Anyone seen MACGYVER? I could use a little help!!!

Sooner or later we all face this situation; you have to go, but there is no paper in the restroom. This picture raises an interesting question: What would MACGYVER do? This TV star uses his intellect and resourcefulness to make the impossible, possible. We all know that its just TV and not reality, BUT, what if someone could make something out of almost "nothing"? Something somewhat similar happens several times in the New Testament and what follows is one of those instances.

Matthew 15:32-38 (WEB)
32) Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away fasting, or they might faint on the way.”
33) The disciples said to him, “Where should we get so many loaves in a deserted place as to satisfy so great a multitude?”
34) Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35) He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground;
36) and he took the seven loaves and the fish. He gave thanks and broke them, and gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes.
37) They all ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces that were left over.
38) Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
(Matthew 15:32-38, WEB)

Unlike the picture, this episode was initiated by love and concern and NOT immediate need. How did Jesus really do it? I haven't a clue, except to say that Jesus was a man, but more than a man. His power goes way beyond my feeble understanding. God is like that, you know! As far as the picture goes... I would cut the cardboard with my box cutter (did I say that I almost always carry a box cutter at work?) into four pieces for use as four blotters. Anyone have a better idea, please let me know.

A different life

Its a dog eat dog world out there; OK, I know you have heard that one before but nevertheless I think it fits the picture. What is unusual here is that it is happening so quickly that two "lunches" are happening simultaneously. In 1979 I remember graduating from preaching school and leaving New York for my first church in Delaware. It wasn't long before I began to understand that my concepts of what church should be and the reality of real life situations were not the same. In every church where I ministered there were always problems and that should have been no surprise, but hey, I was only 29 and full of idealism. With that in mind, I thought you might find this passage interesting.

Galatians 5:1-18 (WEB)
1) Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
2) Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.
3) Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4) You are alienated from Christ, you who desire to be justified by the law. You have fallen away from grace.
5) For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.
6) For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.
7) You were running well! Who interfered with you that you should not obey the truth?
8) This persuasion is not from him who calls you.
9) A little yeast grows through the whole lump.
10) I have confidence toward you in the Lord that you will think no other way. But he who troubles you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.
11) But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been removed.
12) I wish that those who disturb you would cut themselves off.
13) For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
14) For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
15) But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you don’t consume one another.
16) But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17) For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.
18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
(Galatians 5:1-18, WEB)

Love, true love, means new rules. It means living a different life; one based not only on your interests (your well-being), but on that of others. The Galatians, and in fact most churches need to learn this. Life within the church is not to be a dog-eat-dog environment, but rather one based on love, rather than on rules. I really like the saying: Love God and do what you like. To me it says we have great freedom and very few rules. Except perhaps that small little thing called love. I have been trying to get that one really right for decades and frankly I am still working on it. One last thought: if you waited a few minutes and then slaughtered the snake, would you be eating snake or a combination food. After you devour the first bite you might know...

Foolishness like a fox

If one of your children does this, get them to STOP, NOW! Most of us would look at this youngster and one word would probably come to mind... Why? What the purpose? Perhaps its just the mindless antics of youth, but ask yourself, what if an adult did this? What if a grown-up did something outrageous, and did it just to get your attention? Consider this chapter from the New Testament and think about it a bit.

2 Corinthians 11:1-33 (WEB)
1) I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you do bear with me.
2) For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I married you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
3) But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4) For if he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or if you receive a different spirit, which you did not receive, or a different “good news”, which you did not accept, you put up with that well enough.
5) For I reckon that I am not at all behind the very best apostles.
6) But though I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not unskilled in knowledge. No, in every way we have been revealed to you in all things.
7) Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God’s Good News free of charge?
8) I robbed other assemblies, taking wages from them that I might serve you.
9) When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn’t a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so.
10) As the truth of Christ is in me, no one will stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
11) Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows.
12) But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them that desire an occasion, that in which they boast, they may be found even as we.
13) For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles.
14) And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.
15) It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
16) I say again, let no one think me foolish. But if so, yet receive me as foolish, that I also may boast a little.
17) That which I speak, I don’t speak according to the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.
18) Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will also boast.
19) For you bear with the foolish gladly, being wise.
20) For you bear with a man, if he brings you into bondage, if he devours you, if he takes you captive, if he exalts himself, if he strikes you on the face.
21) I speak by way of disparagement, as though we had been weak. Yet however any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I am bold also.
22) Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.
23) Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I am more so; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths often.
24) Five times from the Jews I received forty stripes minus one.
25) Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep.
26) I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers;
27) in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness.
28) Besides those things that are outside, there is that which presses on me daily, anxiety for all the assemblies.
29) Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is caused to stumble, and I don’t burn with indignation?
30) If I must boast, I will boast of the things that concern my weakness.
31) The God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he who is blessed forevermore, knows that I don’t lie.
32) In Damascus the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes desiring to arrest me.
33) Through a window I was let down in a basket by the wall, and escaped his hands.
(2 Corinthians 11:1-33, WEB)

This is the SECOND letter to Corinth; and it differs greatly from the first. I have always liked this one better, because of its more personal nature. Paul writes to them with his heart first and his great intellect second. Exaggeration, plays on words and examples that show the foolishness of their folly all have one goal; that is, to make them realize that they need to LISTEN to Paul. Sometimes it takes something bordering on the ridiculous to prod us into doing something different. I hope they listened. The boy in the picture must have had some reason for making this face and frankly I don't couldn't even guess the reason for it. However, it did get my attention and maybe that was the point after all.

Be afraid, be very afraid!

Somehow the words from a movie I can't remember come back to me:"Be afraid, be very afraid". If he is trying to frighten me; he succeeded! For me anyway, its very easy to see the danger here, but all danger is not so easily spotted. Check out this passage from the book of 1st Peter and you will see what I mean.

1 Peter 2:1-12 (WEB)
1) Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking,
2) as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby,
3) if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious:
4) coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.
5) You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6) Because it is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen, and precious: He who believes in him will not be disappointed.”
7) For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone,”
8) and, “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed.
9) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
10) who in time past were no people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
11) Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
12) having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation.
(1 Peter 2:1-12, WEB)

Every time you turn on the TV, someone is trying to sell you something; from cold medicines to slinky's and everything in between, we are bombarded with advertising. We become programmed to want more and more and more and MORE! Whether we think much about it or not, we are in a war; a war for your SPIRITUAL LIFE! There is real danger out there, danger that is much harder to identify than that in the picture above. It can start with the increasing desire to have more things (lust) and can progress to all sorts of spiritual problems. Be careful, be watchful, take some time to think about your life and ask yourself the question: Am I closer to God than I was a year ago? If your honest answer is uncomfortable to think about, then think of the guy with the machete and "be afraid, be very afraid"

Names, labels and the outworking of the heart

When I saw this picture on the net the other day, it caught my attention. There were a series of them, all with the "ideal" on the left and the "distortion" on the right. This one didn't quite achieve its intended purpose, though, so it seemed worth mentioning on the blog. I must confess, I hate the right title. Lets rename the right title to something more palatable, say: What would those who try to follow Jesus do? OK, so I am not a Roman Catholic, but that does not mean that many, many of its adherents genuinely TRY to do the right thing. Love and compassion go hand in hand and the logical outcome is action. Consider the following passage from the book of Luke to see what I mean.

Luke 10:25-37 (WEB)
25) Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26) He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
27) He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28) He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
29) But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
30) Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31) By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32) In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33) But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion,
34) came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35) On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’
36) Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
37) He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
(Luke 10:25-37, WEB)

There is an old saying: Love God and do what you like. The idea is that if you truly love God, you will WANT to please him in everything you do, so rules and regulations are not necessary. Religion that is worth something, does something. The loving in the heart yields a doing in the life. Don't worry about people putting labels on you, just continue to try to do what is right and your heart will ultimately find a way to express itself. Might also be a good idea to read the Bible as much as you can, too!!! On second thought, maybe being called a "Jesus freak" might not be such a bad idea after all, because if loving others gets that label, then I am all for it.

I think I can, I think I can...

I think I like this youngster! Somebody probably put him up to doing this, but what if he did it himself??? Now that would be something indeed!! Not that I think he could actually lift something like this, but if he would try... WOW!!! Optimism, it is the outward expression of hope! With it, anything seems possible, without it, all seems lost. Its all in your thinking. One of my favorite passages of Scripture talks about this...

Philippians 4:8-13 (WEB)
8) Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things.
9) The things which you learned, received, heard, and saw in me: do these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
10) But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length you have revived your thought for me; in which you did indeed take thought, but you lacked opportunity.
11) Not that I speak in respect to lack, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content in it.
12) I know how to be humbled, and I know also how to abound. In everything and in all things I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in need.
13) I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
(Philippians 4:8-13, WEB)

Paul was a little man who had very poor eyesight, but had a seemingly boundless faith and optimism. He did things that even the original apostles of Christ did not do and did them to such an extent that he far outshines them ALL!!! How, what made him different? Well, I never met the man, so, I REALLY DON'T KNOW, BUT, let me take a guess. I think the answer is found in verse 8. The human mind is like that of a computer (in some ways at least) in that what you put in yields what you get out (computer geeks often say"garbage in, garbage out"). But, its true, for over a period of time, you become what you think about day by day. So, if you reread verse 8 and really put it to mind... who knows, EVEN YOU MIGHT DO THE SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE!!!

By the way, I was thinking about this a lot today because we just found out that our oldest daughter is expecting in January. Forty two years young and having a BABY! This will make grand-baby number nine. And I thought it would never happen again; anything, but anything is possible!!!!

The learning curve

If you have ever watched "that 70's show" then you may remember Eric's girlfriend and her mother (who was a little dense [to put it mildly]). Personally, I think the thing about blonde's is all a put on, but who knows? This lady sure isn't going to win any awards for photography in the near future. But, hey, who among us hasn't screwed up occasionally? Sometimes we do things wrong because we are distracted or tired or angry or one of the seemingly endless list of possibilities, but PRIDE? Here is a case of pride and it a full blown one......

Acts 8:9-24 (WEB)
9) But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city, and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one,
10) to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is that great power of God.”
11) They listened to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his sorceries.
12) But when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
13) Simon himself also believed. Being baptized, he continued with Philip. Seeing signs and great miracles occurring, he was amazed.
14) Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,
15) who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit;
16) for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of Christ Jesus.
17) Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18) Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,
19) saying, “Give me also this power, that whomever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20) But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!
21) You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart isn’t right before God.
22) Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
23) For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the bondage of iniquity.”
24) Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that none of the things which you have spoken happen to me.”

It must have been hard to have been put on the sidelines when you are accustomed to being called .."that great power of God"!! So, when he saw power of the Holy Spirit, he actually thought he could BUY it!! Talk about dumb!!! But he learned, he repented and moved on. Hopefully, our BLOND lady will someday actually learn how to use that camera or she will have a lot of pictures of her nose (I sincerely hope she doesn't have a cold in the nose). Life is full of our mistakes, from learning to walk to understanding God's ways, it is just one litany of trial and error. Hopefully, we will wind up pleasing God in the end. Humm, I wonder if God keeps a scrapbook of our stupidity; if so, the lady in the picture may find this picture as the cover.