What Kids Do Best

Jesus scolded His disciples when they wanted to keep children from Him. He instructed them to do the opposite; they were to extend themselves to make sure children got to Him. In one of his songs, King David wrote that "from the lips of children and infants God has ordained praise." I felt the joy and power of that reality this last weekend as I watched the children of our church family present a cute and fun but poignant holiday musical.
To often in my professional and volunteer work in the community I see what happens to children who are deprived of play and praise and forced to survive. Under developed life skills become the permanent skills for life. Joy is replaced by a seriousness. And winsomeness is lost in clouds of fear, anger, depression, addictions, and desperate selfishness.
So I have a thought about children; they were created for play and praise. In play they explore their imaginations, develop their physical skills, pursue the arts, and create a mind capable of story and connecting thoughts. In praise they are able to bring all of these things into focus as they fulfill the ultimate goal of humanity. The Westminster Catechism asks the question "What is the chief end of man (humanity)?" The answer is "To know God and to enjoy Him forever." When children are given the chance to express and experience the chief end of humanity having been nurtured in an atmosphere of loving play they explode with potential.
When these things are taken away the person they could be begins to wither under responsibilities and copings they are not wired for nor are they truly capable of handling. Abuse, no fault divorce, abandonment, parentless homes, early onset competition, and the like have forced our children to grow up at unusual and unhealthy rates. And like bones that grow too fast, their personalities end up lacking the strength to support the demands placed on them. We then send these over experienced but under developed people into the world and wonder why they have trouble functioning as adults.
Just how drastically would our society change if we nurtured and protected play and praise in the lives of our children? "Suffer the children to come unto me" - Jesus of Nazareth.
Just thinking out loud . . .

The Other Thanksgiving

So here I am post Thanksgiving and pre Christmas. I have been a part of various Thanksgiving celebrations and participated in a variety of traditions. It seems that most of the traditions not related to food and football have centered around some form of expressing thanks for what we have. These are often considered to be "blessings" or "gifts."
But as I came through a series of events and conversations this past Thanksgiving I became aware of a different kind of blessing. The blessing of what I do not have. So while I am blessed to have food I am also blessed to not have hunger. I have friends and do not have loneliness. But this concept is not just limited to labeling the negative or opposite of every good thing I have. Because of Jesus and His work in my life, there are things that I simply do not have that without Him I would. I do not have confusion about identity. I do not have lack of purpose. I do not have hopelessness. I do not have certain addictions and their associated pain and loss. I do not have a blown budget and the burden of debt, even if I also do not have the income and pile of toys I sometimes think would be nice.
I heard an "old timer" - which probably means I heard somebody my age only I heard them a long time ago when I was younger - talk about what God saves us from and what God saves us to. I have been reminded this holiday season that what I do not have may be as big a blessing as what I have.

Something New

Someone was sharing with me the wisdom according to bumper stickers. They had read a bumper sticker that said "Nothing changes if nothing changes." It is kind of cute and then it is kind of deep; then it is profound. How many times have we had good intentions that never became realities? How many New Year's resolutions never made it till February?
I am reminded of another bit of wisdom - "To get something you have never had you have to do something you have never done." Desired results are not the same as the committment necessary to bring those results into reality. It seems that most of us have sincere desires for new and better things in our lives but we do not have the strength and committment to make those desires a reality.
When Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for I wonder if that means that faith is the consistent doing of things that produce what we hope for? It seems that faith in Christian circles has come to mean either how I feel about things or it is the vehicle by which I make God do things. But what if faith is the something changing of something in us so that something can change in us? What if faith is not believing that God can do something but acting in cooperation with what we believe or need God to do? If I am asking God to help me with an area of my life, maybe I need to make myself obedient to God in that area of my life. Maybe I need to bring faith - substance - to what I am asking God to help me with. If I need God's help with relationships in my life maybe I should get out of immoral relationships and treat the people in my life the way He said to treat people. If I need God's help with my finances maybe I should manage the funds I have according to His directions.
Nothing changes if nothing changes. Maybe faith is not wishing for things or just believing God can do things. Maybe faith is making changes in a way that gives substance to the desired results.
Just thinking out loud . . .

Passionate Thinking

A friend of mine once said "What the facts will not support conviction will carry." It is almost scary how true this is. It would seem that at some point the shear weight of facts would have some sort of influence but conviction seems to be an almost irresistible force. Conviction eliminates the inconvenience of listening. When you already know everything about everything it does away with the trouble of having to hear anything new or different. Conviction eliminates the need for thinking. When you already know everything about everything you can pass on gathering facts and evaluating information. Conviction eliminates all that messy relationship stuff. Why bother to get to know people when you already know who they are, how they think, and what they are up to. I have recently been identified by a person with great conviction as part of a vast conspiracy. The advantage here for this person was that they were completely spared the necessity of gathering facts or actually talking to the people involved. Conviction really speeds up the process.
I have another friend that commented that many of the interpersonal problems we have individually and at societal or even international levels happens when we get a case of "hardening of the categories." Conviction eliminates the need for thinking and hardening of the categories puts people in predetermined sub groups of good and bad.
How much harm has been done because people just knew what was going on and what people were like without ever taking the time to find out if any of their perspectives could be supported by facts?
In my case, I am sleeping pretty well while this other person is lying awake at night wondering what I am up to.

Exciting or Scary?

What is the difference between the most exciting thing you have ever done and the scariest thing you have ever done? Jeanette accuses the men in her life of only thinking things are fun if there is the possibility of bodily harm, the more harm potential the more fun.
But as I consider this question it strikes me that maybe the difference is often perspective. Is ski jumping exciting or scary? Is sky diving exciting or scary? It seems that often the issue is perspective. Perspective can be in part how we are wired. Some people seem to only have scary situations and never have excitement. Other people do not seem to be smart enough to ever be scared. Experience has much to do with it. I am not personally sure yet about the sky diving question but I heard an Army Ranger who insisted it was no big thing; he had done it many times.
When it comes to the events of life Scripture tells me that perfect love casts out fear and that Jesus has loved me perfectly. My wiring has some influence here but my experience even more. If my experience is that of being loved with a perfect love then life and all if its circumstances seem much less scary. Maybe even things like criticism are exciting opportunities to grow instead of scary events to be avoided. Maybe people are at least as potentially exciting as they are potentially harmful.
Maybe being loved by Jesus is the most important aspect when it comes to determining whether someone or something is exciting or scary.
Always thinking out loud . . .

The View

I heard a guy say that you have to climb the hill to enjoy the view. There is much to be said about enjoying the journey and living in the moment. But there is also a lot to be said for enjoying the view which is only enjoyed by those who climb the hill. The higher the hill the better the view. The higher the hill the longer the climb. So how much do you want to see? How much do you want to understand? Enjoying the climb, finding value in the path, building relationships along the way are all significant elements in life. But I think there is a greater sense of destiny if I am valuing those aspects of the journey with a clear determination to get to the top. So while I may not arrive as quickly if I am enjoying the journey and valuing the relationships along the way, I believe that these are also enhanced by actually enjoying the view at some point. Too often we reduce things to either/or instead of both/and. Some people have become so goal oriented and task driven that they arrive at the view burned out and alone. The answer to that is not to start avoiding the view and just enjoying the path and the people, but to enjoy the path and arrive at the view together. May God help us get somewhere loving each other along the way.

A Vision of Encouragement

Last night was a tremendous night of prayer and worship. What was impressive was the confirmation that God has a passionate concern for the people that we love. We sang "He is brighter than their darkest night; He is stronger than their toughest fight." I want to pass on to those of you that were not able to be with us that God loves the people you love even more than you love them. But the real difference is all that He can do for them that you cannot do. What a privilege it is to know that we can present the ones we love to the God who loves them; the God who can penetrate their circumstances with power and grace.

One of the men who shared in the worship and prayer time with us had an encouraging vision during our time together. He saw a large brick wall. Satan was sitting on the wall laughing at a man who was below him digging at the mortar between a couple of bricks. It appeared futile and even a little silly to be working on such a large wall by scratching at the mortar between a couple of bricks. But when the vision began to move closer it became apparent that the person working on the mortar between the bricks had the scar of a nail on the back of His hand.

I will let the Holy Spirit apply the visions that He brings, but I would encourage you to consider that maybe some of the things you thought hopeless are being changed by the persistent power and presence of Jesus. After all, this would not be the first time that God dropped walls on behalf of His children.

A New Assignment

So tonight is my first official City Council meeting. The last couple of days I have been reflecting on how I got here. I did stick my nose in things a few weeks ago when I offered to do mediation work with the former council. So I take on this assignment with that motivation still in tact. I want to be a man of peace who can function with the wisdom of Daniel in government.
But I did not arrive at this place completely by chance. In a letter to the exiles in Babylon, Jeremiah tells them to "seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Read Jeremiah 29:4-14 for the whole context) So as an exile from heaven living in Grants Pass it seems fitting that I should seek the peace and prosperity of the city I am in.
My having served on over a dozen boards, mostly of non-profits or service providers, comes from a firm conviction that though my eternal citizenship is in heaven my current responsibility is to the city in which I live and the planet that I am on.
People speak of being so heavenly minded you are no earthly good. When I read about stewardship, good works, honor, and grace it seems that my being heavenly minded should specifically make me of earthly good. In fact, Hebrews 11 talks about people of great faith throughout history and concludes that they were people "of whom the world was not worthy" (Heb 11:38) rather than people who decided the world was not worthy. As Jesus teaches us "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father who is in heaven." (Mat. 5:16)
So while I had not planned to end up with this assignment and had actually resisted this assignment in the past I do not believe I have ended up here by accident.