contemplating Prayer and Current Events.  I was challenged to increase my reliance on prayer as powerful.  I was encouraged to pray in faith, rather than knowledge.  I was reminded how often I form opinions before I pray.  I decided that we have many means of ‘praying without ceasing.’

Even my silly misunderstandings can lead to truth…