Author's intent

While reading the Preface to Farrar's The Life of Christ I ran across this gem:

I have never wholly lost sight of the fact that I had to work with no higher object than that thousands, who have even fewer opportunities than myself, might be the better enabled to read that one Book, beside which even the best and profoundest treatises are nothing better than poor and stammering fragments of imperfect commentary.

If only every author took such a view.

Poverty is More Than Lack of Resources

"What is poverty?" is the question Sr. Saul of Armonia asked our group as our team met in a house outside Mexico City appropriately named Casa Blanca for its beautiful white walls. Most of the responses the group came up with had to do with lack of money or resources. And certainly that is part of the story of poverty. But what Sr. Saul opened our eyes to is that one of poverty's major factors is isolation.

To illustrate this let me tell you about my Monday morning this week. As usual I was driving my two oldest children to school along with two other friends with whom we carpool. About 5 minutes from the school my phone rings and it is a good friend whose children happen to go to the same school. I joyfully answered the phone sharing our customary greeting. Ricky wasted no time in telling me that his van had broken down as he was driving his kids to school. Could I help him because he had all the car seats and though they have a second car his wife was stuck at home with no way to transport the younger children to pick him up. I dropped off my kids at their school and then gladly drove across town to help my friend in need.

But what would he have done if he didn't have friends to call? It's something that the middle class takes for granted- community. I don't know what would have happened but I can imagine some of the domino effects. His kids miss school, he shows up ridiculously late to work if at all and faces the consequences, his wife is stuck at the house all day with no way to transport kids if they get sick, etc... It's easy to see that relationships hold us up when life takes a bad turn. But if you don't have relationships you can count on things spiral downhill very fast.

We learned lots of other things about poverty while in Mexico that go way beyond lack of resources. What are some of the primary lessons you've learned?

John Stott's trinitarian morning prayer

Apparently it was John Stott's practice to begin every morning at 5am, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and praying this prayer:

"Good morning, heavenly Father; good morning, Lord Jesus; good morning, Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father, I worship you as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. Lord Jesus, I worship you, Savior and Lord of the world. Holy Spirit, I worship you, Sanctifier of the people of God. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live this day in your presence and please you more and more. Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you. Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three persons in one God, have mercy upon me. Amen."

You can find the reference and an article on John Stott for his 80th birthday (10 years ago) here.

Mission or Worship?

I asked a question via Twitter today:

Would you say that the primary purpose for Christians on earth is mission or worship?

The responses were very interesting. As I expected, most responses were something to the effect of "mission is worship". On one hand I agree with that. In fact Romans 12 which I consider to be a cornerstone passage for my life teaches the same thing. (my Rom. 12:1 paraphrase: In response to who God is, give your very life as an act of worship.) Worship is expressed much more clearly through lives of mission than singing ever could.

Yet, in spite of all that agreement I think I have to say that worship is the primary calling. We were created for worship, not for mission. Don't get me wrong, I do believe mission is essential. To use someone else's illustration, I would say that worship and mission are like two blades of a pair of scissors. Either without the other isn't really doing anything. But still, I must say that worship is primary. Because mission is only needed where authentic worship has been traded for false worship. And that is the crux of the matter. Mission as evangelism is needed where others need to hear about the one true God and what he has done on our behalf. Mission as justice is needed where humanity has tried to "play God" in someone's life resulting in oppression, exploitation, and injustice.

So in my mind, worship is our primary purpose but it finds its true expression in mission as we seek to respond to God's self-revelation with our lives and not just our lips.

What is your take on the relationship between mission and worship?

allegory vs. parable

One of the most common mistakes in understanding the Bible is to confuse teaching through parable and teaching through allegory as being the same. Jesus actually used both though he more commonly taught using parables.

The key difference:

• allegory - the similitude is intended to be drawn at many points
• parable - an everyday story told to illustrate one main lesson

examples of each:

• allegory - the Good Shepherd in John 10, the Vine and the Branches in John 15, even the Sower in Mark 4 (Jesus interprets the many points of allegory)
  
• parable - the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 (chiefly intended to illustrate the definition of loving your neighbor, not what the innkeeper represents, who the Samaritan represents)

-thanks to John Stott for good definitions found in Understanding the Bible

What To Do With Over Ripe Bananas

If you have bananas that get a little too ripe for your taste here's an idea of what you can do with them. Cut them into slices a quarter-inch thick and spread them out on wax paper side by side. Then put it them in the freezer and the next day you have a perfect frozen treat.

Once frozen, the mushy texture problem is gone and they are sweeter and tastier. Sometimes I will eat a few slices to satisfy my craving for something cold and sweet after dinner.

(I got this tip from my dad who puts the frozen slices in his cereal to add fruit and make the milk colder.)

Can you intentionally grow in humility?

Yesterday I ran across this list of five suggestions to grow in humility. They are from former (continuing?) Archbishop of Cantebury Michael Ramsey of the Anglican Church.

1. Thank God for anything and everything. Do it often and continually. Thankfulness is a soil which pride can not easily grow in.
2. Confess your sins to God. Criticize yourself in God's presence.
3. Be ready to accept humiliations. They can hurt terribly but they will help you be humble.
4. Do not worry about status. The only status that matters is your relationship and proximity to God.
5. Use your sense of humor. Laugh about things and the absurdity of life. Be able to be serious but not solemn or you run the risk of taking yourself seriously.

I think that's a pretty good list. Humility is a slippery virtue, you can't really pursue it directly. I also just started reading Brian Sander's Elusive: The Pursuit of Jesus and Humility. More thoughts on that latter.

I have always thought of humility as a accurate perception of who we are. It doesn't mean we pretend we're bad at things in which we're actually good. But when we perceive ourselves in relation to God we can not but see our smallness.

Is the Gospel Fire Insurance

It is quite common for Christians today to decry a Gospel that is presented as fire insurance. Usually, what is meant by this is that the Gospel is surely more than something we "believe" in which will keep us from going to hell.

I remember being told once that when a person becomes a Christian, the only reason for God not to take them to heaven right away is so that they can share the Gospel with others, so that others might be saved. This is the kind of thinking that is associated with the Gospel as fire insurance. And surely it is a misrepresentation of creation, humanity, and salvation.

But Jesus' statement in John 3 struck me the other day. Here are the two verses immediately following our beloved John 3:16.

¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

One reason the Fire Insurance Gospel is wrong is because insurance is something we get in case something bad happens to us. It will then protect us or restore us somehow. But John 3:18 states that whoever does not believe in Jesus stands condemned. The verdict has been pronounced. Condemned and guilty. It's not a question of whether something bad might happen to us. Like, we might get thrown into hell. We are condemned.

But Jesus offers us great news. We can trade our condemned status for not-condemned status. Who wouldn't take that? Make no mistake, this is no insurance, this is a life-line thrown to someone heading to the gallows.

Extreme Home Makeover

It's been an interesting week in Gainesville because Extreme Home Makeover has been building and filming here. It has been even more interesting for us because we know the family that is getting the new house.

Yesterday a waitress made a comment to a friend and me that has stuck with me (and seems to be a common sentiment around town). She said, "I just don't think they deserve it." The reason many feel this way seems to be that they are not poor enough. As far as I know they are not overly struggling to pay their bills, their house wasn't falling apart, etc... The show seems to have picked them because they run a non-profit music school that aims to get their students to give back to the community through music.

Now, on one hand, I can certainly understand the feelings of those that think a family "more deserving" should have been awarded the new house. But the comment has stuck with me because who really is deserving of such a thing? Does "being poor" make a person deserving of a brand new, expensive house? What about giving selflessly back to the community? Does that really make someone deserving of such a gift? No, the truth is that nobody deserves such a gift.

I wonder if this same sentiment plays out in our thoughts and ideas on religion. Maybe as a society we've come to believe that the poor deserve to be rich. And we are all poor, spiritually speaking. Revelation 3 says:

"you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked."

Or maybe we don't believe that we are spiritually impoverished. Those are who the chapter in Revelation is really talking to. So, assuming we are spiritually poor and bankrupt, do we, like the waitress believe that we somehow deserve to be rich in God? That our spiritual state means that we should not be left there? Well, I believe the Bible teaches that we deserve nothing more then to be left in our spiritual poverty. Indeed, when we obey ourselves above all else we are in enmity toward God who demands we obey him and walk in righteousness. No, we do not deserve this gift.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

And that is good news my friends.

communion

I was sitting in church this morning and was a little too distracted by the people around me and having a hard time entering into the Lord's presence. When we finished singing, one of the pastors stood up and led us in receiving communion. I was so thankful for that time as the reality that Jesus gave his body and blood for me became real and I was able to see God's goodness and worship him. When the communion plate was passed to me I noticed that one of the cups had a little wafer floating in it (dropped accidentally I presume). I thought, "here is a way to serve those who will go after me" and I took the cup with the floating wafer. Immediately my mind began to think about communion mishaps and the impact on a view of transubstantiation they would have. But thankfully, my mind didn't stay there long and I resumed my contemplation on the cross and my sins forgiven.

It was a really good moment. One of clarity.

Now I didn't want to be a distraction in case someone sitting next to me saw the floating wafer so I tried to stealthily snatch out the wafer from the grape juice cup. I was successful! But a moment later as I was listening to the pastor and trying to hold both cup and wafer in one hand it happened.

I spilled the grape juice, not completely, but probably half of the little cup. The rest was on my hands and a small spot on my pants. And then it hit me. I am completely unworthy of the sacrifice that was made for me. I can't even hold the cup that symbolizes the blood that makes me clean. And with grape juice all over my hands I continued to worship.

idolatry

I was going to sit down and write a post about idolatry. (a subject I wish I wasn't an expert in)

But then I saw that I just wrote a post a couple of months ago about idolatry.

thinking while driving

On Friday I was driving and had a couple of good conversations with friends on the phone and at one point I just started thinking about the love of God. I was thinking about the implications of the fact that God loved us enough to let his only Son die in our place. Now that wasn't a completely new thought but it was really meaningful to me at the time. I was thinking about what that says about our value to God. What we're worth. That he would let Jesus die so that we could have a relationship with him. I mean, why would he do that? What do we have to offer him? It doesn't seem like a very good trade to me. And then it hit me. The thought I haven't recovered from yet. God traded his Son's life for ours, and he can not be called a fool.

longing for significance?

I've been thinking some lately about a perceived desire for greatness that I've identified in myself. I often have conflicting feelings about this realization because on one hand I think a desire for greatness can be fuel to do great things (hopefully for God). But on the other hand striving for greatness is a pursuit fraught with danger, both for my own soul and probably for others.

Then today I was reading a book by an author I trust and he talked about 3 basic human needs that God the Father met for Jesus in the account of Jesus' baptism. The needs for identity, security, and significance. Ahhh, significance... maybe that's what I've been searching for!? So, now I am wondering if it's really significance that I'm looking for, or if it actually is greatness, and whether one or both are good or bad or neutral. I'm confused.

thoughts on idols

For a long time the idea of idolatry confused me. I would read about idolatry in the Bible but I didn't know anyone who made a little idol and bowed down to it to worship it. How did the idea still have relevance to us today?

Slowly over time I've begun to see that the warnings against idolatry have huge implications for us today. We may not fashion a little figurine from stone or wood but essentially an idol is anything that we put our trust in instead of God. And I and almost everyone I've ever met puts our trust in a lot of things instead of God. Of course the big an obvious one is money. I need to constantly remember that a job that pays, or money in the bank, or retirement savings, or whatever is not what provides for me. It is the Lord. Many of us have been reminded that money and jobs are not as reliable as we thought during this recession.

But there are lots of other things we're tempted to put our trust in (idols) out there. We put our trust in family and friends for happiness, we trust in health insurance and doctors for health, we trust in clothes, cars, houses, and vacations for status. The problem with idols is that they cannot deliver. They are dead to provide us with what we really want and need. I ran across these verses in Psalm 115 this morning:

vv.3-8 (italics mine)
Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.
But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands.
They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell.
They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor cant they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.

These verses make sense of Jesus' confusing words in Mark 4:9-12. Jesus basically quotes Isaiah 6:9,10 and says that many who hear his words will be like those who see but don't perceive, who hear but don't understand. If they did they would turn to the Lord and be forgiven.

Psalm 115 is saying that we become like the things we put our trust in (idols). And Jesus is saying that when we trust in other things we become like those dead things we trust in. We have eyes but can't really see and ears but can't really hear.

I heard recently that one of the primary tasks of anyone who preaches the Gospel is to point out and speak against the idols of the culture they're preaching in. I wonder what some of our other idols are?

Granddaddy's passing

Last week I traveled with my family to the Eastern Shore of Virginia for my grandfather's funeral. His passing was completely unexpected and has forced me to think about the inevitability of death for us all. I've thought before and wondered about the effects of a society that hides death in many ways. Though we are spared the uncomfortableness of death we slowly forget that our time really is short and tomorrow is never promised to us. Especially those of us who are relatively young.

It was really good to gather with family and celebrate the life of Granddaddy. He was an amazing man in so many ways. A father of eleven children, a husband for almost sixty years, a veteran, a farmer. He gave back to his community and traveled around the world sharing his expertise in farming to developing countries. He was committed and active in the church to the very end. And yet he always seemed to have time to play a game of Gin Rummy when I asked. He used to give me a quarter if I could cut the deck to exactly the 21 cards needed to deal a hand of Gin. We shared the same name. He was Thomas Berry Long, Jr. and I am Thomas Berry Long, IV.

Everyone who knew Granddaddy will certainly miss him but there are good things that come when someone we know and love passes away. I was comforted the morning I heard the news by the verse in Psalm 116 that says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of those faithful to him." Granddaddy was certainly faithful to the Lord and he is now present with him. It is precious indeed. He is now in the presence of the one who truly gives life. He has a new body, a body not touched by corruption, disease, or weakness in any way. What a wonderful thing! I can't wait for that reality to be extended to all of creation and to everyone in right standing with God.

But there is another thing that is good that comes from an encounter with the reality of our mortality. It gives focus and direction to our life. When I pause to reflect on the truth that I have but a short time in this life it makes me want to live more intentionally. To make my life count for something whenever my time is finished. To be more present to my family and friends, to enjoy the good things in life, and to work with purpose for things that will last. In days past it was much more common to wake up in a house where someone had passed away. The reality of death was much closer to home then it is today where most people (in our country) die in a hospital. We've lost something as a society in that. But in light of eternity, I want to live out my days in a way that will count. I'm so thankful to the Lord who offered me eternal life and forgiveness for the sins that separated me from him. In light of that, and with the reminder that my time on earth will pass, how could I not gladly offer my life back to the Lord. To run the race of life with endurance, fixing my eyes on Jesus, being cheered on by the faithful, like Granddaddy, and not losing heart.

How many times do I have to learn?

This morning I read in Psalms 103: "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him"

It reminded me of something that happened to me in Haiti on this trip:

We had been working for a couple of days, digging ditches and laying pipes to bring water to people's houses from the community well. I was swinging a pick axe to break up the ground so that someone could come behind me and shovel out the dirt for the ditch. Once, as I brought the pick axe up over my head before bringing it down I felt the all too familiar pain in my lower back that has come to precede a major bout of back pain. Typically, after something like what I felt by the next day I will be immobilized in pain and unable to even walk correctly for at least a week.

I put down the axe and moved to side of the road and began to think about how I was going to navigate the rest of the trip once my back stiffened up. Graciously some members of the team surrounded me, laying hands on my back, and began to pray for God to heal it. At first I was grateful for their compassion but as they prayed I began to feel more and more uncomfortable. I began to protest their praying because I was becoming aware of all of the pain, hunger, and brokenness of the people in the village we had come to serve. It felt wrong to pray for my needs when there were so much greater needs around us 24 hours a day.

I believe a spiritual battle was being waged at that moment. Nick, an InterVarsity staff colleague said some words in response to my protest that I believe were directly from the Lord. He said, "Even in the midst of the poverty and pain of these people the Lord cares for you as well." That my needs, no matter how small, are not insignificant in the eyes of the Lord. I realized in that moment how much I struggle with God's love, especially when I'm in touch with how unworthy I am. But that is part of receiving God's grace and it is truly hard for the proud. And sadly, I am still a very proud man.

(Amazingly, in spite of me, the Lord took away my pain that day and though it didn't go away 100% it never hindered me from working or moving around for the rest of the trip. In the moment of the injury it felt exactly the same as previous times when I've been immobilized for a week. Call it what you want, but I believe it was the healing grace of our Lord.)

Haiti

I returned yesterday from 9 day trip to Haiti. What InterVarsity calls a Global Plunge. Fifteen InterVarsity students and three staff traveled to the village of Neply in Haiti on the Leogane plain. We were about an hour due west of Port-au-Prince.

The people and land of Haiti both captured and broke my heart. It is a beautiful land, with sugarcane fields spanning the plains and rising into mountains, but much of the land, like it's people has been stripped and left impoverished. On our trip, we got to come alongside a group of men who have banded together to seek the betterment of each other and the people of Neply. There are a fraternity of sorts and if you're interested you can check out their site here.

We walked twenty minutes each day from Neply to another small village called LaSalle where we brought running water to the front yards of ten homes in the village. Previously there was one well in the center of the village that every household had to travel to multiple times each day, filling up buckets or containers with water and traveling back to their homes in order to cook, do laundry, and for all their water needs. The look of pure joy on the people's faces as they turned on a water spigot in their front yard made all the work and effort worth it. God is good and the faith of many in Neply challenged ours greatly. The question of what is needed in a place like Neply has left me with more questions than answers.

I hope to post some more reflections here in the days to come. For now, I'm enjoying being home with my family and wrestling with some of those questions the trip left me with.

having kids can help your social life

Today my wife and I went to go watch a kids soccer game. We loaded up our four kids in the mini-van and traveled the twenty minutes across Gainesville to where the game was being played. I held my ten month old son for awhile but put him in his stroller after my arms started getting tired.

A couple of minutes later my wife looks over at me and asks, "What's that?" I look down and sure enough, there's a poop stain two inches in diameter right on the front of my shirt.

How glad I was to be twenty minutes away from my house.

irresponsible environmentalism

This morning around 10:30am I started to get hungry while I was at work. My office is in a local Presbyterian church here in Gainesville and the space they let us use is at the end of a long hallway where, honestly, not many people ever come. Anyway, I was getting hungry and luckily I had a banana in the office. A little more ripe than ideal, but hey, when you're hungry, a few brown spots aren't that big of a deal. So I ate it.

Afterward I was presented with a dilemma. I didn't want to throw the banana peel in my garbage can because it takes me a long time to fill up a can and it would be sitting there for weeks in all likelihood. I'm imagining bad smells, fruit flies, etc... and I didn't want any part of that.

So casually, I roll up the window next to my desk and slip the banana peel out the window and behind the shrubs. I go back to work thinking, that's fine, the banana is bio-degradable right? It will become nutrients for the shrubs. It's a good thing.

How quickly my tune changed when ten minutes later I see the pastor of the church walking behind my office coming straight for my window. He's walking with another guy (nobody ever comes back here) and they seem to be talking to themselves. Then to my horror, he stops across from my office and goes straight to the water spigot under my window. There's nothing I can do now, I'm sitting at my desk, pretending to work and not notice him but he had to reach within 12 inches of the fresh banana peel that only I could have left there. He couldn't have missed it. And I have to decide whether I will look him in the eye or pretend I don't notice him...