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