WITNESSING

Everytime I get on a plane I have prepared through prayer to be a witness for Jesus. My flights are around three hours. That is enough time to establish a dialogue and share the truth of the gospel. Not every time though. Yesterday is a case in point. I sat next to a very congenial man. He was soft spoken, gentle and from what he told me, very generous. His goals were to be healthy and happy, both for himself and for his family. He was quite wealthy. He gave credit to God for his earthly talents and for his prosperity. As we talked I told him that he had everything except hope. He said a curious thing to me. What do you mean by hope? Describe hope. That set me back for a moment, I thought most everyone understood that term. I gave him an example of temporary hope. What he didn't want to talk about was eternal hope.
Our conversation was lively and punctuated with laughter, but the subject matter was directed by him. I did not share the story of God's love for him. He just wasn't willing to engage.
When we arrived at our destination, he offered me a very generous gift, something only he could do because of his position and power. I accepted his gift, I only wish I could have offered Jesus' gift to him in return.

SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP

We have a mandate. God calls all men who have placed their trust in Him, to be the spiritual leader in their home. I remember the first time I heard that statement. I was attending a men's conference in Lake Tahoe. The speaker, Dr. Dwight Hill, was giving us a punctuated message on our responsibilities as men. I remember thinking, "RIGHT, I'm called to be the spiritual leader in my home. Now just exactly how is that supposed to happen? First of all, my wife has been a Christian for at least 30 years, and I have been one for 4 years. I don't go to church. I don't give any money to God's work, I don't understand very much of what I read in the Bible. And follow that up with the very real practical fact, that my wife is independent. We started our marriage with the understanding that we would divide labor and responsibilities according to our abilities, not according to traditional male, female roles.
This so called mandate about spiritual leadership was sounding an awful lot like traditional roles, and I knew this would go over like a lead balloon at my house. Needless to say, I never mentioned it when I got home from the conference. But I thought about it a lot. I prayed about it. "Lord, what does that look like, being the spiritual leader? Lord, you know my situation, is that even possible in my household? Lord, does it really matter anyway? I mean, I know I'm going to heaven, you have already made that a reality for me, and I have never read that sentence in the Bible where it says, "YOU MUST BE THE SPIRITUAL LEADER IN THE HOME."
That's because that exact sentence isn't in the Bible, but spiritual leadership is woven throughout the scriptures. And the way to understand this role is through understanding the Bible.
I finally asked a man if he would disciple me so that I could grow in Christ. Through that discipleship process I began to develop a hunger for God's word and a dependence on prayer. All the while I was conflicted between what the world had taught me and what the scriptures were teaching me. Often times the two were harmonious, but when they were not, I ten ded to lean toward the world and what the hard fought lessons of life had taught me. Gradually I noticed that Jesus' promises were real, and that learning to trust and obey Him was the greatest source of peace in my life. I also learned that spiritual leaders lead by being servants. I was to serve my wife, serve my sons, serve my parents and serve my God.
Then one day, several years later, I was having a conversation with Gail, and during that conversation she said to me, "you are the spiritual leader in the home." The words almost knocked me over.

BOO

A lifetime of listening to predictions, along with scare raising statistics, has left me somewhat jaded. In 1953 my third grade teacher told me that the end of the world was very near. She based her prediction on the establishment of the Nation State of Israel in 1948. This is one of the prophesies in Revelation coming to pass, and I can easily understand how my teacher arrived at her prediction. But for me, a mere boy of eight years, I was very unsettled at the idea that my life here on earth was going to be cut short.

A few years later we were practicing climbing under our desks in preparation for an attack by the Soviet Union. I had two neighbors who were building concrete bunkers in their front yards and equipping them for an extended stay underground. I don't want to make light of this threat, it was very real. What I want to convey is worrying unnecessairly about predicted events. We were told that real butter was bad for you, and only margarine would do you no harm. Then it was changed to the opposite. The same thing was true of eggs. The food list continues along with supplements that the body supposedly cannot live without.

Just a couple of days ago, we passed the 300 million mark of persons living in the U.S.A. For the doomsayers who have been predicting catastrophe by the population explosion, this does not bode well for their cause. Radical ecologists and "greens," have been telling us that we are running out of natural resources. The earth cannot sustain such exploitation. 1968--in "The Population Bomb," distinguished scientist Paul Ehrlich declared, "In the 1970's the world will undergo famines--hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death."
1972--in"The Limits to Growth," the Club of Rome announced that the world would run out of gold by 1981, of mercury by 1985, tin by 1987, zinc by 1990, petroleum by 1992, and copper, lead and gas by 1993.
1976--Lowell Ponte published a huge bestseller called "The Cooling: Has the New Ice Age Already Begun? Can We Survive?
1977--Jimmy Carter confidently predicted that "we could use up all of the proven reserves of oil in the entire world by the end of the next decade. He announced this on T.V. to the nation.
Can you guess what my sense is about Al Gore's "Global Warming?" We fret about second hand smoke and banning peanut butter in schools.
It gives me great pleasure to have outlived all of the previous predictions, but the followers of Chicken Little are still out there and they are more boisterous than ever.

TRUSTING

This is what Jesus asks us to do. To place our trust in Him and Him alone. He makes it clear that money can't buy what He has to offer. Great intelect can't qualify you for what He has to offer. Proper breeding won't save us. Only Jesus can do that.

So I have been thinking about this part that we must do if we want to be saved. We must trust in Him. Trusting is easier for some than for others. Now I ask you, is that fair? Supposing you are like me and you are kind of a naturally suspicious guy. It would be easy to claim that this trusting business wasn't a level playing field. And that since God didn't give you the wiring or environment that spawns trust, you have been dealt with unfairly. You can easily understand why your friend George trusts in Jesus. George trusts everyone. You might even say that George is gullible. But not us, no sir. We look deeper into things. We search for the flaws. We know very well the misery of buyers remorse. We hate being taken advantage of. We like being one step ahead of the proposition. So I ask you again, is it a level playing field?

I Samuel 16:7b says, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward apperance, but the Lord looks at the heart." This means that God knows us better than anyone knows us including ourselves. It is also an assurance that if we will trust with whatever capacity we have, God will see the measure of it.

Early in the spring of 1991 when I decided to place my faith in Jesus to save me, I was completely alone. There was no dramatic build-up, no music, no beckoning from another, just me in the cab of a 1990 Ford pickup truck. I'm traveling at 70 miles an hour or so in light traffic. It's the middle of the afternoon. And talk about no reverance. I didn't pull the truck over to the shoulder and stop. I didn't even slow down. I didn't close my eyes and my prayer was short and direct. Jesus saved me in that moment. I remember the whole thing as if it were in slow motion.

I don't tell you these things because I am proud of them. Quite the opposite. I tell you this because "the Lord looks at the heart." That is why even the most suspicious man such as me has the same kind of access to Jesus as the trusting man.

The compelling thing about Christ is that He can be trusted completely. And He is patient as He waits for us to trust in Him more.

I move slowly. Trusting just a little bit more each day. And with each passing day I marvel at how faithful Jesus is. The more I trust the more I can rest in Him and His promises.

SORRY

Due to limited understanding on my part, I tried to replicate as best I could, a message that I thought didn't post. Therefore the similar message on blogging.

Blogging

There are two things that have taken root in me since I decided to start a blog. One is, writing takes talent and perseverance. The other is, I don't have as much to say as I thought I did.

These stumbling blocks not withstanding, I am still enamored with this new medium. I may not be willing to continue as a blogger myself, but the bloggosphere is here to stay. It is the outgrowth of a vibrant capitalistic system. It reeks of raw talent and risk taking. It leaves a string pretenders in it's wake. It reveals talents that otherwise might never be discovered. It has seriously challenged the traditional news system. In fact it has rocked their world. News will never be the same.

I remember the days of Walter Chronkite. I listened to him for decades, night after night. It seemed that when Walter spoke, he was second in authority only to God. Then came Ted Turner, and twenty four hour news. Suddenly there were real options and money to be made in news. And now, finally, the lid is off and the thinking public have found a way around editorialized,packaged news. The greatest part of this wild new adventure is how messy it is. We would all be suspicious if it were otherwise.

So, here's to the mess. Get involved or get run over.

TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OUT OF LIFE

Life is unfair. The righteous suffer while evil men prevail. Justice is capricious as life appears to unfold in random fashion; Innocent children are victims of war and flood, while piggish dictators ravage their people for personal gain. Good people get cancer and the brutish often live in wealth and enjoy good health and old age. [Ecclesiasties 3:11; 7:15, 8:14, Daniel 4:35; Job 11:7-9;33:13 Romans 11:33-34.]

It is easy to conclude, if God is good, then He must be weak. Otherwise He would stop the suffering and injustice. If He is strong and soverign, then He is cruel and indifferent for allowing the carnage to continue. The story of Job however shatters such thinking.

Job is a prosperous man. He has many children, he has wealth. He is a land owner. By all the standards we have established on earth, Job would be considered a blessed man. The account of Job states that one day, satan was conversing with God, and accuses Job of following God because he is so blessed in life. So, God gives satan permission to take everything that is Job's except his life. Job loses his health, his children, his wealth and the source of his income. Job's friends gather around him and argue that it is because of Job's sins that this has happened. In the end however, Job is given a double portion of all that was taken.

Think about these conclusions;

God reserves the right to use us for His glory according to His will. Exodus 9:16 Job 40;8 Isaiah 45:9; 64:8

Job demonstrates faith when the circumstances are grim and the suffering unimaginable. Job 1:20,21. See Job 1:22 and 13;15.

Job's well meaning friends assume that righteous people are the ones who prosper and that sinful men have tribulations.

Suffering deepened Job's retationship with God. Job 42:5.

God does not owe us an explanation for His actions.

In all of this Job's true blessing was a closer walk with God.

RENEWED RESPECT

I haven't written for a while. There are two things that have take root in my mind. The first is, writing takes more effort that I previously thought. The second is, I don't have as much to say as I thought I did.

I have been enjoying reading other bloggers. There is a lot of talent out there. In many ways, I feel priviledged to be alive during this groundbreaking time of our first ammendment rights. All my life I have allowed the news to be spoon fed to me. I spent decades hanging on every word coming out of the mouth of Walter Chronkite. It seemed to me that only God Himself could speak with more authority. Only after Ted Turner started offering a twenty-four hour news format, did I realize that I had real options put forth for my listening ear. And now, THE BLOGOSPHERE. Wow, what a revolutionary step in sharing information. I'll admit right here and now that I am greatly encouraged by this new medium. Blogging is an outgrowth of the indominable American spirit of invention, along with a Constitution that guarantees and protects the rights of individuals to actively participate in creative new ideas.

In fact the word "blog" is not recognized when I hit spell check. There is some irony in there somewhere. Never the less, blogging is here to stay. And overall we are the better off for it. As of this writing there is no more effective way to analyze the days events than to let the blogosphere shine it's light on what is reported.

Take a look at what is loosing market share in an unbelievably expanding market. Many major newspapers and all the major networks are scrambling to stay in the game. They are simply no longer relevant. Their packaging and editorializing has been exposed. They no longer even try to hold up the pretense that they are simply reporting the news. The very thing that is dragging them down is the system they refuse to overhaul. At this point it doesn't matter if they make a comeback or not. The citizenry has moved on. It is positively exhilerating the way capitalism is self purging. We are seeing it first hand.