Let the Good Times Roll....

   We are leaving in the morning for a few days in Tennessee with our family. All the kids and grand kids will be there and we look forward to being with them all.

   I know it is hard sometimes to schedule something that everyone can attend, especially with the schedules they keep these days. It is not hard for us, but sometimes they have to shoe horn it in to make it work. We always appreciate the fact that they make the effort. Since we live so far apart, it takes some major driving for most everyone to get to a central location.

   I hear stories of families who get together often, and I think how great that would be. Families who live in close proximity to each other seem other worldly to me. It almost seems like a fairy tale existence, but I bet there are some downsides to that scenario as well.

   We have what we have. Our kids were raised to be independent of their parents, and they are. If that means that we can't all get together often, that is a small price to pay for the blessings that God has showered on each family, and He has done just that.

   We have fun while we are together, and this next week will be full of that. We will enjoy each other for that short time and look forward to the next one in the future.We will have lots of "remember when we..."times and probably make some new ones.

   Families doing things together and liking it. That is what it is all about. Let the good times roll.

Cynical Disillusionment

   A neat thing happened to us here this past week. Several weeks ago we got one of those letters that we all dread from the IRS. They said that, based on our 2009 tax return, and the way it was reported, we still owed a few thousand dollars. If we had any other information to give them that would challenge this ruling (probably by a computer not a person), please send it in, which we did. So this week we got another letter saying that, based on the new information that we supplied, there was no new tax owed. The letter even thanked us for providing this so they could clear it up.

   Now when I got the first letter, and even as I sent the new info back to them, I was a little cynical. Sure, I said, they will still try to get some blood out of this turnip, and we will have to fight with them again and again. I tend to go back to that old phrase that describes relationship with people from Washington, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you".

   Chambers describes the relationship Jesus had with people with this: "Our Lord trusted no man, yet He was never suspicious, never bitter."

   People we trust that disappoint us can make us cynical. We can decide never to trust anyone, but it is hard to live that way. We want to see the best in others, and can be disillusioned over and over again.

   Jesus knew the heart of mankind. He knew what was in man's nature and what things he stored in his heart. He knew us and still loved us. Only he could do that.

   I am apt to give up on people, to say that they will never change, so I will just let them go. That is not Jesus' way. I also want to trust people in life's situations, trust in the fact that they will indeed do what they say, but I also go by the rule "that you can disappoint me once, shame on you, disappoint me twice, shame on me".

   The only Person I can fully trust is Jesus, but I can't let disillusionment with others make me so cynical that I am no good to anyone. I don't really want to be an old man, but I sure don't want to be a bitter old man.

   God help me to keep my trust where is belongs.

"Doing Nature"

   It is funny how my mind works some days. I woke up this morning, knowing that I did not have much time to study and write, thinking of what my wife's flying instructor used to say when flying would interfere with his "religious schedule". When she would ask him to fly with her on some trip that particular day, he would always say it would be OK, that he would just "do nature" that day instead of going to church.

   I guess I could say the same thing today, since playing golf could surely qualify as doing nature. I can always meditate on God while I am in the midst of nature. If it were not for the frustrations of my game, that fact might even have a true ring to it.

   But, alas, time slips away, and even as I read Oswald today, I realize that I cannot do justice to what he wants to tell me. I just say that God understands and that I will just "do nature" today and all will be OK.

Really?

Chagrin and Realization

   I got up this morning wondering how I would admit that I had not done yesterday what I proposed. My intention after I wrote that I needed to go back and see what God was telling me through the first 142 of the journals I had written in this quest for a Word from Him, was to do just that. It seemed to me at the time, that I could skim them and pick out the theme, write it down, and then move on to the next.

   But it did not work out quite that way. I found myself going deeper into each one and seeing if the idea had really impacted my life since I penned it. By the end of an hour or so, I had only gone back through 23 of them. That was enough to realize a trend of sorts, but not my stated purpose and my goal.

   So, feeling a bit chagrined this morning, I read what Oswald had to say. Here is one quote I picked out of the reading today:

   "God's training is for now, not presently. His purpose is for this minute, not for something in the future. We have nothing to do with the afterwards of obedience; we get wrong when we think of the afterwards. What men call training and preparation, God calls the end."

   Obedience is the process, not the end result. Could that mean that I am OK in not getting to the end of the journals yesterday, but that God is training me in the process?

   A verse from Isaiah comes to mind: "My plans are not like your plans". (Isaiah 55:8)

   My plan was to read through them all, get a summary statement written, and then move on. I don't really know what God's plan is in this, but I sense that I should continue to read and see.

   Another thought from Chambers today: "We have an idea that God is leading us to a particular end, a desired goal; He is not. The question of getting to a particular end is a mere incident. What we call the process, God calls the end."

    OK back to the old journals. I'll pray for His leadership each day and leave the results up to Him. Maybe that is a goal after all.

A Time for Inventory

   As I looked at what Chambers has to say today, I thought about how many of these journal entries I had posted to my blog since its inception. I look back and find that this will be number 142. My purpose was to use the writings of Oswald Chambers, and the Scriptures he quotes, to frame my meditations of that particular day.

   Not always, but most of the time these periods of study have shown me an area of my life that is in need of repair or change. So I have confessed my shortcomings and written them in the journal. Behind each posting is a desire to follow what God has pointed out to me through the exercise.

   Chambers says today:

   "The golden rule for understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience. If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide; but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience. If things are dark to me, then I may be sure there is something I will not do. Intellectual darkness comes through ignorance; spiritual darkness comes because of something I do not intend to obey."

   I find it fairly easy to see where I fall short, and I resolve to do better. I ask for God's help in obedience, but then what? Do I quit with the writing exercise, or do I actually obey what God has said? Is it easier to confess and write it down for others to see than it is to actually do it? Confession is good for the soul, I know, but is it enough?

   Obedience is more than confession and acknowledgment, it is living it out in daily life. The question is; does it change the way I live? Can I look back to February and see where I have lived out what has been revealed to me?

   I really hate to do it, but I need to go back through all these postings and see what God has said. Perhaps this inventory can answer some of my questions. Maybe writing it all down will have served a useful purpose after all.

   Tune in tomorrow.....

Innocent Ignorance

   Chambers talked about the Beatitudes yesterday and I spent some time just thinking about being pure of heart and what that might mean. Then today he comes back with more of the same with a different twist.

   He uses Matthew 15:18-19 for his text, and that talks about the detestable things that come out of our hearts: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

   Then he writes: "We begin by trusting our ignorance and calling it innocence, by trusting our innocence and calling it purity; and when we hear these rugged statements of Our Lord's, we shrink and say - But I never felt any of those awful things in my heart. We resent what Jesus Christ reveals. Either Jesus Christ is the supreme Authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to. Am I prepared to trust His penetration, or do I prefer to trust my innocent ignorance?"

   If I go deep down, I know what my heart is capable of, but I would rather trust my innocent ignorance. I like that phrase, it has a certain ring to it, that if I am not aware of the truth, it will not have any call on my living.

   I say I am not so bad, really. If I use the right person as my example, I can even look pretty good. But Jesus is not into comparisons among ourselves, He says that no one is exempt from this heart condition.

   There is only one way out of this ignorance and that is through redemption and the Holy Spirit's indwelling presence. Only through an acceptance of what Jesus tells me about my heart, can it be transformed.

   It is easy to say that I want to trust Jesus' penetrating truth, but I know that my innocent ignorance is sure tempting.

   Help today begins with a capital H.

Is Gratitude Enough?

   When I think about being blessed my mind goes this way:

   I am blessed with good health.
   I am blessed with good kids.
   I am blessed with plenty of stuff.
   I am blessed to live where I do.
   I am blessed, etc .......

   I acknowledge that all that I have in this way comes from the hand of God. I am grateful to be in this position of being blessed by Him.

   When I read through the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, I think that they sound good, but they must apply to someone else in another time and place. I am not in mourning right now, but if I were, God would bless me in that. I do not feel poor in spirit, but if I did, God could bless me there too. I am not being persecuted, but God could take care of me in that.

   Maybe I am meek, but I doubt it. Maybe I could be merciful, but a lot of the time I am not. Perhaps I could be a peacemaker, but maybe I don't choose to be.

   All of these "blesseds" come from God, both the kinds that I ordinarily think of when I hear the word, and the ones that I ponder on when I read Matthew 5.

   The Beatitudes are not a set of rules and regulations. They are not simple platitudes that can apply to the "by and by". They are Jesus' words to live by right now. Do I really want to understand their full meaning, or do I just want to be grateful for those things that I can see, feel and touch.

   Gratitude is good, but there is more, much more.....

   Now if God will help me to "hunger and thirst after righteousness" perhaps I could understand more of the real meaning.

All I really need is Help..

   "Jesus says - If you are My disciple you must be right not only in your living, but in your motives, in your dreams, in the recesses of your mind." (Oswald Chambers)

   In other words, a true disciple is right in all of his life, not just the outward manifestations, but in the inner man, the motives and dreams. I have the tendency to want to look good on the outside, where people can see how good I am, but not let anyone into the recesses of my mind and heart. So much of what I do is downgraded by the motive behind the action.

   I thought about this as a scripture was put on the screen in our morning service today.

   1. So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:1-2..The Message)

   My ordinary, everyday life..all I do is put on the line. I give up my "rights" and live for Christ alone.

   One of the keys, as this version put it is "with God's help". I cannot do any of that on my own, as much as I want to. Me thinks that is why my constant prayer is "Help".

   As it has been in the past, so is it today.

Boasting

   1 Corinthians 1:30-31

   30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. (ESV)

   The dictionary defines the word sanctify as to set apart or declare as holy. I do not do the sanctifying, it is God. There is nothing that I can do on my own, but when I put my trust in Jesus and his work on the cross, God declares that I am holy in His sight.

   Some days back I wrote about my favorite new hymn and the words that spoke to my heart in a powerful way. One verse from that Stuart Townend composition reads:

   "I will not boast in anything
   No gifts, no power, no wisdom
   But I will boast in Jesus Christ
   His death and resurrection"

   If there is any boasting to be done, let it be as this.

de Tour

   I have been watching the Tour de France over the past several days, and, the endurance of these athletes has been a constant source of amazement for me. From my limited biking experience, I can hardly image what these cyclists go through. They no only ride more than twice as fast as I could on my best days, they ride farther, climb higher, descend faster and do it for more days in a row than I could even think about.

   The tour looks like an individual sport, but the team aspect comes out very clearly. Each team has a leader, and each man on that team has a role to play in helping his leader stand on the podium in Paris at the end of the 21 day race. Each man is a professional and, on his own, might win a stage or try to achieve individual glory, but he does his job for his leader.

   Watching the race as it goes through the mountain stages, I am struck by how a man might give his all so that his team leader can emerge victorious at the end of the day or the end of the race. I watch as this man stays in front of his leader for a good portion of the day, keeping him in his slipstream, seeing that he does not have to face the wind head on, then simply falls back and finishes the race way back in the peloton with the other unknowns. I believe the word used for them is "domestics". Now for the maximum effect you have to pronounce it like the french do..do' mess teeks, or something like that.

   Then the question comes to me, Am I willing to be a "domestic" for Christ, to be an unknown servant, doing what I am called on to do, forsaking all attempts at self glory for His sake.

   I know the example is not perfect, but I also know that Jesus was willing to make himself a "domestic" for me, and more. It is the least I can do for Him.

Dependence vs. Independence

   One main principle that I have used in raising my kids is the idea that I am training them to be independent. By that I mean that they can get along on their own without a constant coming home for advice or help. They will be able to function in the world on their own when we are not here to help. We tried to give them a good moral and academic education, and I think we met our goal. They are good kids and have made it successfully in the world without much help from us, except encouragement. They would certainly not be incapacitated if we were gone.

   Here is what Chambers says this morning:

   "The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces despair in the natural man - the very thing Jesus means it to do. As long as we have a self-righteous, conceited notion that we can carry out Our Lord's teaching, God will allow us to go on until we break our ignorance over some obstacle, then we are willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. "Blessed are the paupers in spirit," that is the first principle in the Kingdom of God."

   We study American History and we read stories of men and women who have stood tall over the years. They had the American Spirit of "can do" and they did it. We are all encouraged to have this spirit of independence, to say that we can do it. Perhaps we can use a little less of this in the spiritual realm. I don't find the proverb "God helps those who help themselves" anywhere in scripture.

   In fact the psalmist says in Psalm 146, "blessed is the man whose helper is God."

   We do need a helper. We cannot do it all on our own, especially in the Christian life. A dependence on Him is the key to a meaningful and successful life. An independent, can do, American attitude cannot take you into God's perfect plan, only an acknowledgment that I cannot do it all by myself. I need help.

   Dependence can indeed by a virtue worth admitting.

   Help me to both practice it and preach it.

The Reality of It All

   There is often a difference in reality, and what I am conscious of.

    "The experience the Psalmist speaks of - "Therefore will we not fear, though . . ." will be ours when once we are based on Reality, not the consciousness of God's presence but the reality of it - Why, He has been here all the time!" (Oswald Chambers)

   Most every time I read one of Chambers' thoughts in this book, I come to a point of confession. Confession that the attitudes, mindsets, and lifestyles that he portrays, as befitting a spiritual person, do not reflect me. What he says rings true, but they don't show what is happening in my life.

   The main idea for me in today's reading has to do with the difference in reality (things that are, from God's perspective), and my conscious awareness of them. Things are going on all around me that are real and true, but I do not see them or feel them, especially pertaining to the spiritual dimension.

   My tendency is to equate my consciousness to reality, that is, if I do not see or feel something, it is not there. God has said that He is always there, he is omnipresent. Whether or not I acknowledge it or not, He is still there. Whether I want Him to be or not, matters not.

   So if I am in trouble, He is there and knows all about it, even before I call out to Him. When I fall and need to confess, He has been there all the time and knows all about it. Even if I do not consider Him, he is still there.

   If I believe what the Bible says is real, then reality is that God is there (or here) whether or not I can see, hear or feel Him. If I base my daily life on the reality of this fact, it does not change the fact of it all, it only changes me.

   How much do I really want change in my life? God knows the heart, and I know He knows.

   I would pray for the spiritual discernment to see reality from God's perspective and His help to adjust my life to that reality.

Leadership

   The scripture this morning was in John 13, the portion where Jesus washes the feet of the disciples. He tells them that this is an example of what a servant-leader looks like. Not a tyrant, not even a person who just tells others what to do, but one who is willing to take on the form of a servant in order to show true leadership.

   My kids often referred to their dad as a C.L. (Community Leader). It was a kind of joke around the house when this was used, because we all knew that I was far from that. Opportunities came my way to lead, in the business world, the civic arena, school, athletics and the church, but I believe that I never did grasp the idea of servant-leadership until we moved to St. Simons and were involved in the beginning of a new church.

   Everybody served. We set up chairs for church, we broke down chairs after the service in the school cafeteria, we cleaned, we parked cars, we greeted. In short, there were a lot of things that needed to be done, and everybody pitched in.

   By virtue of my job as church treasurer, I was asked to serve on the executive committee, before we had a formal elder board. When the exec. committee became the elder board, there I was in a position of church leadership. I found much more joy in the servant role than in any kind of ecclesiastical status. I always felt that if people saw the elders parking cars, or standing out in the lot in the rain holding umbrellas over mothers and kids, they would at least think that we were serious about "doing church".

   So where can I show that kind of leadership now? In my home with my wife, with my kids and grand kids when we are together, at church when something needs to be done, or just in the community when someone needs to stand up for right.

   I probably missed a lot of chances to show this kind of leadership over the years, but I do want to get it right in the time that I might have left.

   As always, I pray for help.

A Dramatic Experience

   "By the miracle of Redemption Saul of Tarsus was turned in one second from a strong-willed, intense Pharisee into a humble, devoted slave of the Lord Jesus." (Oswald Chambers)

    The question comes to me after I read today's devotion: Did Paul have any choice in following Jesus after he had that Damascus Road experience? Was it so dramatic that his course was fixed?

   Of course, on a human level, if there is a choice, there is a possibility of going either way, toward Christ or not, but could Paul have just said "no way"?

   Could Peter, James and John have heard Jesus say "Follow Me" and not done it?

   It is easy for me to say that if I had had these experiences, I would have "left my nets" and wholeheartedly followed. But would I, really?

   Some calls are dramatic, some are not, but maybe the acceptance of the call is what is important, not the dramatic fashion in which it was given. Paul did not continually go about telling how he was called to the ministry, but Who gave him the call. Do I relate the authenticity of the call to the manner in which I realize it, or by the Person who gives it?

   All of us have stories, some lightening bolts, some like erosion, slow and steady, but it is not the uniqueness that is important, it is the Person that we serve that makes all the difference.

   So do I serve my experience or do I serve Jesus?

Heavy Lifting

   I want to reflect on what Oswald Chambers has to say each day and use that to what I think God is saying to me in it. So my first reaction is to God, and my second is to write those thoughts down and share them with anyone else who reads this blog. My main goal is to hear God and then, secondarily, to share my reflections with whomever God puts in this path.

   Chambers uses a verse today to emphasize his point from John 12:32. "(Jesus says), if I be lifted up, I will draw all men to Me". This tells me who I should be lifting up.

   I like writing this blog most every day, which means that I do like writing it, and I try to do it most every day, not most days I like doing it. I even like it when folks say things like "Hey, I read your blog and try to drop by and read it every day", or I see, on the blog stat page, that several people have read a particular entry. I guess most of us like to feel appreciated for something we have done.

   But, I realize that the purpose of the prose is not to make me look good to others. I sometimes get to the point that I stew over the wording of a phrase, not to select just the right meaning, but to sound good to a reader. The question comes from the verse above, who exactly I am lifting up here?

   If my purpose is to interact with God and to share that interaction, whether confession or praise, with others so that they too might see God interact in their lives, that is good. But if it is to feel good inside about doing something, that is pride, and that is not so good.

   So how am I doing? Only God can tell me about our interactions, but hopefully someone else is benefiting from this exercise also.

   Just so I keep my priorities in order.

Shouldn't I worry about this?

   Worry is defined as allowing one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles. It is also a fear of the unknown and what things could possibly happen. It is anxiety about bad things and situations that could come in my life that would cause me grief.

   I have heard or read somewhere that something like 90% of the things that we worry about never happen. They could but they don't. Chambers talks about that today.

   "Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those who have His Spirit, and it works on this principle - God is my Father, He loves me, I shall never think of anything He will forget, why should I worry?"

   So, deep down, is worry not just a distrust of God? Does Jesus not say in Matthew 7, "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"

   What if those things in my life do not appear to be "good"? Could Romans 8:28 still apply? "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

   The key is who or what we keep our eyes on, Jesus, or those potential bad things that might happen.

   There is a song in the hymnal by Helen Lemmel:

   "Turn your eyes upon Jesus
   Look full in His wonderful face
   And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
   In the light of His glory and grace"

   Looks like we might have a choice to make: Worry or Jesus. The answer seems obvious....

The Second Mile

   For some time now, I have used a tag on all my emails that says, "The second mile has no traffic jams". I don't know how many people have asked me the meaning of this, and I point them back to Jesus teaching in Matthew 5, where He says, "if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two".

   The Roman soldier of that day could make a Jew carry his military pack for him up to one mile, but Jesus said don't insist on your "rights" under the military law and drop the pack after a mile, but take it another. This will show Jesus to him, and he will see who your true master is. You can take the negative of humility and turn it into a positive of service.

   The saying of the second mile says that this attitude of humility and service is not common. You will not be crowded in with a lot of others, even Christians, doing the same thing, but will be recognizable as a true Christ follower.

   Chambers says in the reading for today, "Every time I insist upon my rights, I hurt the Son of God; whereas I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I take the blow myself. That is the meaning of filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. The disciple realizes that it is his Lord's honour that is at stake in his life, not his own honour."

   Insisting on my "rights" is the American way. We would sue someone and go to court to insure that our rights were not trampled on in any way, but the Bible says that we have the right to suffer as He did and be humiliated as as He was.

   I'm afraid that I am still traveling in that first mile most of the time, but I know why the second mile contains so few walkers.

Intersections in our Lives

   Nothing happens without a reason.

   How many times have I said the above? When someone tells me about something that is happening in his life, and all the things he is going through, I give this piece of wisdom, sometimes glibly, sometimes actually believing it.

   Mayre and I are currently talking with a girl in our church about some financial issues in her life. They are the result of a lot of things that have happened to her in the past few years, and some decisions she has made. They have brought her to the point where she needs some advice and a listening ear. We are wrestling with how to advise her, and what our involvement should be in her life.

   As she struggles with her money problems and we struggle with how to be her friend in this situation, I think about how many people and circumstances have taken place in both our lives to get us to this point. If I believe, and I do, that nothing happens in our lives without a reason, then I need to see God's hand in the intersection of our lives at this time. If I don't believe, and I don't, that this is all just random chance, then God has brought us together for a purpose.

   This purpose has to do with all of us. Our lives may diverge from this point on, but we are part of something that God has brought about for each of us at this particular time. This will also be a part of our lives that will affect other people and situations down the road. It is not to be treated casually, without thoughts of tomorrow.

   Our prayer is to be stepping stones and not stumbling blocks. God has the answers, and we are not Him.

God is great, God is good, is that enough?

   "It will be a big humiliation to realize that I have not been concerned about realizing Jesus Christ, but only about realizing what He has done for me." (Oswald Chambers)

   I will admit the easy part is the realization of what Jesus Christ has done for me. I have often said that gratitude is a big part of my worship, but truly, that may be a no brainer.

   Do I stop and think and meditate on God and His greatness, or His wisdom, or His power, or His grace or His......? Do I ponder Jesus and His life and His wisdom, or just say "thanks" and go about doing my life? Is it like the perfunctory "God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food" at mealtime?

   I confess that this is me a lot of the time. As we sat down to lunch today, I prayed thanks for the food, for our home and our time together. After the Amen, my wife reminded me that I should not have thanked God for our time together, just when I was about to jump up and go play golf. Seemed sort of shallow, she said.

   So I preach to me today. Lord, help me to live it and not just say it.

Another Dilemma

   "In Christian work the initiative is too often the realization that something has to be done and I must do it. That is never the attitude of the spiritual saint, his aim is to secure the realization of Jesus Christ in every set of circumstances he is in." (Oswald Chambers)

   There is a responsibility in Christian service, or any other kind for that matter. I believe that God calls us to serve Him and others. With this in mind, there is a dilemma, and here is the scenario.

   I have served for several years in prison ministry. In recent years, it has become harder and harder to enlist men to serve in these prisons. So the call is made over and over "we are short of team members, and you are needed". I have responded to this several times, and now the call comes again.

   All around me I see the same thing happening. Ministries are doing good work, but "the funds are not coming in to continue". "Can you help in this time of our need?" "We do not have enough manpower to serve our people". "God is challenging Christians to stand up and be counted". My cynical self says that these are guilt trips being laid on me, but are they, or is it my laziness and self absorption that is the problem?

   Ministries exist to serve people. Their purpose is not necessarily to bless me in the process, as they often do, but to serve where God has called. Should I not do the same on an individual basis?

   So do I respond to a guilt trip? Is the guilt trip simply of my own making, or is it a real call to service? Am I serving others or Jesus in this? Is this an earthly call or heavenly?

   A dilemma to be sure.

Retirement and Drew

   "To live a remote, retired, secluded life is the antipodes of spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it. We want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of retirement. We utilize God for the sake of getting peace and joy, that is, we do not want to realize Jesus Christ, but only our enjoyment of Him." (Oswald Chambers)

   antipodes: the direct opposite of something. (in case anybody did not know)

   We have had our 10 year old (soon to be 11) grandson, with us this week . It has been a week of play for us, which we both like. We were on the golf course, the tennis courts, the tandem bike, and in the pool. We played on the Wii, we played Phase 10, multiple times, we worked Sudoku puzzles together. It was a fun 4 days, and I really enjoyed him being here. I like the play aspect and, probably even more, the relationship that we can have together.

   It seems as if Chambers is speaking of the same things in his reading today. He speaks of retirement, not of a sitting and resting mode, but an active one, one that is engaged in a relationship with Him, and relationships with others.

   I must confess that I like to be active, but I also confess that it is mostly play and not the more serious stuff, and I doubt that God will be overly impressed with my golf score.

   I've got the active part down pretty well, now to work on the stuff in the active life style that really matters.

I Can Do It, whatever it is..

   The one who has something to trust in is the last one to come anywhere near saying - "I will serve the Lord." (Oswald Chambers)

   "You can do it"

   "You can be anything you want to be"

   "Trust in yourself"

   I grew up in a culture in the good 'ole' USA that emphasizes the individual and what he is capable of doing. In a way, that is a blessing because it puts no limit to our aspirations, but in another way it is a curse. It is a self reliant attitude that says it all depends on me and my determination.

   Of course, I can put a Christian veneer on the whole thing and say that God has given me certain talents and abilities, and it is up to me to use them. I can take these things and do anything I put my mind to. But no matter how I try to cloak it, my trust is in what I can do. Not God working in my life, but me.

   Chambers asks "Have you the slightest reliance on anything other than God?" My talents, my abilities, my money, my determination, my strength. These are all detriments to God bringing me to a point where I can be all I can be for Him.

   God, show me the things in my life that reflect my trusting in myself, and help me to trust in You only.

Choosing

There is a modern hymn, written by Stuart Townend, that never fails to move me when I listen to it. I'm not sure the time when I first heard it, but I do remember a particular time of commitment for me, when it was especially moving.

   Our church in Blacksburg had an Good Friday communion service, and we sang this song. Somehow the words reached down into my soul and just pulled the emotion out. I was not able to sing, but just listen. The melody is haunting and the words powerful and true.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYV7hpD9JTI&feature=related

   When I hear and see the song on this video, truly see and hear, I feel the loving nature of God, and the fact that He chose to draw near to me in this is beyond believable.

   Joshua's words to the Israelite people in Joshua 24:15 tell them to choose this day who they will serve, but as for him and his family, they will serve the Lord.

   How can I not make this choice in the light of all God has done for me?

Family Traits

   "God's grace turns out men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ."

   When I read Chambers this morning, my thoughts went back to my writing from yesterday. Thinking about ancestors, I wonder what family traits have been passed down to my children from them. Since the Schumann family was a part of Mayre's family tree, they do not have a physical bearing on me, as they could on my kids.

   Leaving aside physical characteristics, people also pass along values and other intangibles to their offspring, some good and some not. Future generations are affected in ways that are sometimes traceable. As a father, I do things that my dad did, just as he did before me. It is scary to think that my kids also do this, and maybe I should have given more thought to some of the ideas and actions that I modeled to them.

   As a Christian, I should have in my life those family traits of Jesus. How about those "fruits of the Spirit" as Paul speaks of in Galatians?

   "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)

   Now I know that my daughter sometimes has a problem of confusing truth with fiction on her dad, but I would like to share the last paragraph of what she wrote on Father's Day in her blog.

   "There are a lot of remarkable dads who deserve tributes on this Father's Day, including the one sitting next to me in the living room, the father of my amazing children, who deserves so much credit for their optimism and accomplishments. But I hope they will all forgive me if I put them second to the man who raised me and believed in me. Dad, it's not just Father's Day obligation when I say you're the best. It's just the truth."

   I am proud of my kids, all three of them.They are the best and have done much worthy of mention, but the question in my mind today is how much is the Heavenly Father proud of me? How many of the family traits of Jesus have I exhibited and passed down?

   The answers to those questions are very sobering.

Ancestors

   Granny Lou and I yesterday were thinking about what our ancestors had to go through in order to make a life for themselves and raise their families in America. There is a lot that we do not know about the day to day activities, but it is fun to imagine.

   Our grandson, Drew, is here this week, and, as we sat on the back porch last night, we told him a little about his great, great, great, great grandfather. Someone had compiled a brief history of the Schumann family, of which he was the patriarch in America, and written it down for their family reunion in 1964. He was an ancestor on the Jorges side of the family (Mayre's side).

   Christian Schumann was born in Germany in 1800, and his wife Susanna in 1814. They had 10 children, 8 of which were born in Germany before they immigrated and 2 more after they came. They sailed from Bremen and to New York, a 38 day voyage, in a ship filled to capacity. Their cabin was not large, and had to sleep the whole family. After landing in New York, they took a train to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a wagon to Madison in Dane County. They stayed in Dane County's southwest portion with some of Susanna's kin for a few days, then bought 80 acres and built a 12 by 16 one room log house. With one son, Christian walked back to Milwaukee, purchased a wagon and a yoke of oxen, some supplies and tools, and rode back home.

   This could not have been an easy life on the frontier. Even with the help of family and friends, it was hard work. The one thing they missed was a community of fellowship in a church, like they had in the old country. By 1854, the German Lutherans had constructed a small log church. Eventually the increase in membership necessitated a newer stone church which served the congregation until 1904.

   It is sobering to consider what they went through and wonder if I could have done the same. Our lives are so easy and comfortable that we take for granted what our forefathers had to go through. We missed the hard work part, but we also missed the shared community of others in that same circumstance.

   We all share in the benefits that our ancestors passed down to us. I am grateful that so many passed down so much, especially the sense of community as expressed in a body of faith.

God Bless America, Please!

   "God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the things we have calculated on without taking Him into account." (Oswald Chambers)

   God Bless America. I sing that song with gusto because I believe that is where our blessings come from, and He is the only one that can keep us on the right track.

   I celebrated July 4th yesterday, by mostly sitting and reading a book by Andy Andrews entitled The Heart Mender. In one scene from the book, the two main characters of the story, one an American war widow in WWII, and the other a survivor of a German U-boat, discuss the wickedness of the Nazi regime. The woman declares the the superiority of the American democratic system would never allow that kind of evil to flourish here.

   The German sailor reminds her of a quote attributed to Alexander Tytler, a Scot from the 1700s.

   "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship."

   I see the United States in this quote, but I am not convinced of the inevitability of the outcome. We are surely in the midst of that quote's entitlement mentality, but God is still in control, and our trust still needs to be placed there and not in government.

   2Ch 7:14 reads,"if my people, who belong to me, humble themselves, pray, seek to please me, and repudiate their sinful practices, then I will respond from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land".

   For my grandchildren's sake, I pray that God will bless America, but I know that He calls on me to be a part of the solution, not part of the problem.

   Oh God, please help me to trust in You and not the government, and Please God, bless and heal our Land.

What would I have done?

   I spend some time this morning contemplating Chambers reading in light of the significance of the day. This is July 4, and 235 years ago in 1776, some, not all, of the people of the 13 colonies took a big step when they declared their independence from England. I try to put myself in that time and wonder what I would have done then.

   It is easy to look back to that time in the light of today and say that I would have eagerly joined the rebellion and, casting aside all worry and fear, stood up to the challenge and fear.

   Historians say that about 1/3 of the people in the colonies were active in support of the rebellion, 1/3 were loyal to the King, and the other third sat on the fence and tried to figure out who might win, so they might appear to have been on that side all the time.

   Of course, I say, that I would have not shirked from my destiny. I would have embraced the cause, forsaking any thoughts of personal safety and loss of property, and stood for freedom in the face of the tremendous odds of that fight.

   Would I have really done that? Would I have been willing to sacrifice my treasure and my sacred honor? Would I have known what God's will was for me in those decisions?

   That time is past, but the present is full of opportunities to stand. In this country and in my life, God calls me to stand for Him, unashamed.

   Brave men of the past were willing, could I be one of those today?

   Lord, help me to hear your will in my life today, and give me the courage to stand for You as You lead.

My Christianity Revealed

   "Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not devoted to Jesus Christ. No man on earth has this passionate love to the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Ghost has imparted it to him. We may admire Him, we may respect Him and reverence Him, but we cannot love Him." (Oswald Chambers)

   Admiration, Respect and Reverence, three words that I would use to describe my relationship to Jesus, and Chambers pegs my attempts at true discipleship. He must be writing to me this morning, because I am convicted of my puny attempt to be a Christian.

   A few days back, I was also convicted of not giving God the best of my life, only the crumbs, so I determined to not leave my reading and writing to the last part of the day, or whenever I could have the time to get around to it. I prayed that I would make this study time a priority and get up and do it early. I even asked God to wake me up in order not to have any excuse, and all this week this has happened.

   Then I read Chambers today, and through the words on the page, it seems that God is looking right at me and pointing, saying "this is your life".

   Now I want to look around me and say that I don't see anyone living that much different than I do, but the standards of God are not relative to the ways of others. They are His and His alone, and I fall woefully short.

   So do I just feel good that I have written these thoughts down and then go out and live my life in the same old way today, or what?

   God has pointed this out to me, and now I need Him to put me right. I need help.

   Help!

A Very Inconvenient Truth

   No, I am not going to write today about global warming, even though someone has already used this title for his documentary on this subject.

   As I read through some of the Sermon on the Mount this morning, and see what God's Word has to say about a way of living that is pleasing to Him, I am struck by the seemingly impossible task of having a life that is characterized by these teachings of Jesus. They are hard, and my tendency is to find some way to blunt their message.

   I like the Beatitudes. All those verses that begin with "Blessed" sound peaceful and happy. They show a life that is in complete harmony with God. But when I study them a little deeper, I realize that there is no way I can be that man, at least not without help and a lot of pruning.

   Deep down, I am not satisfied with my life and the person I have become over all these years. I can see areas that need a lot of work, and the more I read and study, more truths pop up that call for my attention. Even as I read again Matthew 5,6 and 7, my shallow life is laid bare, but I don't want to be inconvenienced by these truths.

   Much easier it is to read some of the soothing passages of the Psalms than to be confronted by Jesus' words here. They are inconvenient to say the least.. Much easier to write about them than to live them.

   And the "me" in here does not want to be put out. My life is too satisfactory to be disturbed by mere truth.

   Help