The Guilt Shelf

     Surprise, surprise…my character suffers from much the same thing as I do and, in one form or another, the musings of this post will find their way into PAR’s story. I must apologize in advance because I don’t see a positive spin to end this with and that disturbs me here during Christmas Week. Perhaps something will occur to me during the writing of this post and another, more appropriate Christmas writing, will make itself evident.

     In my heart and mind there is a shelf upon which I have a variety of guilt and shame; some deserved and some it merely self-published dribble.

Just a peek at part of my shelf...

     Around my house are books from friends and family, books written by friends, recommended by various folks, and purchased by myself. They are in various stages of being read, or not, and they are sitting on my Guilt Shelf. Mixed in with the books are various journals; prayer journals, motorcycle ride journals, writing journals, and journals that have not yet obtained a designation. Some have fairly recent entries while others haven’t had a pen scratch their pages in a number of weeks, maybe even over a year. The journals sit on the Guilt Shelf or are stacked haphazardly on top of the unread books.

     Around and in my house are a number or projects in various stages of incompleteness or merely being contemplated. They are good projects, necessary projects, and some of them would be fun to undertake. They are bookends to the books and journals and are resting upon my Guilt Shelf.

     I have friends to find, contact, communicate with, pray for, and get together with. (Ah! Prepositional ending to a sentence, I think I’ll let it stand.) They are good friends with real prayer needs and they are friends that I really care about and I would just like to see them smile and warm my heart. They sit on my Guilt Shelf with their feet dangling and swinging with my guilt – or they are hanging by their hands like some ‘Hang in there baby’ cat poster.

     I have a mail slot at home with unopened correspondence, some real, most of it junk. I have stacks of bills to pay and notes to cancel things I’m paying for but don’t need. They are stuffed between the pages of the books on my Guilt Shelf.

     I have notes, maps, and research materials strewn about my office waiting to be punched into a manuscript that may or may not be published, worthy or not.

     I cannot possibly get to them all and perhaps the best thing to do is simply pick one up at a time and get to it instead of saying “When I get around to it” but the thing I do is to pick up my smart phone or the TV remote and dull the pain of it all by letting them recede into the shadows of time-wasters. There lies the shame of it all. BTW, I have an actual round ‘To It’ somewhere around here; perhaps I’ll find it some day and this will all be solved.

     The time wasters rarely help. When I turn them off the Guilt Shelf objects are all there, jumping up and down and dancing like a happy dog when its owner returns from the store.

What a quandary, what a downer to lay on all ya’ all. But at least I picked this one off of my Guilt Shelf and got around to it. And, today while I’m excavating the project space in the backyard with my rent-a-kid friends, I’ll pray for you, my friends.

In His grip, jerry

A Gentle Whisper

     A gentle whisper can be heard and a still small voice is calling. Can you hear it? Are you listening?

^“11The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹²After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of                                      the cave.

Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” 1 Kings 19: 11-13 (New International Version)

     The character that I’m writing is struggling to know God’s will in the midst of his bereavement. He’s lost the ability to hear the voice of the Lord and is failing to trust that he ever will again. When I started gathering myself to write this post I thought that I would be writing about the compelling story of Gideon because in the midst of his conundrum my character, PAR, is even considering putting out a fleece or worse yet in his mind, casting lots as the disciples did while choosing Judas’ successor. Both of those methods got results and seem to be acceptable in God’s eyes.

     God loves to communicate with us, wants to communicate His will for us, and is joyful when we grasp it and run with it. I believe in my heart that the better way is to perceive God’s voice rather than play craps with Him, or test Him to show us a miracle fleece. I love the NIV’s translation of it as “a gentle whisper”. The more popular “a still, small voice” as found in the American Standard and King James versions is also a fine thing to hear.

     While digging around this and hearing the gentle whisper urging me to have readers consider His voice I found several other, to me less satisfying, versions; “low whisper”, “soft whisper”, quiet, whispering voice”, and “a gentle blowing”. So many versions out there, so many ways to consider God’s word – how do we really know except by the belief in things unseen, by faith?

     The NRSV translation is a little disturbing to me and one which PAR thinks he is now in the middle of; not being able to hear the voice that he’d come to recognize and base his walk of faith on; “a sound of sheer silence”. How spooky is that? And, how does one translate sheer silence into God’s loving direction?

     This gentle whisper, the still small voice, is something that I covet and strive to hear. I have to chastise myself when I fail to listen and act within a void instead. The Holy Spirit is promised to us to show us all things and make the Father known to us. Could this be the gentle whisper that first came as flaming tongues of fire?

     Listen in the dark of the night as sleep comes to you and the rigors of the day are receding. In the early morning hours before you’ve completely stirred to meet the new day, reach out with your heart to hear what the still small voice is saying, where the gentle voice is leading you.

In His grip, jerry

All That You Are

     This morning I was reminded of a quick transition that I had made a couple of weekends ago during worship. Our youth praise band led our combined service today, our Commitment Sunday with the theme “All In”. They were wonderful and sharing their heart for worship always makes a Sunday morning worship time special for me.

     However, I want to dial back and share my thoughts about the transition I went through during the same song that started off our service this morning. It wasn’t anything major and nor was it a lengthy process, it took the blink of God’s eye and was over and we moved on.

     The last line of “This is Amazing Grace” is “Jesus, I sing for All that You’ve done for me”. My first thought when singing through those words was ‘shouldn’t we be singing for all that He is?’  I shook it off pretty quickly because I was there to glorify God and not to knit-pick; knit-picking being a manifestation of my judgmental heart/spirit. I made it through the rest of the song in good shape just as this morning I rose to the occasion and praised Him.

    The full chorus:

“This is amazing grace

This is unfailing love

That You would take my place

That You would bear my cross

You would lay down Your life

That I would be set free

Jesus, I sing for

All that You’ve done for me”

     Later after that first time through the song as I over analyzed, as I am so likely to do, I did come to an interesting conclusion about this little knit that I had picked. When I thought about it I had to believe that really, Jesus is all He does. He is known as the Prince of Peace because He brings peace. He is the Lamb who was slain because He is. He is known as our Savior because he does and because he made the sacrifice for us. So to sing for all that He’s done for us is just fine because He is all that He’s done and more than we can comprehend.

     Even with this innocent realization I have to take pause. If Jesus is all that He’s done, am I not all that I’ve done and do? Sobering. And therefore if I am of God’s Kingdom, should I not do those things that are found in the Kingdom, and behave as though I am saved? The realization of this gives me leverage. I don’t have to knit-pick because I am His and I can put that judgment aside and move on.

     I love the verse that follows the first chorus:

“Who brings our chaos back into order

Who makes the orphan a son and daughter

The King of Glory, the King above all kings”

In His grip, jerry

Sneaky Freedom

     Liberation has a way of sneaking up on you, even when you don’t particularly deserve it. Freedom’s agents appear in disguise – in persons and things that we might not suspect – and do their work on our hearts with a laser surgeon’s skill. We must be vigilant against their schemes lest we let loose of our favorite binding chains.

     Take today for instance, I’d had a long day of riding and walking before heading down to the bi-annual Phantom of the Auction, our church’s biggest fundraising night for our youth groups. I was somewhat determined to go down, bid on a few silent auction items, and finish the evening in the back of the courtyard during the live auction, arms crossed and checkbook firmly in my back pocket. My release from the comfortable bondage of some long-held bitterness actually began in my own home and by my own daughter; how could she do that to me? A few words, a little hug, and liberation began to seep in. Then when we got down there and I saw all the work some loving people had done on the behalf of the children I needed to wrap the chains a little tighter for fear of losing them all together. The breaker though were the kids themselves. Jr. High and High School kids wandered around, smiles on their faces while they carried around trays of goodies while they watched as tens of tens of adults meandered around the floor like a stream though a meadow while opening their purses and taking out their wallets. The ones not loaded down with trays hugged me.

     Those little varmints were infectious. Soon, a significant link of my favorite chain fell away. When I looked into the outbox of my soul I saw that the chain link was moldy and my nose wrinkled up at the stench; I knew that it was of my own doing. I left it in the outbox and as I did a couple of recent decisions that I’d made seemed more right than ever. I felt lighthearted for the rest of the night and a joy that I recognized took the place of my old familiar bonds.

     I shouldn’t really hold the church kids or the loving adults at the auction completely to blame for this, not really even my own wife and kids. I set myself up really. The night before I’d written a scene in my story that was an outtake from my own life; that very first Mission Arizona for me where a bunch of Junior High kids and advisors healed me of a long standing and deeply rooted bitterness towards God. I began seeing a certain grudge I’d been holding onto was poisoning me, making me far less the man God wants of me. I followed that late night’s writing with a day spent with riding friends at the motorcycle show; their camaraderie was infectious; the writing and the companionship hastened the rusting out of the crucial link of chain.

     It has amazed me how liberating it is to have a revelation of my own culpability in the bondage of my spirit. I feel sheepish and glad-hearted all at the same time.

     Resistance to the forces of freedom is foolish, they can sneak up on you when you least expect it. Don’t fight it; embrace it and get on with living.

In His grip, jerry

Time Out!

Revelation 7: 1-3 “¹After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or sea or against any tree. ²I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, ³saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads” (NRSV)

It’s World Series time, how can I not have a baseball analogy?: Vin Scully is calling the action (who else is worthy to call a game like this?), “The stage is set, six of the seven seals are opened, four angels (umpires) are holding back the four winds of the earth and with the power to damage the earth, sea and trees, and they are poised and ready to proceed. The pitching coach exits the dugout and calls time out to approach the mound while the catcher jogs out to listen in. The home-plate umpire follows out and has the other three meet at the mound.” The pitching coach speaks “The bases are loaded and ready to cause havoc, the enemy has sent their steroidal power-hitter to the plate. Things are ready to break loose. The Manager has sent me out. Things are going to get hairy and you umpires need to keep things cool for a bit. We are going to make sure all the players are identified so that none are lost in the scuffle. Wait until the uniforms for each and every player is in place.”  (Rev 7: 1-8)

Vinnie sits back and scans the crowd, “This is surely the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen. People have packed the house from all around; the rich, the poor, every color, shape, and size of person is here. Not one socio-economic, ethnic, or fraternity/sorority was missing. They are standing and cheering every move and it must be wear-white day, I have to squint with the reflection of the Son off of the crowd. As the Manager comes up the dugout steps they cheer even louder and all the concessionaires joined in, just listen to them.” And Vinnie lets the microphone pick up the noise for a bit, then he continues, “The Manager looks over to the Owner’s box and takes a cue. This is no regular owner, this is the biggest peoples-Owner around and the crowd is going crazy with love for the owner as He acknowledged the Manager.” (Rev 7: 9-12)

Then the team marketing director, in the booth with Vin Scully, comments to him, “What a crowd! They came from the mean-streets, fought their way to the gates, and endured the heckling from all of the other teams to get into the park. The Owner has made some big promises to the people and all of the players; He will be in the crowd every day, the food concessions will never be closed, all manner of drink will be available, the sunshade will be in place and they will not be sunburnt, and the Manager will lead them all; fans, players, umpires, and all the helpers in the stadium.” (Rev 7: 13-17)

My take on this; what does it all mean? In a general sense Revelation Seven tells us that there is trouble in all the earth and it could, and will, get much worse. This is no surprise to anyone who sees or hears any news report. The chapter tells us that God knows His own and will put his mark on each one. Some will suffer much but all will be ushered into the throne room and be in his presence and will want for nothing any more.

Now that you’ve read this I suggest that you read the actual chapter in your Bible and make sure that you are part of the great multitude if not an actual player on the field.

In His grip, jerry

The Seals Are Open - Revelation 6

Matthew 24: 36 “³⁶But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, buy only the Father.”

This Sunday past, following communion, we sang the praise song “Bones” and after the words were done the band played on. The Lamb as if it had been slaughtered came to my mind so I closed my eyes and let my thoughts kneel. I could picture the four living creatures and the 24 elders having tossed their crowns at the feet of the Lamb and we all worshipped – an unexpected benefit from study.

Up on the stage there were more pros than ams and it did my heart good to see Y on the bass guitar.

Where do I go from the first five chapters of Revelation that gave me such a wonderful view of worship and adoration that inspired such a pleasant worship time? And, why would I predicate my thoughts on a chapter of Revelation with a quote of Jesus from the book of Matthew?

First, the second question; it seems to me that there a lot of people who scour the bible to predict the Christ’s coming in judgment (so they can stop sinning at just the right moment and go to heaven?), particularly the book of Revelation. Jesus himself tells us that even he doesn’t know, only the Father knows and the timing will be to suit his purpose and timing. The opening of the fifth seal (Rev 6: 9-11) reiterates this when the martyrs cry out for justice and are “^11btold to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow servants and of their brothers and sisters, who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed.” Eerie in the face of what’s going on at the hands of ISIS, in Africa, and other hotspots around the globe. They are given white robes and protected in the throne room and under the altar where their faithfulness is as worship to God. Even with the graphic evidence of continued martyrdom it is folly to read into this a day and time for Christ’s triumphant return. We are each to be prepared and to remain faithful.

The first question? Well, I guess I’ve already started down the path with my answer to the second question. Chapter Six has John witnessing the opening of the first six seals. The opening of one through four unleashing four horsemen bringing about earthly events; conquering wars, civil war, famine, and death. These are nothing new to world history; on our globe, they have been going on since the writing of the Book of Revelation through now and the foreseeable future. The fifth and sixth seals speak of cosmic events on a scale that drive us to suicidal thoughts, for the rich and powerful and the lowly and meek alike. I don’t see anywhere here where Christians are to be lifted out of harm’s way and into the clouds. We must be prepared and remain faithful.

Does it feel like these events, the conflicts of man in particular, are accelerating? Could it be that the news of these conflicts is reaching us faster than ever before and more graphically, less filtered? Each generation from John’s published revelation to now have felt that surely this is the time and that events can’t get any worse and that Jesus will be in the next cloud. Even in our insulated America there is a sense of dread underlying our prosperity as we seek to keep the terror at bay while internally we are fragmented by fervency dividing our purpose and people on both sides of every issue cry out for justice and stand firm in their intolerance.

What else is there but for us to prepare ourselves, rest a little longer, and be faithful servants? Rev 6 11a: “They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer,” Enjoy a Sabbath rest in the Lord.

In His grip, jerry

Brouhaha - Revelation Chapter 5

Revelation 5: 2 “²and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?’”

This week’s L.A. Times Sunday Crossword has a clue “Brouhaha” and I’ve discussed it with my friend Webster; he tells me it means “great excitement or concern about something”. Until then I thought it was the technical term for when the benches cleared in a ball game after the star was beaned. How does this relate to Revelation Chapter 5? Well, there’s a lot of excitement and concern going on here.

John sees God with a scroll in hand, written on both sides, with seven seals, perfectly sealed. When the angel asks who is worthy it turns out that no one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth is worthy and this causes John great concern. I would have been filled with concern too except we have an advantage over John; he is experiencing this in real time with all the emotions that come with it while we can read ahead and so I did. We are not to weep; the Lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy and He appears here as a Lamb as though it had been slain, the perfect sacrifice that is able to open the scroll.

The scroll was written on the inside and the back, both sides hold information. Normally scrolls are written only on the inside unless there is just too much for one side to hold. What is this scroll, so packed with information and sealed so that only the Lord Himself can open it? Godly words to live by, wisdom of the ages, a list of names? We’ll likely find out in later chapters but suffice it to say that it is a document worthy of a brouhaha on several levels.

Revelation 5: 8-9a “⁸When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ^9aThey sing a new song:”

What I find interesting here, beyond the fact that they worship at every action, is that our prayers fill the golden bowls that the elders hold in the throne room. Every time that we pray it rises as incense to the Father and they empower the elders to sing a new song to the Lamb Who is Worthy.

Revelation 5: 11-12a “¹¹Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ^12asinging with full voice,”

Sounds a bit like a child’s retort “infinity times infinity”. The being in heaven and on the earth on uncounted…and they all worship.

Revelation 5: 13 “¹³Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

Everywhere John looked he saw bunches of creatures and heard them all extolling the power and grace of our Living God. It was a regular brouhaha, excitement all over the place for the One Who is Worthy had the scroll in hand, none of the seals where opened yet and there was a din of anticipation. Jesus is opening the seals and through the Holy Spirit we will know what the scroll has to say.

Revelation 5: 14 “¹⁴And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.”

Let’s fill the golden bowls in the throne room with our prayers for the saints, prayers of adoration, and prayers of repentance; the Lord’s Prayer over and over again until it is written on our hearts, inside and on the back, just as the words of the scroll.

In His grip, jerry

After This I Looked...

Revelation 4: 1-2a “¹After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. ^2a At once I was in the spirit,”

Earlier this week I took one of those silly Facebook quizzes, this one to tell me what my greatest fear is by having me simply choose various photos in answer to certain prompts, one prompt that only said to pick a photo, any photo (I chose the bear and have no idea how this affected the outcome). The answer was shocking and has shaken me up. It hit so true to me that I have been reeling from it and I’m still not certain that I am firmly on my feet about it. The answer? “You fear letting yourself down more than anything.” Closely related for me is the fear of failure. I have an active imagination and often picture grand results from endeavors, not unlike the endeavor to write. I fear failure and letting myself down so much that I often torpedo my own efforts to the point where I often don’t start or start so late that it’s doomed to fail but I have at least given myself an excuse for it that deflects from the probability that I was just not good enough. And at this insight I thought “this boy is really messed up, seriously messed up, and needs professional help.”

How does this relate to the book of Revelation and my study of it? Well, I haven’t cracked the book in several days and that’s no way to complete a study. God help me.

This is a Wednesday morning and I’ve just returned from the Men’s Prayer meeting that I haven’t gone to in months. I went this morning upon request to receive prayer for my upcoming school year of mentoring my little guy, Taylor. I’ll be going regularly to meet afterward with my Kids’ Hope prayer partner. On this morning we were lead into three times of quiet reflection, what I call waiting on the Lord. I can’t go into His presence without repentance and so I first repented of being thrown off-base by my personal revelation and the response was, “git back to it!” He can be so down-home sometimes.

Chapter 4 is all about John’s vision of the heavenly throne, the bejeweled God, throne, floor, and the inclusion of a lot of creatures plus the 24 elders on their thrones. The four creatures sing without ceasing Rev 4: 8b “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” And the 24 elders cast their crowns before the throne and sing “¹¹You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Simple Throne

I am a simple man with a simple mind and, hopefully, a simple spirit so I won’t go into all the symbolism that is in this chapter, nor am I likely to dwell on it for any other chapter; maybe I’ll use a post just on that but it will surely need some study. For me, this chapter, Revelation 4, is all about God being worshipped. The fact that John is in the Spirit for this is no coincidence. In the Gospel of John, chapter 4 Jesus tells us straight out that true worshipers will worship in spirit and in truth and that the Father is seeking those who do so. This was no parable, it was plain speaking to plain folk like us. The 24 elders abandoned their crowns and thrones and simply adored God and gave honor. I love it when I am going through the day, nothing special or maybe so, but just going along and then I pause and realize that I had been in worship. Those times are…few…and…far…between. I hope to connect the dots.

In His grip, jerry

He Said What?

Revelation 2: 1 “These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.”

The Revelation of John, chapters 2 and 3 are letters to the Seven Churches of Asia which are wholly in red in my Red-letter Bible and attributed directly to Jesus. This is disconcerting since there are a lot of “repent or” references such as being spewed out of His mouth, having Jesus make war with the Sword of His mouth, killing the children of fornication with Jezebel, a follower of the Nicolaitans, he will come like a thief – and you know what that means –, and a couple of references to having our lampstand removed. These are judgments that we don’t often consider as we are more focused on the grace of the Gospel. I vote for keeping my lampstand in His presence.

During any study I have to be careful of getting carried away with lingology, the study of special language used for a particular activity or by a particular group of people. This is a sound word based on my friend Webster’s definition of lingo and my making a study of it. I’ve so far relied on Webster, my The Oxford Campion to the Bible (a gift to me many years ago from my mother-in-law Janet, God bless her!), and internet searches, an admittedly sketchy source to be used with a grain of salt.

There are a couple of warning references to the Nicolaitans and following their teachings that encouraged people to eat meat sacrificed to idols and that it was okay to commit fornication so I focused on them. From my resources (internet search to WordofTruthRadio.com and A-voice.com) it appears that this is a gnostic sect whose doctrine appears to have been a form of Antinomianism. That’s a word that I dug into and it makes me shiver. Paraphrased from Webster and the two internet sources this is a belief that is based upon a recognition of the mercy of God as the ground of salvation, good so far but it makes the fatal assumption that man can freely partake in sin because the Law of God is no longer binding. Confirming John’s revelation Paul, chastised the Corinthians for such behavior as well.

We have little chance in the US of eating food sacrificed to idols although I wondered at all the deep-fried sacrifices made at fairs across the nation as we walked through the LA County Fair last weekend. While this is true on a physical layer, we serve a God who is searching for worshipers in spirit and truth and so we must be looking at the things sacrificed to idols on a spiritual plane. Of particular concern to me are the sacrifices being made to the idols of public opinion and popularism. I’m for letting the earthly government legislate to worldly standards while the churches should govern themselves via the Gospel. We should concentrate on the two commandments Jesus underlined for us; love the Lord our God with our whole hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves. Against these there is no law. It is a fine line that we need to walk between loving the sinner and hating the sin, welcoming the needy while rejecting sinful actions.

I want my lampstand in His presence and to do so I must reject the compromise and avoid the consumption of sacrifices made to the popular view while being committed to loving my God and neighbor.

In His grip, jerry

Revelation? Who, Me?

This Sunday I was told to read Revelation. So the first thing I did was to consult with my friend Webster and he gave me several definitions:

1a: an act of revealing or communicating divine truth b: something that is revealed by God to humans

2a: an act of revealing to view or making known b: something that is revealed; especially: an enlightening or astonishing disclosure <shocking revelations> c: a pleasant often enlightening surprise <her talent was a revelation>

An interesting range from “revealing divine truth” to “an enlightening surprise”. For our purposes lets us use 1a and b; fair enough?

The Revelation to John, as the book is formally titled in my copy of the New Revised Standard Version Bible, is a letter written to the seven churches that are in Asia (Rev 1.4). This is serious business for a layman like me to consider and I will seek out a proper reference guide. During times like this, and there has always been times like these, it seems important to me to really understand the revelation, what it is and what I am to do with it. As an American believer in Christ it has been easy for me to become complacent in my faith and it seems that it will somehow be stirred during this reading and study. It is easy to achieve complacency in this country where the persecution of our faith is on a psychic (read psychological) and emotional plane while our brothers and sisters in other countries face death and torture for their beliefs. The opening explanations in this little NRSV study bible tell us that this book was written to encourage the faithful “to resist staunchly the demands that they worship the emperor” and in the face of growing persecutions.

I think that I will choose times to read sections aloud as encouraged in Rev 1.3: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.” I can use the blessing, who couldn’t? Especially with the time being near.

I’m a little nervous about this directive as I have a lot of reading and writing on my desk at the moment, stuff that I feel the Lord wants me to be doing, and to have a fresh review of Revelation could change the way I view these things and go about them. Maybe?

My prayer is this: May God grant me the grace and covering to accept a deeper revelation of Jesus Christ and the strength to act upon it and respond as Isaiah did with a resounding “Here am I, send me”. May God grant you the same grace and covering in leading you to a fresh discovery.

In His grip, jerry

Wait for iiit...

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” Isaiah 30: 18

How do we get to the point where “He Leadeth Me” is a reality? This will sound simple enough but I find it personally to be a gargantuan task; running up to the top of Canyonside Road on my old and rickety knees sounds easier and more enjoyable – after all, surrender to another’s will is not a native part of my being. We must though, if we want God leading us, we must pray, listen, wait, and after that follow. It requires that we surrender our comfort; didn’t Jesus tell us that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head and so that if we follow him it will be thus for us.

For this post I reviewed two sources; “Celebration of Discipline” by Richard J. Foster and “The First Principles” by the late John Robert Stevens. These are/where two godly and spiritual men who, typical of me, I have not grasped the complete depth of their teaching nor followed completely the maps that they’ve laid out. My lack of discipline is sometimes appalling to me; then I run with it for a while, make progress, and then let up. Time for me to wind it up and make another run.

In his lesson “Waiting on the Lord”, John Robert Stevens defines this as “active faith which seeks direction and revelation and sustenance from the Lord that His life and will might be manifested in us. It means renouncing of our wills and decisions to wait for the revelation of His will in our lives.”

I recommend reading Isaiah 30: 15-21, for now here is verse 21: “And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’”

After laying out several biblical examples Richard J. Foster, in his chapter on The Discipline of Meditation, tells us this about meditation: “This, in brief, forms the biblical foundation for meditation, and the wonderful news is that Jesus has not stopped acting and speaking. He is resurrected and at work in our world. He is not idle, nor has he developed laryngitis. His alive and among us as our Priest to forgive us, our Prophet to teach us, our King to rule us, our Shepherd to guide us.” Also in the chapter Foster cites Dietrich Bonheoffer when asked why he meditated, Bonheoffer replied “Because I am a Christian.”

The prayer for us as seekers, and we all should be whether we are firmly ensconced in a worshiping church or on the road to one, is this: We surrender all. We wait for your word as the watchman waits for the dawn. We know from where our help comes from, it comes from the Lord. Wherever you lead, we will follow, first and always to the foot of the cross, and then? Wherever, whenever… We know you are speaking to us, let us hear your word. We know you are leading us, let us see the path. In all things, let us see your hand.

In His grip, jerry

He Leadeth Me

He Leadeth Me

“But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose.” 1 Corinthians 12: 18

With some sadness and brokenness, a note to my friends in transition: I see that there are too many friends who now find themselves looking for a new home church. None of them that I know of would proclaim “God is leading me to my next scene, a new chapter in my walk with Him. I’m so excited!” Most are leaving with some disillusionment over the policies and politics, or personal hurt in what they now see as their former church. They are wounded travelers along an unmarked pathway, searchers for a house of worship, not unlike the men on the road to Emmaus, talking about all the things that had gone on, disillusioned, empty, and so hurt they did not recognize Jesus walking with them.

For you who find yourselves as such travelers I pray that you find Jesus walking by your side, that you see him and recognize him for who He is. I pray that the Holy Spirit will make clear to you where you are to go, how you are to worship, and how you will serve, and to make it clear to you how loved you are by God and your friends.

I woke up this morning with the great hymn “He Leadeth Me” on my heart and pray that you will be able to sing and pray this for yourselves:

He leadeth me, O blessed thought!
O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!
Whate’er I do, where’er I be
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

Refrain:
He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful foll’wer I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.

Sometimes ’mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
By waters still, o’er troubled sea,
Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.

Lord, I would place my hand in Thine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.

And when my task on earth is done,
When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won,
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
Since God through Jordan leadeth me.

In His grip, jerry

VBS 2014 - Day 5

Friday – Wrap it Up

“Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:7-8

It has been a long time between posts, especially considering that I put up the first four VBS posts the each evening of the day covered. I struggled to find a way wrap up a jam packed week of activity, blessings, and insights. It still amazes me that so much happened over a relatively small amount of time – three hours a day for five days sandwiched between some set up and clean up, spiced up with some daily preparation along with our double helping of fun at the Thursday evening Luau. And life has a way of invading the best of intensions, busy with daily activities, household projects, visits, another trip with family… And I struggled with telling more of the story without embarrassing great people with accolades they would just as soon not have broadcast for serving faithfully a God that rewards in many wonderful ways.

I’ll try to put a bow on the week just the same:

During our first session in the sanctuary our intrepid director, Ashley Pollock, shared one of the mission objectives for the week which was to collect donations to be used to buy water filters for families in the poorest parts of the world so that they could have clean water for drinking and cooking. I may be off on the numbers but I’ll be pretty close with this; we wanted to raise enough for 15 filters at $80 each so we needed $1200 for the week. Ashley laid out the challenge and promised to dye her hair blue and eat algae if we made it. She also demonstrated the efficiency of the filters that first day by pouring in some disgusting looking liquid and drinking it after passing through the system. It’s a very simple device; pour dirty water into the 5 gallon (approximately) bucket and steady drip out clean drinking water. One device will provide many years of good water.

Ashley's Algae Snack

All week we had been having great fun learning about Jesus’ incredible love for us and what love really is. Each day we were also updated on the fundraising and on this last day during our last corporate time in the sanctuary Ashley gave out the results and punctuated them by shaking out her blue locks of hair and eating algae to the great cheers, with a more than a few groans, of the crowd. We beat the goal by several hundred dollars which meant several more families will drink clean water. Love is generous and never fails.

VBS was an experience well worth the time and effort for reasons I’ve covered and some that I haven’t. Each of us walked away with something very personal, something individual, and when added together gives life to the assemblage. I imagine that, like my service to Mission Arizona, I’ll be on a year-to-year contract as the Spirit leads. I recommend that if you are even somewhat interested that you set aside the time and dive right in. There’s a place for you on Son Treasure Island.

Short video of one of our songs on the last VBS day together:

In His grip, jerry

VBS 2014 - Day 4

Thursday – The Longest Day

“Love is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:5-6

There is something about a Thursday for any week-long event that tasks the humaneness of people. We’ve gotten over the midweek hump-day and then seem to run into a wall when there are significant tasks yet to complete. In the phone company we called it Critical Thursday when certain energies (focus and excitement at getting to the task) that ran high on Monday and certain capabilities (shortness of temper and, let’s call it, even-keeledness) were well in check on Monday ran low and bubbled to the surface respectively on Thursday thus crossing at a critical point. It seemed like anything could happen to derail the project altogether.

For our VBS kids this seemed to mean that they needed to get in every second of fun and frolicking with friends, especially those that would leave early for vacations and be absent on Friday. We knuckled down and had a meaningful time talking about God’s love being forgiving. Nobody yelled (thank you God) and nobody got seriously hurt even though I did give pour little Peter quite a bonk on the noggin’ during the last song as we let our acting get the better of us; he jumped when I pumped and, BONK!

That was half our day as Thursday evening was the luau. I’m sure Ashley and key people didn’t break at all while other officially listed volunteers started back at 4:45 p.m. to set up tables, chairs, food stations, and barbeque chicken and hotdogs not to mention other food preparations and setting up part of Koopman’s Hall for an exotic animal show. We had 34 listed volunteers and countless others who just pitched in because that’s the way they roll. Several schlepped buckets of water to prime the pool for the giant water slides in the parking lot, others made snow cones, and did face painting, a limbo contest, and I’m sure I missed something with 300+ people filling the courtyard for dinner and activities that whirled around non-stop until well after 8 p.m. and then beyond for the cleanup. 

Peter showed up and there was no giant lump on his head and he seemed no worse for feeling an experienced elbow; I showed him the scar left on the same elbow from Mike Marsh when I broke the tooth next to the one Keith (Jamal) Wilkes knocked when USC played the Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabar) led UCLA Bruins. Peter didn’t seem to get what rarified company he was keeping along with my elbow; guess I missed that one by several generations. Peter went on the enjoy the bounce house and water slides...

All in all, a very satisfying day of seeing God’s forgiving love all around and winning out over Critical Thursday.

In His grip, jerry

 

The Courtyard Luau

Koopman's Hall Animal Show

Parking Lot Water Slides

VBS 2014 - Day 3

Thar be guides here mate

“Love is not rude, it is not self-seeking.” 1 Corinthians 13:5

Our story tellers recounted Jesus and the Woman at the Well. The main idea for the day was that God’s love is for everyone and He/we demonstrate that love by caring. Jesus cared for the Samaritan woman regardless of who she was (a person that the Jews didn’t associate with) and regardless of what she’d done (lots of bad things).  He offered her Living Water and she came to believe and because of her testimony so did many in the village. 

Our activities were all water based experiments; Cartesian Diver (modified by our Doug Given), Hurricane in a Bottle, Sink or Swim, and the Salty Volcano. They were all fun – even those that didn’t quite do something spectacular captivated us for a little while. The kids learned about the importance of good water to drink and how our VBS is raising funds for 15 family-sized water filters and how that all fits with our caring and sharing the Living Water on practical levels.

Each of our three groups of third graders has a guide and we have one craft helper as well; let’s call her the craft guide. The guides move about the campus ensuring that each child gets where they need to be, works with them in crafts, listens with them during story time, and plays or experiments with them during our activities. I have to admit a that I’m a little envious of the concentrated time that they spend with the smaller groups, getting to know them and forging bonds that allow for a long lasting relationship. They see the kids at their best and worst during the week and care for them all the same. I’m also somewhat in awe of them as they give of their precious time between school years and some between schools as they march along to college.

 

Most excellent guides!

I appreciate our four; Tala, Talin, Kristy, and Delaney. They shepherd their little groups in and help me complete our activities, showing us all His love in the process. I love these young ladies and all of the other guides - they make my day.

In His grip, jerry

VBS 2014 - Day 2

An Extra Serving of Kindness Please

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” 1 Corinthians 13:4

Kindness and patience were today’s key words in our theme and of course I was struck with my lack thereof while driving to the church for VBS.

Each age group has three centers; Story Telling, Crafts, and Theme Activities, each supporting the daily theme and overall goal of the VBS and I am the theme leader. In keeping with the Son Treasure Island motif we did a tropical fruit blind-taste test and then shared the remaining fruit following our kindness discussion with sharing being the evidence of kindness just as Jesus shares His love and gave His life for us.

My observations from today’s activities are that when it comes to sharing bananas are difficult and papayas are a simple thing. Tomorrow I intend to seek out and observe acts of kindness in the midst of the flurry of activity.

God grant us the determination to share our favorite things along with those things we can easily live without. Grant me the serenity on the road to not make others the objects of distain but to pray for their safety.

 

The main stage - Ashley and her backup group

In His grip, jerry

VBS 2014 Day 1

Son Treasure Island – LCPC Style

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” 1 John 4:9

My first Vacation Bible School (VBS) day ever, as far as I can remember, was filled with 300 or so K – 6^th grade kids, 70 adult and student leaders, and one very important God of All Creation working in our midst. If asked I would have said my expectation was that I would somehow slog through the first day as a 3^rd Grade Theme Leader without having stuffed one of the kids into one of the available duffle bags that I’d used to bring in room decorations. The truth is that I expected God to meet me in some way during the week; let’s consider that done and now I have to revise my true expectation to meet Him in some way each day. Somehow I don’t think He will mind the revision considering that was probably His intention from the beginning.

Age groups from less than 10 through every decade into the 80s were represented and I’ll admit that a spry 90 year old may have slipped in without me being aware, you know how they are. I did not see one instance of anyone looking at another older or younger person thinking “they just don’t get me” or “I just don’t get them”. It was a wonderful day of seeing God’s people work in harmony.

3rd Grade Theme Room (the good raft)

I got there early to make sure my room and I were ready for the day. I found one of my rafts nearly deflated but that worked nicely into the activity theme of being wrecked on a deserted island and I merely pointed to it as our transportation for our three-hour tour. I was touched by the Lord in a couple of ways today as I saw our scripture for the day in action. What I saw was the Son working through the people to minister to the children; it was in the leaders’ expressions as they finished room preparations, checked the kids in at registration, talked with them, laughed with them, and simply loved them. Of particular meaning to me was watching and working with MAZ (Mission Arizona) alumni at work – adults, young adults, and secondary school students. There is something special in witnessing the people whom I’ve worked with side-by-side in service as their growth in the Lord continues and expands. The day was punctuated after we were dismissed and I got an unexpected Jer-bear hug from several of the third grade girls as they improvised their own treasure hunt while waiting for their parents.

Seeds were planted in every room and during every activity and actually watered on the basketball court.

In His grip, jerry