The Daily Post: Apology
“Sometimes sorry isn’t enough.”
Having grown up in the sixties, when love was free and meant never saying your sorry, I thought she was speaking another language. She wasn’t. She meant it.
Category: Living Daily
Right Conduct
Not really much on confronting people, I often used to simply talk about them behind their backs. That’s not a great thing to do, and isn’t it gossip? Is gossip right conduct? No. But what’s there to do if I’m offended by someone’s actions? I’m still not much on confrontation. Lot of questions.
But doesn’t love endure all things?
Okay. Yesterday I quoted Apostle Paul’s description of the outward signs of love. In that description, he wrote:
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7
I ended the post with my advice to Bobby, and probably everyone else, to flee unkindness. How can I say that when Apostle Paul makes it clear that love is supreme and demonstrating love means never having to say your sorry. Oops. Got a song stuck in my head. No, he said love endures all things. That could mean that love endures unkindness. So even though unkindness is wrong, and a sin, we are obligated to endure it in someone. Really? There’s got to be a caveat in there somewhere. After all, unkindness is a sin. Unkindness is just plain wrong. Unkindness is murder—soul murder.
Seems to me, that a person that puts up with another person’s sin, is contributing to it. And that means enduring a sin is a sin.
What do you think?
Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .
It’s about being a Boy Scout
Bobby told me once that neither he nor his kids wanted to go on holiday with his wife, the mother of his kids.
“She can be a wonderful person outside the home,” Bobby said. “But at home and especially on holiday, things get really crazy. She’s just not kind. And nobody wants to spent a week in the close confines that are the norm on holiday with someone that isn’t kind.”
Sam wrote about kindness recently. It reminded me of the Boy Scout Law: A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.
Apostle Paul spoke of Love and gave a practical example of what it means to love.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:1-7.
Seek G-d. Find Truth. Find Love. Then have the courage to walk away from unkindness. Flee it.
Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon y’all.
The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways
“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” was one thing my Mom often said. And so He does.
An old pastor sat one morning eating oatmeal and toast, and reading Rev. C.H. Surgeon’s comments on:
. . .after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 1 Peter 5:10.
“That was good, Lord,” the pastor said after reading.
“Thank you. I wrote it,” said The Lord.
The old man didn’t bat an eyelash, taking it all in stride as if the Lord spoke each day to him. It occurred to him that some might think it odd that the Lord would speak in such a manner. What about you? Does it seem strange or odd that a man might hear the words of G-d? Or perhaps only odd that the Master of the Universe would say He wrote that commentary, those words, published by Rev. C.H. Spurgeon hundreds of years ago? If it seems odd at all, why? Perhaps you find it objectionable that G-d would speak to a old man who in this world is very small.
G-d spoke to Moses. G-d spoke to Y’shuaJesus. G-d spoke to many individuals, and it is recorded in the Bible. Ah, that’s the problem. Those to whom the Lord spoke are famous people, whose lives are recounted in the scriptures.Yes, certainly that’s true. But why is it not possible that G-d speak to a mere man as that old pastor?
There are a couple of questions one may wish to ask concerning the words attributed to G-d, such as that old man heard. First, one might examine the words to see if they fit in the scriptural box. Are those words consistent with scripture. In this case, in scripture is there anything that might tell us that G-d in fact has spoken to men? Yes. All who are genuine in their believe in G-d understand that the scriptures are inspired by G-d, breathed by G-d, even while being recorded by men. Second, there was a Pharisee, Saul, who was an adversary of the followers of the Way. He was heading to Damascus, on the path of more destruction of Christians. The Lord stopped Saul in his tracks, closed his eyes, and spoke to him. Saul wasn’t famous at the time. Infamous, maybe.
G-d works in mysterious ways. . .
Here’s the text of Rev. Spurgeon’s commentary/devotional.
“You have seen the arch of heaven as it spans the plain: glorious are its colours, and rare its hues. It is beautiful, but, alas, it passes away, and lo, it is not. The fair colours give way to the fleecy clouds, and the sky is no longer brilliant with the tints of heaven. It is not established. How can it be? A glorious show made up of transitory sun-beams and passing rain-drops, how can it abide? The graces of the Christian character must not resemble the rainbow in its transitory beauty, but, on the contrary, must be stablished, settled, abiding. Seek, O believer, that every good thing you have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be a writing upon the sand, but an inscription upon the rock! May your faith be no “baseless fabric of a vision,” but may it be builded of material able to endure that awful fire which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite. May you be rooted and grounded in love. May your convictions be deep, your love real, your desires earnest. May your whole life be so settled and established, that all the blasts of hell, and all the storms of earth shall never be able to remove you. But notice how this blessing of being “stablished in the faith” is gained. The apostle’s words point us to suffering as the means employed—”After that ye have suffered awhile.” It is of no use to hope that we shall be well rooted if no rough winds pass over us. Those old gnarlings on the root of the oak tree, and those strange twistings of the branches, all tell of the many storms that have swept over it, and they are also indicators of the depth into which the roots have forced their way. So the Christian is made strong, and firmly rooted by all the trials and storms of life. Shrink not then from the tempestuous winds of trial, but take comfort, believing that by their rough discipline God is fulfilling this benediction to you.”
Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .
Peachtree Road Race
On the Fourth of July is the Peachtree Road Race. It’s a 10k run through Atlanta, Georgia. There are 60,000 runners allowed to register. One person I know ran last year’s road race with a friend who had a bad knee. Evan said, “I’ve kept pace twice now with people I know held be back, but it was still fun to run.” This year he says he wants to run alone, which really means he’ll set his own pace.
It seems to me that there are several ways a person can be held back in a race. Evan paced himself alongside a person incapable of a faster run simply to keep an injured runner company, to be supportive of him. Neither of them will receive a medal at the end of the road race. They’ll finish, though. Even will run enduring the slower pace of his injured friend, and cross the finish line with the personal satisfaction of completing the run and doing so alongside his friend.
A few years ago, Evan ran another race up in Tennessee. It was a grueling obstacle course that required great endurance. He ran with another friend who, while in good physical condition, was much slower. They ran the race together, alternating walking and running, helping each other over the hurdles and obstacles. Fifty feet before the finish line, the last obstacle required that they crawl through mud covered with two feet of muddy water. As they emerged from that mud bath,
Are Pets Thankful
Occasionally, looking into the eyes of my daughter’s dog, I will joke with my daughter about what that dog is thinking. Do animals think? I’ve heard that thinking is what differentiates animals from humans. At one time didn’t people think it was communication—talking—that separated us from animals? Huh. My daughter’s cat talks. Well, okay, not in English. Cat talk, I guess. She has a particular way of saying, “Eeyowaaaah” when it’s around the time of day she is feed. When she decides she wants attention, she says, “Eeh,” while rubbing against my leg. And the other day, at the laundry room door, she said, “Eeyo.” It wasn’t feeding time. She wasn’t near by to want her head scratched. What does “Eeyo” mean.
R T F M
While working for the U. S. Forest Service as a “Radio Tech,” I had the pleasure of assisting in the installation of a forest-wide electronic public exchange (PBX), a telephone switch. In preparing for that experience, I attended a two-week course for certification on the Mitel 2000 PBX. It was a good course, well-taught, and I came back armed and ready not only for the installation and set up, but also for continued maintenance and upgrades. A major theme of the course was the Mitel Manual. Actually, it was not just one, but a series of manuals on the switch. Throughout the course, the instructors continually referred to one or more of the manuals stressing the critical nature of not just knowing the switch itself, but knowing the manuals. The key to expedient maintenance and repair was in knowing where to look for the answer. We were given our own copies of the manuals, and by the end of the two weeks, they were well worn.
You are Welcome. Enjoy your Stay. Leave Money. Then Leave.
After graduating college with a degree in Journalism, we all went our ways out into the world. A friend went to a small newspaper in a very small town in Oregon. She knew she’d be better welcomed if she bought a car there, rather than flaunting California license plates, or tags as we say in Georgia. I heard from her some months later. Indeed, she was well welcomed in that town. People would stop and talk to her on the street, in stores, any where she went. Once. After the first encounter, the person would snub her upon second meeting. She said the first “welcoming” was more of an interview. And she didn’t pass the test. Eventually she moved home to her own small California town.
Molly Simpson, in her post Emotional Abuse and the Church, speaks about the way some folks feel abused in their own churches. She offers great insight to folks in dealing with such abuse, while sparing criticism of the churches themselves.
There’s a story that is said to have taken place back during the “Jesus” movement of the early 1970s. There were a lot of young folks coming to home churches where they didn’t sit in pews and wear Sunday-go-to-meeting cloths. One day a fellow accustom to such home church groups saw people heading into Sunday service at a large, traditional church. He thought about going, made up his mind to do so, and headed up the steps. The congregation was seated, and it was a full house. With no seats left, he sauntered up the aisle in his flip-flop sandals clapping. When he got to the front, he simply sat cross-legged on the floor. So. You can imagine the reaction of the congregation. They were simple aghast. Soon an usher, dressed in a three-piece suit and well-polished shoes, came up the aisle toward the disheveled young man. The faces of the congregation said it all. “That’s right. Toss that fellow oughta here!” To the amazement of the congregation, the usher came up to the young man, sat down next to him, and crossed his legs, too.
Molly points out, “referring to Galatians 5:14, “The whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” Every time someone approaches us, we have the opportunity to love them as Christ did.” That’s what the usher did. That’s not what the people of that small town did when they “welcomed” my friend and reporter. That was a false love. For love, as Molly also points out, calls for us to carry the burdens of our brothers and sisters.
Life After Death . . .
It’s been over thirty years ago that, while attending a two-week course in Irvine, California, I was privileged to attend services Calvary Chapel Irvine. Pastor Chuck Smith founded Calvary and served there as head pastor. Pastor Smith had the ability to draw an audience into a sermon taking them to places they’d never have imagined. I recall part of one of his sermons in which he spoke about Heaven. He illustrated Heaven as if it were Earth, divided up giving each person a share of land, which he calculated to be three acres. He said things like there won’t be plumbing in the house, because things will be perfect. What I have remembered about Pastor Smith’s sermon is that even if Heaven looked anything like Earth, it is very different. Perfect, for one thing. The physical presence of our Lord Y’shuaJesus is the most significant difference. And after our physical deaths, we who are saved though faith in Y’shuaJesus will experience Heaven as life in the presence of G-d.
There’s another kind of life after death. And we who are marked, having our names engraved in the Book of Life, are experiencing it right now. This life began when we responded to the call of the LORD. For our response was one of dying to our flesh and receiving a new life of the Spirit.
. . .now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:6.
From the time the Law was given to us on Mount Sinai, until the Cross, we were bound by the written Law. We were not certain of our afterlife. We were certain only of the overwhelming guilt that didn’t seem to come clean even with the sacrifices. We thought if G-d told us what we were to do, we could do it. Like children, we said, in effect, “I’ll be good, Father.” But we couldn’t. We needed something more. It took the Blood of Y’shuaJesus to wipe away the guilt and shame, to pay the price we simply couldn’t pay. We have now the Spirit, and the Law is written upon our hearts. We are saved. We are Genuine. We are Authentic.
Sure, we’ve from time to time fallen back into the flesh, into some sin or other. But we don’t stay in it. We see it for what it is, and move away from it. Things aren’t rigid anymore. There’s flexibility. We don’t have to fit into a mould, fit into a small rigid box. We are free to walk in the way the Spirit guides us. Free from condemnation.
This way of walking didn’t come easy for me. Call it legalism. It doesn’t have to be enforced by a church; it can be self-imposed. I must do this, or that, or . . . But I don’t have to be that way. That’s the freedom we have in Messiah. The freedom we have in the Spirit. It means we can serve G-d in a way that’s uniquely tailored to our personalities, our gifts, our talents.
There are time, however, in which we are called to stretch ourselves out of the comfortable, into other paths. We are promised, however, the Lord’s Lamp to guide our feet, His Light to guide our paths.
These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work. 1 Chron 4:23.
C.H. Spurgeon in Morning and Evening (June 03) uses this scripture to speak about service to Christ that is less than glamorous. He mentions that some are called to live in the country and not the city, as they might prefer.
I am reminded of the fellow in SLO with whom I once discussed St. Francis of Assisi. He said he was so very suited to be in a monastery but a friend said he could, and should, “make the world his monastery.” His life could be spent not doing what is comfortable for him, but what is not within his comfort zone.
For me, it’s helpful to know that the Lord won’t let us bite off more than we can chew. I’m a county boy at heart. I long for the wide-open range, the mountains, a long stretch of barren beach. A small town is okay, too. As I’ve said before, I’ve little use for cities. But, then here I am, a stone’s throw from Atlanta, Georgia. And I’ve accepted that it is this way for the moment. Praise the Lord, for when I am up to my neck in too much city, the Lord allows me to find times of refreshing, both physical and emotional/mental, with Him.
Jonah’s Song 