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O Christmas Tree (reprise)

2008-12-05T21:40:00.004-06:00

I wrote this in December of 2004, but I still enjoy telling the story. Here it is again.

We did it! Saturday we set off in search of the perfect Christmas tree, a Lamb family tradition.

I told this story Sunday in my sermon, but left out some of the details. For those of you who missed it, I’ll bring you up to speed.

First, you have to know that I have a love/hate relationship with the annual tradition. I normally dread it and complain about it because it normally takes hours upon hours in the cold or rain or snow or in two out of the three elements. The reason it takes hours is not because of me.

I love my wife. I do. She’s wonderful, talented, cute…but she’s picky and when it comes to the tree, picky is only the beginning. She must have the perfect tree. She will have the perfect tree. We don’t take leaning trees nor trees with bare spots nor anything that is not a Frasier fir. It must fit perfectly with the decor of the family room where the tree will sit and we never seem to get the same kind of tree year to year. What she wants is in a continual state of Christmas flux. I was very scared this year when we set out and she said, “I know exactly the kind of tree I want. We need a taller thin tree, but full, so that it will fit alongside the sofa near the game closet. I have a picture of it in my mind.”

Fear. Much fear.

We arrive at the first lot, which is always the lot where we found the perfect tree the year before. Our thinking, however misguided, is that they must cut trees from the same tree farm that we got last year’s wonderful tree. This mentality is the same ridiculous one that guides lottery players to go buy tickets from the location where a big winner was picked. The perfect tree could turn up anywhere. There’s only one, after all.

I get out of the van and go lift the rear hatch. The kids have scuttled out into the labyrinth of trees and my wife has followed. I pick up my heavy coat, put on my leather gloves, close the back hatch and start walking toward the trees. As I reach the front of the van, she is walking back toward me.

“We found it,” she said, without warning me. “I think we found it. Come take a look.” In two minutes, I had spun the tree every which way, displayed it from every angle and by some act of God, with the angels rejoicing (singing Hosanna in the highest) my sweetheart said, “Let’s get it.” And we did.

I didn’t initially admit to her that I was somewhat let down about the whole thing. It had just been too easy. There was no pain involved. I wouldn’t have to lift 50 trees and stick my arm with 50 sets of needles. How can a tradition that requires so much effort normally be relegated to a simple business transaction? We found what we were looking for and we got ready to leave. I was happy, but sad.

To get the tree home we had to tie it on the roof of the van. The gentleman who was helping us said, “You gonna need some twine?” Sarcastically, my beloved said, “While you are up there, you could probably just reuse what he didn’t cut off last year.”

Sure enough, as I looked up on the roof rack, there was a part of last year’s twine, still attached. I reached up to cut it off with my pocket-knife and poked my finger with the point of the knife. I was happy again. I guess I had gotten some pain after all.

The tree is decorated now and it looks just perfect.

Pressed, But Not Crushed

2008-12-02T22:40:00.002-06:00

Reading: Psalm 116

There is so much tragedy in the world that for our sheer sanity, we often become numb to the pain of others. It isn’t right, though. Pain is pain and should be recognized. But we sometimes forget how much life can hurt until something happens to us personally. You can only be sheltered from tragedy for so long.

There are times in most of our lives when sorrow and stress and circumstances press us so greatly that we fear we won’t survive. We can’t see through the pain to another moment, let alone another day. Our hearts are broken. Our will is beaten down. It seems as if there is no goodness in the world and that no one really cares or knows this kind of pain.

It is during these times that two important things are likely to happen to those who believe.

1. A believer will fall to his/her knees and admit to God that he has no control in the situation and that he needs relief.
2. God will most often answer with needed peace and comfort.

God didn't create us to ignore us. He didn't send his Son into the world to give us a vision and split. He wanted a relationship with us where we would come to Him at any time — in times of joy and times of pain, in times of celebration and times of need.

When in pain, many people turn to the Psalms. The Psalms are different than most of the rest of the Bible in that they communicate very personally the inner convictions and feelings that come from the heart. The writers, David and others, bare open their souls with painful moments of betrayal, fear and emotional longing. They give us an excellent picture into human nature and our helplessness to control a world that is not ours to control. When nothing is left to do but cry out over a bad situation, David isn’t afraid to do it. He knows where strength is to be found.

The distinguishing characteristic that all the "giants" of Scripture share is this unwavering acknowledgement that God is a source of strength when all options seem to have run out. Later in the New Testament, Paul expresses it this way:

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. — 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NIV)

P.S. -- A warning: When the peace of God comes and you are relieved and feel the tremendous weight lifted from you, don't forget to thank God. Take a moment to remember the pain and see what God did for you. As you thank Him, you'll be teaching yourself once again about His unfailing love.

God at Panera

2008-12-02T09:53:00.003-06:00

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"— which means, "God with us." — Matthew 1:23

I’m eating lunch at Panera. I grab my food and nod my head to pray. Sometimes I do this. Sometimes I don’t. It always feels weird, but I feel better when I do. So I pray.

I look up and begin to eat. I dip into my soup and listen to a theological conversation happening behind me. An Episcopalian priest is educating a follower on the nature of fallen man and his relationship to God. It’s an interesting conversation in light of what I see in front of me. Three elderly women have gathered around a table for lunch. They hold hands and pray with sincerity. To my right, a woman eating by herself has something about St. Francis on her shirt. Behind her a middle-aged couple sits in a booth. The gentleman is too young for an oxygen tank, but he has one. His wife is wearing a simple cross around her neck. They haven’t lost hope.

God and thoughts of God are still surrounding us. God is still and will always be central to our way of life. No matter how much the world and the media and people who don’t know Him wish to cut him out of the equation, God will not be forgotten. Why?

It’s because hope is found in God. Real hope happens when we continue to look to Him and for Him. Hopelessness happens when we’ve abandoned the search and given up on the relationship. Hopelessness happens in my own life when I become so enamoured of myself that I don’t need to look to him and I don’t need to listen, so I ignore and stay away.

I love this about God. He’s invisible, and yet most of us believe in Him and many of us trust Him more than anyone else we know. Who else could make their presence known in such subtle ways as to be unrecognized and recognized all at the same time? Just a taste of God in your life will make you miss Him when you get too busy.

I don’t have a problem with faith. Maybe I’m gullible. But I sure enjoy the hope. I’ll spend a lifetime savoring it until hope is no more and joy is our ever-present reality. Until that day, I’ll settle for glimpsing God at Panera and listening to signs of him in the air.

Day 32: 2 Chronicles 7:11-23:15

2006-02-21T09:38:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 32. 2 Chronicles 7:11-23:15

Day 31: 1 Chronicles 24:1-2 Chronicles 7:10

2006-01-18T08:43:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 31: 1 Chronicles 24:1-2 Chronicles 7:10

Day 30: 1 Chronicles 10:1-23:32

2006-01-18T08:40:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 30. 1 Chronicles 10:1-23:32

Day 29: 1 Chronicles 1:1-9:44

2006-01-18T08:25:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 29. 1 Chronicles 1:1-9:44 This may be the toughest read you've had since the book of Numbers. There are a lot of names here. Bear with it. Tomorrow you'll be back into a record of the events of David's life. From an interest standpoint, it picks back up a bit.

For you geneaology buffs, these listings are very important. And for all of us really, these are historical records that back up the validity of Scripture. I once met a man who went through the entire Bible, researching every name and placing it on a family tree. It had taken him years to do. He was naturally very proud of his work. I wasn't as enthused as he was, but I got to thinking that what this man had done was incredible. He had taken a part of Scripture that we often overlook, and he had researched it thoroughly and it had built his faith. He no longer rests on the possibility that these geneaologies are correct. He has lived their evidence. He brought me a copy of the document he had compiled. When I saw it, I was in awe. I realized, perhaps for the first time, that there was an incredible amount of real painstaking work that went into keeping these records without flaw. And any group of people that goes to this much trouble to keep a record of their ancestry isn't going to embellish the record of events it has regarding its encounters with God. Sometimes we look at a passage like today's reading and we think, "Now, why does that have to be in there?" Trust God. We can rely on Scripture more because of its presence than if it were not included. He did it for the Israelites and his Covenant with them, and he did it for us.

Day 28: 2 Kings 15:27-25:30

2006-01-18T08:23:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 28. 2 Kings 15:27-25:30

Day 27: 2 Kings 4:38-15:26

2006-01-18T08:22:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 27. 2 Kings 4:38-15:26

Day 26: 1 Kings 16:21-2 Kings 4:37

2006-01-13T09:09:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 26. 1 Kings 16:21-2 Kings 4:37

Day 25: 1 Kings 7:38-16:20

2006-01-13T08:56:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 25. 1 Kings 7:38-16:20

Day 24: 2 Samuel 22:19-1 Kings 7:37

2006-01-13T08:52:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 24: 2 Samuel 22:19-1 Kings 7:37

Life and Work

2006-01-10T21:12:00.000-06:00

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Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

I forget who it was that once said to me, "I guess sometimes life just gets in the way of life."

Sorry I've been behind on the posts. I haven't been at my computer much since last Thursday. I had a whole lot of work and life come up. Because I was a little behind in the reading and because I was way behind in the posting, I called Sunday an off day and anyone who is completely up-to-date should be on Day 23. Got it?

Sunday I preached from the Day 16 reading in Joshua. We talked about finding the treasures that God has for us...many treasures, too many to find them all. I noticed that the Crossing of the Jordan has some great lessons for those of us who find ourselves needing to grow a bit, but who hesitate to cross our own personal Jordans. We asked ourselves six key questions, tied to six things that Joshua did.
1. Joshua Obeyed. When was the last time you chose God's way AGAINST your will?
2. Joshua drew close to God, had the people consecrate themselves, and they listened. What was the last thing God spoke to you about?
3. Joshua took steps of faith. What was the last illogical or irrational thing you did that only made sense in light of your life as a follower of Jesus Christ?
4. The Israelites watched God work and the took notice. What was the last thing God did in your life where you clearly saw his hand?
5. The Israelites honored God. They gave him credit. When was the last time you gave him credit?
6. The Israelites then remembered what he did. They wanted future generations to not forget. They built a monument in memory. What was the last monument you built to remember God's work in your life?

Since the message, I've had some ideas about these monuments and I think they're really more important than we know. I'm going to list some possible monuments. If you know of some others, please suggest them.

My list:
A flower garden to honor God's promises kept.
Something in a frame to remind you that God rescued you from debt.
A Scrapbook of your photos with your church family.
A prayer journal that highlights the answered prayers.
Planting a tree when a member of your family accepts Christ.
A stepping stone to remind you of the addiction from which you may have been released.
A piece of art, a carving or pottery that you make to commemorate the one who created you.
A Family Bible that gets used, with room for inscriptions.

Day 23: 2 Samuel 12:11-22:18

2006-01-10T20:49:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 23. 2 Samuel 12:11-22:18

Day 22: 1 Samuel 28:20-2 Samuel 12:10

2006-01-10T20:32:00.000-06:00

Here is the Scripture reading for Day 22. 1 Samuel 28:20-2 Samuel 12:10

Day 21: 1 Samuel 16:1-28:19

2006-01-10T20:27:00.000-06:00

Here is the Scripture for Day 21. 1 Samuel 16:1-28:19

Day 20: 1 Samuel 2:30-15:35

2006-01-10T20:14:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 20. 1 Samuel 2:30-15:35

Day 19: Judges 15:1-1 Samuel 2:29

2006-01-05T17:48:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 19. This is a lot of ground to cover in a day. It's the same number of pages, but so much happens. You have to love the story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz. Judges 15:1-1 Samuel 2:29

Day 18: Judges 3:28-15:12

2006-01-04T21:51:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 18. Judges 3:28-15:12

Fit Bodies, Fat Minds

2006-01-03T22:06:00.000-06:00

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Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

It's that time of year.

I'm not stepping on the scale because I know I'm 15 lbs over the 30 lbs that I'm normally over. It's that time of year when we all begin thinking of our health and getting into shape and feeling great. I love it! I normally add a little dose of guilt to every day after New Year's that I don't exercise. By February, if I haven't started exercising, I'll be in a bad mood. You'll see.

So it's strangely wonderful to be reading the Bible through right now. I don't have the time to exercise and I don't feel like I have the time to read, but I continue plugging along. Right now I stand at 2 1/2 days behind schedule. Several of you are even further back. But don't fret! This is a personal paced read-through and some people are only now joining us. They won't be trying to catch up. They're just planning on finishing a little later. No matter where you are in the reading, keep reading. We are around 1/6 of the way through! That's really pretty far. I don't know about you, but it seems like the reading is getting easier. And I'm getting more excited about it every day. The reading has ceased to be drudgery and it now feels really good and I'm very interested in what I'm learning. God just seems to keep laying it on me. The reading and work have left me very little time to write, but I'm marking up my text and I'm having a good time while I'm gaining a new perspective. God is good, all the time.

So about my body. I'm going to try to exercise a bit. I like to run when the weather is warm. I think right now I'm going to stick with sit-ups and some walking on the treadmill.

Also, I'm thinking about a few days of fasting here and there. Not to lose weight, but to pray. I feel like the reading is helping me to grow and I'd like to take advantage of that opportunity to come closer to God and really listen to what He has to say. If you get a chance to add a fasting day or two to your schedule, I think it will make a big difference.

Os Guinness wrote a book a few years ago called Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don't Think and What to Do About It. Guinness talks about the dumbing down of our culture and he makes a great case for the need for intellectual Christians, those who aren't afraid to think. Let me read you a portion of his text.

"The first step in reformation is repentance. We evangelicals need to confess individually and collectively that we have betrayed the Great Commandment to love God with our minds...God has given us minds, but many of us left them underdeveloped or undeveloped. God has given us education, beyond that of most people in human history, but we have used it for other ends. God has given us great exemplars of thinking in Christian history, but we have ignored them or admired them for other virtues. God has given us opportunities, but we have failed to grasp them because we have refused to think them through before him."

As you make your New Year's resolutions, if you do, don't forget the exercise of the mind. You're doing the right thing by reading God's Word. But don't just read it. Think about it.

Day 17: Joshua 15:1-Judges 3:27

2006-01-03T21:16:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 17. Joshua 15:1-Judges 3:27

Day 16: Joshua 1:1-14:15

2006-01-02T17:41:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 16. Joshua 1:1-14:15

Fun With Numbers

2006-01-01T19:02:00.000-06:00

386px-Penteteuch2
Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

This is a portion of Numbers 6:13 taken from a 12th century manuscript in the British museum. And you thought reading it in English was difficult.

Admit it. When you think about the book of Numbers, your head goes numb.

Yet a lot happens of great importance in the book of Numbers. Joshua comes on the scene in Chapter 13 and really gains center stage in Chapter 27. (We saw him in Exodus, fighting the Amalekites, but it is in Numbers where we begin to see his importance.)

In the first half of Numbers, we see a lot of numbering going on. There is a census. God asks Moses to count the people by tribe. He has the Levites counted separately. Each tribe brings offerings. Their offerings are counted. It seems pretty redundant, but it is fascinating if you think about it. We're looking into historic records. Today, you can go out on the Internet and look at the U.S. census records and you see large counts of people, with demographic information and geographic data. When we look at Numbers, we are looking at an accurate accounting of the Israelites. It is pure history. The numbers didn't thrill them, either. But God wanted people of future generations to understand how many people he led out of Egypt and how many people belonged to each tribe. He wanted them to understand their roots. These people did a great job of cataloging and counting and recording. It is amazing to think about the precision with which they did these things. But alongside the numbers that seem so tedious, we get MIRACLES!! And the account of these miracles is almost as clinical as the numbers themselves.

"On the day the tabernacle, the Tent of Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it and at night it looked like fire."

So, are we to believe that these people who took so much care to record accurate numbers, all of the sudden began to weave half-truths and myths in with the text? I would find it very hard to believe that among all of this meticulousness we would get random doses of pure malarky. In fact, if we had more time, we could go into the way Scripture has been recorded and handed down to us. It is an amazing feat. But the book of Numbers certainly gives us food for thought.

If I get a little more time, I'd like to talk about Balaam. We see him twice in Numbers. Had I not been reading through, I might not have noticed that the second Balaam was the same guy who advised Balak to not attack the Israelites. This portion of Numbers really fascinated me on several levels.

Day 15: Deuteronomy 23:12-34:12

2005-12-31T17:59:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 15. Deuteronomy 23:12-34:12

Day 14: Deuteronomy 8:1-23:11

2005-12-29T17:53:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 14. Deuteronomny 8:1-23:11

Day 13: Numbers 32:20-Deuteronomy 7:26

2005-12-28T17:43:00.000-06:00

Here is the Day 13 reading. Numbers 32:20-Deuteronomy 7:26

Day 12: Numbers 21:8-32:19

2005-12-27T17:39:00.000-06:00

Here is the reading for Day 12. Numbers 21:8-32:19

Day 11: Numbers 8:15-21:7

2005-12-26T22:48:00.000-06:00

Here is the Day 11 reading. Numbers 8:15-21:7

Day 10: Leviticus 26:27-Numbers 8:14

2005-12-26T22:30:00.000-06:00

Here is the Day 10 reading. Leviticus 26:27-Numbers 8:14

Day 9: Leviticus 14:3-26:26

2005-12-21T21:45:00.000-06:00

Here is today's reading. Leviticus 14:3-26:26. Let's talk mildew, sacrifices, and feasts. I never paid much attention to the feasts until a couple of years ago when a friend sent me a book on the feasts written by a Jewish Christian Rabbi. The feasts are fascinating! I'll share more later.

Day 8: Leviticus 1:1-14:32

2005-12-20T00:04:00.000-06:00

This is the reading for Day 8. Leviticus 1:1-14:32. A new book. If you celebrate each new book, you'll get to have 66 celebrations in 90 days! I wonder which day we'll read the most books. I'm guessing it will be Day 86, but we'll see.

Day 7: Exodus 29:1-40:38

2005-12-19T23:45:00.000-06:00

This is the Day 7 reading. Exodus 29:1-40:38 My straw poll indicates that most of us are behind at times. For example, I'll have to read Day 7 and Day 8 tomorrow. I've decided to NOT include the date in my title any longer because many of us will be reading on a different date than the one shown. The great thing is, though we may be behind, we're still reading. So, go at your own pace, try to read 12 pages per day and continue posting when you have something to say or questions. Then, look back at posts and view responses when you have time. We made great headway in our first week. And remember this as well: The first two weeks are really the most difficult passages to read. Once we are out of the first two weeks, you'll be surprised at how much easier the reading gets, with the exception of the book of Job, which is fascinating in its own way, but can be a bit tough.

Day 6 Part 1: 12/17/05 Exodus 15:19-28:43

2005-12-17T11:05:00.000-06:00

This is today's reading. We'll take off tomorrow, 12/18, and later this week, 12/23, 12/24, and 12/25. Exodus 15:19-28:43

Day 5 Part 1: 12/26/05 Exodus 1:1-15:18

2005-12-17T11:00:00.000-06:00

As you can tell, I'm behind in the postings. Here was yesterday's assigned reading. Exodus 1:1-15:18

Day 4 Part 2: 12/15/05 Gen 40:12-50:26

2005-12-16T00:53:00.000-06:00

Okay, I don't often talk about Satan, but the last few days in my life are growing into evidence that he doesn't want me reading the Bible as intensely as we are. He must be afraid of our growth.

Not much of a post tonight. I got the reading done, Liv had a birthday party to go to, Zach had a Christmas concert, then I had to go rent a snake to clear our sewer line because the sewer was backing up. It's 1:00 AM and I'm just now sitting down to the compte. (I just fell asleep at the computer) So, check back tomorrow (an equally scary day) to see if I've posted anything further.

Day 4 Part 1: 12/15/05 Genesis 40:12-50:26

2005-12-15T05:16:00.000-06:00

Today's reading is Genesis 40:12-50:26. This is our last day in Genesis.

Day 3 Part 2: 12/14/05 Genesis 28:20-40:11

2005-12-14T22:42:00.000-06:00

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Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

Warning: You probably won't want to read this entire post, but you may.

Thanks to Joe Catholic for the Jacob wrestling the angel painting. I believe the artist is Franz Franc, but I'm unsure.

First off, I've been so busy that I'm finding it harder and harder to get my reading done. Hence my posts are coming later and later. Sunday I'm going to put in a catch up day. Also, I'm planning on giving us three days over Christmas, Dec. 23-25. So, don't worry if you are getting behind. There is hope.

Today's reading has some of the great Old Testament events. Jacob earning Rachel and Leah, Joseph and Potiphar's wife, as well as this Scriptural mystery, Jacob wrestling with God.

Tam mentioned this in her post. What is going on here? I personally love this story because we have NO REAL IDEA!!! If we take Scripture at face value, this story is strange. If we read our own interpretations into it, it just gets stranger. Was this man God? An angel? An angel empowered by God? Was he really almost overpowered by a mere man?

When in doubt about things, one of the first places I go to is the Matthew Henry Commentary. MH, knowing people were perplexed, even in his day (1611 A.D.), wrote quite a bit of material on these verses. I have placed it all below because linking was still going to have you searching through the document. After three of four paragraphs, you should get the general gist of where he is headed. You may disagree. But he does offer some plausible answers.

"We have here the remarkable story of Jacob's wrestling with the angel and prevailing, which is referred to, Hos. xii. 4. Very early in the morning, a great while before day, Jacob had helped his wives and his children over the river, and he desired to be private, and was left alone, that he might again more fully spread his cares and fears before God in prayer. Note, We ought to continue instant in prayer, always to pray and not to faint: frequency and importunity in prayer prepare us for mercy. While Jacob was earnest in prayer, stirring up himself to take hold on God, an angel takes hold on him. Some think this was a created angel, the angel of his presence (Isa. lxiii. 9), one of those that always behold the face of our Father and attend on the shechinah, or the divine Majesty, which probably Jacob had also in view. Others think it was Michael our prince, the eternal Word, the angel of the covenant, who is indeed the Lord of the angels, who often appeared in a human shape before he assumed the human nature for a perpetuity; whichsoever it was, we are sure God's name was in him, Exod. xxiii. 21. Observe,

I. How Jacob and this angel engaged, v. 24. It was a single combat, hand to hand; they had neither of them any seconds. Jacob was now full of care and fear about the interview he expected, next day, with his brother, and, to aggravate the trial, God himself seemed to come forth against him as an enemy, to oppose his entrance into the land of promise, and to dispute the pass with him, not suffering him to follow his wives and children whom he had sent before. Note, Strong believers must expect divers temptations, and strong ones. We are told by the prophet (Hos. xii. 4) how Jacob wrestled: he wept, and made supplication; prayers and tears were his weapons. It was not only a corporal, but a spiritual, wrestling, by the vigorous actings of faith and holy desire; and thus all the spiritual seed of Jacob, that pray in praying, still wrestle with God.

II. What was the success of the engagement. 1. Jacob kept his ground; though the struggle continued long, the angel, prevailed not against him (v. 25), that is, this discouragement did not shake his faith, nor silence his prayer. It was not in his own strength that he wrestled, nor by his own strength that he prevailed, but in and by strength derived from Heaven. That of Job illustrates this (Job xxiii. 6), Will he plead against me with his great power? No (had the angel done so, Jacob had been crushed), but he will put strength in me; and by that strength Jacob had power over the angel, Hos. xii. 4. Note, We cannot prevail with God but in his own strength. It is his Spirit that intercedes in us, and helps our infirmities, Rom. viii. 26. 2. The angel put out Jacob's thigh, to show him what he could do, and that it was God he was wrestling with, for no man could disjoint his thigh with a touch. Some think that Jacob felt little or no pain from this hurt; it is probable that he did not, for he did not so much as halt till the struggle was over (v. 31), and, if so, this was an evidence of a divine touch indeed, which wounded and healed at the same time. Jacob prevailed, and yet had his thigh put out. Note, Wrestling believers may obtain glorious victories, and yet come off with broken bones; for when they are weak then are they strong, weak in themselves, but strong in Christ, 2 Cor. xii. 10. Our honours and comforts in this world have their alloys. 3. The angel, by an admirable condescension, mildly requests Jacob to let him go (v. 26), as God said to Moses (Exod. xxxii. 10), Let me alone. Could not a mighty angel get clear of Jacob's grapples? He could; but thus he would put an honour on Jacob's faith and prayer, and further try his constancy. The king is held in the galleries (Cant. vii. 5); I held him (says the spouse) and would not let him go, Cant. iii. 4. The reason the angel gives why he would be gone is because the day breaks, and therefore he would not any longer detain Jacob, who had business to do, a journey to go, a family to look after, which, especially in this critical juncture, called for his attendance. Note, Every thing is beautiful in its season; even the business of religion, and the comforts of communion with God, must sometimes give way to the necessary affairs of this life: God will have mercy, and not sacrifice. 4. Jacob persists in his holy importunity: I will not let thee go, except thou bless me; whatever becomes of his family and journey, he resolves to make the best he can of this opportunity, and not to lose the advantage of his victory: he does not mean to wrestle all night for nothing, but humbly resolves he will have a blessing, and rather shall all his bones be put out of joint than he will go away without one. The credit of a conquest will do him no good without the comfort of a blessing. In begging this blessing he owns his inferiority, though he seemed to have the upper hand in the struggle; for the less is blessed of the better. Note, Those that would have the blessing of Christ must be in good earnest, and be importunate for it, as those that resolve to have no denial. It is the fervent prayer that is the effectual prayer. 5. The angel puts a perpetual mark of honour upon him, by changing his name (v. 27, 28): "Thou art a brave combatant" (says the angel), "a man of heroic resolution; what is thy name?" "Jacob," says he, a supplanter; so Jacob signifies: "Well," says the angel, "be thou never so called any more; henceforth thou shalt be celebrated, not for craft and artful management, but for true valour; thou shalt be called Israel, a prince with God, a name greater than those of the great men of the earth." He is a prince indeed that is a prince with God, and those are truly honourable that are mighty in prayer, Israels, Israelites indeed. Jacob is here knighted in the field, as it were, and has a title of honour given him by him that is the fountain of honour, which will remain, to his praise, to the end of time. Yet this was not all; having power with God, he shall have power with men too. Having prevailed for a blessing from heaven, he shall, no doubt, prevail for Esau's favour. Note, Whatever enemies we have, if we can but make God our friend, we are well off; those that by faith have power in heaven have thereby as much on earth as they have occasion for. 6. He dismisses him with a blessing, v. 29. Jacob desired to know the angel's name, that he might, according to his capacity, do him honour, Judg. xiii. 17. But that request was denied, that he might not be too proud of his conquest, nor think he had the angel at such an advantage as to oblige him to what he pleased. No, "Wherefore dost thou ask after my name? What good will it do thee to know that?" The discovery of that was reserved for his death-bed, upon which he was taught to call him Shiloh. But, instead of telling him his name, he gave him his blessing, which was the thing he wrestled for: He blessed him there, repeated and ratified the blessing formerly given him. Note, Spiritual blessings, which secure our felicity, are better and much more desirable than fine notions which satisfy our curiosity. An interest in the angel's blessing is better than an acquaintance with his name. The tree of life is better than the tree of knowledge. Thus Jacob carried his point; a blessing he wrestled for, and a blessing he had; nor did ever any of his praying seed seek in vain. See how wonderfully God condescends to countenance and crown importunate prayer: those that resolve, though God slay them, yet to trust in him, will, at length, be more than conquerors. 7. Jacob gives a new name to the place; he calls it Peniel, the face of God (v. 30), because there he had seen the appearance of God, and obtained the favour of God. Observe, The name he gives to the place preserves and perpetuates, not the honour of his valour or victory, but only the honour of God's free grace. He does not say, "In this place I wrestled with God, and prevailed;" but, "In this place I saw God face to face, and my life was preserved;" not, "It was my praise that I came off a conqueror, but it was God's mercy that I escaped with my life." Note, It becomes those whom God honours to take shame to themselves, and to admire the condescensions of his grace to them. Thus David did, after God had sent him a gracious message (2 Sam. vii. 18), Who am I, O Lord God? 8. The memorandum Jacob carried of this in his bones: He halted on his thigh (v. 31); some think he continued to do so to his dying-day; and, if he did, he had no reason to complain, for the honour and comfort he obtained by this struggle were abundantly sufficient to countervail the damage, though he went limping to his grave. He had no reason to look upon it as his reproach thus to bear in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus (Gal. vi. 17); yet it might serve, like Paul's thorn in the flesh, to keep him from being lifted up with the abundance of the revelations. Notice is taken of the sun's rising upon him when he passed over Penuel; for it is sunrise with that soul that has communion with God. The inspired penman mentions a traditional custom which the seed of Jacob had, in remembrance of this, never to eat of that sinew, or muscle, in any beast, by which the hip-bone is fixed in its cup: thus they preserved the memorial of this story, and gave occasion to their children to enquire concerning it; they also did honour to the memory of Jacob. And this use we may still make of it, to acknowledge the mercy of God, and our obligations to Jesus Christ, that we may now keep up our communion with God, in faith, hope, and love, without peril either of life or limb."

Day 3 Part 1: 12/14/05 Genesis 28:20-40:11

2005-12-14T07:59:00.000-06:00

Here's today's reading.

Genesis 28:20-40:11

Day 2 Part 2: So this is where the trouble started! 12/13/05 Genesis 17:1-28:19

2005-12-13T20:30:00.000-06:00

We cover quite a number of years in today's reading. Enough that we can see the similarities and differences between the generations. I had previously posted regarding Isaac and Jacob's shared desire to stay away from Canaanite women, and their common deception regarding making their wives pose as sisters.

But what really amazes me is the text below.

Genesis 17:15-20 (Today's New International Version)

Ge 17:15 God also said to Abraham, �As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.�

Ge 17:17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, �Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?� 18 And Abraham said to God, �If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!�

Ge 17:19 Then God said, �Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.4 I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.

Sarah and Abram get impatient and try to have a child through Hagar. Abram and Hagar have Ishmael. Then, just like God said, Abram and Sarah have Isaac. This is the births of the nations of Israel and Islam. The birth of two warring nations happens because Sarah and Abram took matters into their own hands.

Now I'm not normally one for saying, "What if?", but this one has my mind reeling. If a one-time slip up can cause world powers to wage war over the centuries, what can come of the so called "tiny sins" that I think are trivial in my own life? Now that we are really involved in Arab national affairs and Iran is trying to make Nukes for retaliation at Israel, we see that the consequences of sin in the world are many and catastrophic.

On a lighter note, the Christmas tree fell over this evening. Ornaments and needles everywhere. Our tree is really dead. If we have needles left by Christmas Day, I'll be surprised. For a good laugh, go read the 1daymore archives for last December's tree hunt. O Christmas Tree!

Day 2 Part 1: 12/13/05 Genesis 17:1-28:19

2005-12-13T08:01:00.000-06:00

Good morning!

Here is today's reading.

Genesis 17:1-28:19

Tam said that if I write as much as I did yesterday, it will take us another 90 days just to read my musings. So, I'll try to keep my notes shorter today.

Day 1 Part 2: 12/12/05 Genesis 1:1-16:16

2005-12-12T20:35:00.000-06:00

bind_cover_sm
Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

There is so much ground covered today! The Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abram and Lot. It all flies by so quickly. I have too many questions and comments to name them all.

First, Creation. It strikes me as easy to feel condescending to the writer of Genesis, traditionally thought to be Moses, but we are uncertain. When we see the writer saying, " God made two great lights--the greater to govern the day and the lesser to govern the night," we might be tempted to think, "What a quaint way of saying that." But let's think about it for a moment.

God designed this world to work! When you are awake, there is plenty of light around. When you need to sleep, the big light goes away and the little light comes out, so you don't run into things. How easy it would've been to just have the one light, but God knew we would need these things. The moon's purpose is so huge! It's gravitational pull affects the tides, and the tides have a purpose in the scheme of things. I have to wonder as well, when God made the moon, did he think, "Someday man will stand here and look down at my home for him." Wow! Nearly all of this creation material can be dealved into. It is awesome what God has created.

Okay, a couple of more thoughts. I'm skipping over the fall of man. It's important, but there's too much to cover. Did you notice that in Chapter Five, God appears to take Enoch directly to Heaven or wherever? All throughout Chapter Five it says, "So and so lived x number of years and then he died." But with Enoch it says, "Enoch walked with God 300 years...then he was no more because God took him away." There's some Bible trivia I would've missed.
Also, I would've liked to have known more about the Nephilim in Chapter Six. "They were heroes of old, men of renown." Hmm. Sounds like there were some great stories there that will have to wait.
In Chapter 13, we see Abram and Lot parting ways. They have a practical issue of resources and they decide to part company. How rare is that in history? Everywhere, when resources get scarce, people fight. When the herdsmen began to fight, Abram and Lot just got smart. Note that Lot picked the good land.
Chapter 15 is crucial. Much of history and what has transpired throughout the centuries hinges on the Covenant of God with Abram.

I'm peeking ahead to tomorrow's reading. Looks like Abram uses multiplication instead of addition to increase his decendents. I bet that gets him into trouble!

I hope you had a good day of reading. I'm praying for you. Tune in tomorrow! Comment if you wish.

DAY 1: 12/12/05 Genesis 1:1-16:16

2005-12-11T23:37:00.000-06:00

Here's the Day One Passage link if you need it.

Genesis 1:1-Genesis 16:16

Zondervan has a new Bible search tool that is easy to use. Go to Zondervan Bible Search and give it a go.

Notes:
Congratualtions for joining our endeavor. No matter how far you make it or how long it takes, my hope is that this next 90 days will be meaningful and that your time in God's Word will help you to grow.

About postings:
My current plan is to post in the morning and in the evening. Because I may be posting materials for the next day's readings, I will tag all of the information with the day I'm discussing and the initial date on which it was discussed. Don't get discouraged if you are not reading up to the pace of the days. Continue to post on previous days. As the moderator, I'll receive an e-mail when you post to any day. Speaking of e-mails...please forward me your e-mail address outside of the site. (To keep my spam down, I'll now give you my e-mail address so that spam readers won't catch it.) Send it to roblamb followed by @ followed by swbell.net. This way I'll be able to notify you if I am unable to make a post for any particular day. My disclaimer on my posts is as follows. Everything you hear from me is what I understand to the best of my knowledge. I am not perfect. I am occasionally wrong about certain aspects of Scripture and theology. If you think I am wrong about something, say so. We may refer questions to Pastor Jim from time to time. This is our free place to discuss, encourage, and learn. The goal of The Bible in 90 Days is to give us all a better understanding and a more complete picture of Scripture. It is also a small gift to our Lord -- a sacrifice of time and a commitment to focus.

I will be praying for each of you every day. May God bless you in these 90 Days.

Rob

Now this is cool.

2005-12-06T10:15:00.000-06:00

0_23_110705_israel_church3
Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

Evidence of the early church of Jesus Christ has been found in an Israeli prison. This may be a third century church, the earliest known Christian church structure. Most Christians in this area were worshipping in homes and hiding places to avoid persecution. Here's a prisoner, cleaning the ancient mosaics. I don't know how I missed this story, but I did. There's a small story within the story about a Roman soldier who gave money to the church.

If I get a few moments, I'll try to dicipher the Greek, though I think they give a translation in the story. Click on the link below.

Israel Church a Major Discovery

The Salvation Army -- A Tradition With a Mission

2005-12-01T10:44:00.000-06:00

menubar_shield
Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

There is almost no Christmas tradition better than the Salvation Army's bell ringers. First of all, they're ringing bells. It's the sound of the season. Second, they're collecting money from people before they go shopping, reminding them that there are many people in great need. Third, they are using the money wisely to feed the hungry, rehabilitate drug and alcohol addicts, and do many of those things that Christians are called to do.

Target has chosen to not allow the Salvation Army bell ringers this year. The Salvation Army raised $9 million last year in front of their stores. If you venture into your local grocery store or other store where they still have the Salvation Army bell ringer, please give a little more than usual. I've visited the St. Louis Salvation Army center for rehabilitation and I can tell you about the great work that they do. They are doing God's work in our communities.

Over the next few days I'll be posting some other ideas for holiday giving.

It's Incredible!

2005-11-27T22:45:00.000-06:00

images
Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

It's incredible how dumb Hollywood is. Friday night, my family and I went to see a movie. Six of us. I never really keep track of what we spend at the show (Tam always pays) but I'm guessing it costs us about $80-$100.

We wanted to see Zathura, but Focus on the Family's Plugged In website (invaluable) said that it had too many bad words. So we boycotted it. They lost our hundred bucks. How many hundreds did they lose? They may never know. But I came across an article from Fortune magazine back in January that finally puts some real numbers behind the stupidity of the business-end of Hollywood.

I could only find a complete reprint on an animation studio site, but here it is in its entirety.

The Dysfunctional Family-Film Business

Take the 90 Day Challenge!

2005-11-19T13:12:00.000-06:00

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Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

Read through The Bible in 90 Days with us and log your experiences and thoughts on 1 day more.

Order your copy through Rob Lamb and save $4 off the cover price of $19.99. We are ordering through Lay Renewal Ministries. We begin reading on December 8, 2005. NOTE: You don't have to use this version, but I encourage it. If you aren't going to use this version, let me know so I can get you a copy of the reading plan.

Ice Skates

2005-11-18T23:41:00.000-06:00

Ice Skates
Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

None of the rental skates ever look this nice. Look at how clean these laces are!

Circles on the Ice

2005-11-18T22:33:00.000-06:00

Genesis Chapters 16-28

As I test the Read the Bible in 90 Days Plan, I'm noticing one thing right off the bat. Reading it this way, we're going to see things and themes that we never considered when reading our smaller allotments. I was reading another blogger's comments a couple of weeks ago (it may have been on the "90 Days " site) and he said something about perspective that is right in line with what I'm seeing. On this particular day (Day Two) we see Abraham telling Issac, paraphrased, "Stay away from Cananite women. Get a wife from among our home people...a relative." Then we see Issac turning around and telling Jacob, paraphrased, "Look, don't marry a Cananite woman. Go get a relative from our homeland." Funnier still is Abraham passing Sarah off as his sister. Isaac remembers that dumb trick and does the same with Rebekah.

Life is JUST LIKE THAT! It's a circle and generations continually make the same mistakes and we live the same types of lives and we don't really learn much until we have lived the whole thing, and then we're gone. We know this, and we love life anyway. I got to thinking about this tonight as I ice-skated with Tammy and the kids. I held Olivia's hand as she held the wall and we went around the ice rink. I watched the clock. It took us 32 minutes to go around once. Once. But we had a great time. At one point we were going very slowly. I looked down at the ice and noticed that there were hundreds or thousands of lines in the ice from people going around time after time after time. Everyone here was going in circles...well, ovals...and they were having the time of their lives. We're made to love going in circles. If you've ever roller skated or ice skated you have undoubtedly thought about this before. Even in an activity that is so predictable, you can find peace and enjoyment and satisfaction.

Every year we go to Florida for vacation. We see family. We stay in the same room at the same beach place and build the same sand into sand castles. The only thing that changes is that the kids get a little bigger and we get a little more picky about the shells we collect. We go back and work for another year, look forward to Christmas, begin a new year, and do it all over again. We go round and round. We pursue growing in Christ, and hopefully we get a little closer to Him. We lapse at times but we charge right back and give it another go. We improve, we learn and we live, in circles.

Solomon captures the essence of of this feeling in Chapters One and Two of Ecclesiastes. At the end he comes to the conslusion that, "A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?"

As followers of Christ, we find meaning and joy in doing it all with God in mind. The difference between living a circular life without Jesus and living it with him is the satisfaction we have in grasping the gift. Each day comes from him. They won't all be fun. But we can live each day with his joy in our hearts and laugh at ourselves when we see our kids falling on the ice, knowing that we've been there before.

Blessed

2005-11-15T17:29:00.000-06:00

blessed
Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

Matthew 5:1-12

Sunday morning in Sunday School we've been covering the topic of giving. Last Sunday I related one of my many thousands of missed opportunities to share a little something when I didn't buy a gentleman's meal at Subway.

Perhaps God was seeing if I learned anything on Sunday, because Monday morning I had an opportunity present itself first thing. I drove into the agency and parked in the local parking garage. Lately, they have had a certain set of access doors closed, and I haven't been able to get a close spot near the stairs. So, I had a thought that this day I would just park on the roof to be next to the stairs. No one ever parks on the roof.

I pulled in, got out of the van, opened the access doors to the stairwell and was shocked to see a sleeping body laying next to the stairs. I couldn't see anything but a big lump in a sleeping bag with a couple of items sitting next to it. On my way walking past, I noticed that one of the items was an open Bible. Heading down the stairs, I thought, "Wait a minute. I only have a couple of bucks in my wallet. But this person, whomever they are, needs it more than I do." So I quietly snuck back up the stairs and laid the bills on the open Bible.

The end of the day came and I walked back up the stairs. It was raining. The person was no longer there. (I didn't expect that he/she would be.) When I got to my car, still the only one on the roof, I noticed a small strip of paper sticking out of my driver's side door window. This is the note, pictured.

I only gave about the equivalent of a cup of water to a brother in need. He blessed me with an acknowlegement...and a new perspective. When we see the homeless, we often place ourselves above them in our minds. We have social status and jobs, cars and money. But in this moment I saw the treasure we both have in God's Word. I hurt for my brother who lives on the street. But it looks like he knows Jesus, and that makes him the son of a King.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."

McCullough's 1776

2005-11-13T23:14:00.000-06:00

1776
Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

Let me know if you've read this ,but don't spoil the ending for me. I may want to read it very soon.

The Bible in 90 Days

2005-11-13T23:00:00.000-06:00

031093351X
Originally uploaded by 1daymore.

Would you like a challenge? I'm going to be reading The Bible in 90 Days, and I'd like for you to join me. It won't be easy, but it will be fun and you'll get a great deal of satisfaction out of knowing and growing together. Contact me for more information.

Flickr

2005-11-13T22:56:00.000-06:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Anne Rice: Do we celebrate?

2005-11-02T09:18:00.000-06:00

Anne Rice has apparently given up writing the deep dark fiction of demons and vampires. She has definitely made a turn for the better. But, should we be worried that she's going to be putting words in the mouth of Jesus?

I'm the eternal optimist. I'm hoping that her new fiction grabs some of her old readers and leads them down the right path. Only time will tell. For my own part, I think it's good that in an age of WICCA growth and Satanic worship, one of their own storytellers has recanted. I would wager that she's getting death threats. If you have a moment today, pray for Anne Rice. Someone else apparently did.

Read the story from the New York Daily News.

2005-01-24T14:06:00.000-06:00

I'm the Subway yo-yo.

Missed Opportunity

2005-01-24T14:00:00.000-06:00

Galatians 6:9-10

I’m only going to relate this story to you so that you don’t do what I did.

I went to Subway today for lunch. (That wasn’t the mistake.) First, let it be known that I NEVER go to Subway to eat. I’ve been at this office for over two years and I split my time between several fast food places and bringing my lunch. Never in 2 years have I been in the mood for a Subway sandwich. Today, I’m in the mood for Subway, inexplicably. I’ve decided that I’m going to have to settle for Lion’s Choice because it is the only fast food place on the way to Powder Valley Nature Center, where I occasionally walk at lunch.

I’m getting ready to pull into the Lion’s Choice lot and I see, for the first time ever, a Subway staring at me from 100 yards away. It’s in a little strip center and either it is new or I’ve just never noticed it. I park.

Walking in, I don’t know what to get, so I order the exact same sandwich as the tall bald guy ahead of me. He looks trustworthy. (I know, I’m such a follower.) We get shuffled up to the cash register end of the counter. The kid tells him it’s $3.76 or some such price and he hands the kid his debit card.

“We only take cash and checks,” the kid says.

“Oh, no. Well…hold the sandwich. Is there a cash machine around?”

Here’s the painful part. I hem and haw. I have plenty of cash on me to buy this guy’s lunch and God has clearly put me in the place to buy this guy’s lunch and I BLEW IT!! The whole time I’m thinking, “I should be saving money. Buying this guy’s lunch isn’t saving money.” Instead, I should have been doing high hurdles to the counter in an effort to pay. It’s all God’s money, not mine. Jesus Christ clearly wanted this guy’s lunch paid for today by one of his really dense followers, and I blew the opportunity to make his love known.

I walked out, dejected, begging God’s forgiveness. Then I had a memory, kind of like what Peter may have had when he looked back on his denials. When I walked into work this morning, I was late and hungry. There had been an accident on the road and I hadn’t eaten breakfast. I walked into the break room for coffee and Dennis, a co-worker, pointed to the counter and said, “My wife and I got some free blueberry muffins from a restaurant last night. There’s one there. Take it.”

Now, in my imagination, God was speaking to me. “I fed you breakfast and you couldn’t even take care of that guy’s lunch? I take care of you. Help me to take care of others.”

Ouch.

2005-01-14T14:36:00.000-06:00

A very honest couple.

My favorite proverbs...

2005-01-14T14:22:00.000-06:00

My favorite proverbs are those that cut right to the heart of my personal “issues.”

For example, I like to take naps.

“How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest-
and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.”
-- Proverbs 6:9-11

Gee, Solomon kind of makes it tough to feel good about those short afternoon naps.

I also like to think I’m a pretty smart guy.

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.”
-- Proverbs 11:2

“Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and shun evil.”
-- Proverbs 3:7

Apparently you’re free to be wise and smart, just don’t tell people you are. Henceforth, I am intellegentis incognito.

I’m sorry to say, I am also occasionally prone to lying.

“An honest answer
is like a kiss on the lips.”
-- Proverbs 24:26

Had I only known!!! Honesty really IS the best policy.

If only...

2005-01-06T09:15:00.000-06:00

1 Kings 3

I'll admit it. I am often unwise. Left on my own, I would crash and burn, sink not swim. I'm a natural-born life-wrecking machine with the power to leave me and those around me in a state of utter despair and impoverishment. I mean it.

I have a measure of wisdom that comes from God, however. And I have a wise wife, also from God. These two elements are the roadside barriers that keep me on the narrow path. In some ways, Tammy is the embodiment of God's wisdom in my life. Any amount of prosperity I enjoy comes from the management of my life through God's gifts of wisdom, gleaned over the years from my parents, from his Word, and from my wife.

Wisdom is the ultimate decision filter. What you do with God's wisdom is very important. The first decision you have to make is a personal one. Will I act on wisdom in my individual life?

An example: I can honestly say that I'm a smoker. I haven't had a smoke for nine years now, but left on my own, I'd be a chimney. I walked by a tobacco shop last week and peered through the window like an adolescent kid trying to get a glimpse of the cute neighbor girl through her blinds. I was looking for my old brand, John Player Special's, a fine English cigarette. I wouldn't have purchased them. I don't even know that they exist anymore. (Yes, there is something unwise about even looking or thinking about them.) Regardless, I didn't walk in and purchase. That was exercising individual wisdom. Our bodies are temples for God. I'm just guessing that I'm supposed to be a 'No Smoking' temple. This temple lasts longer that way. Also, this temple gets to stay with God's other, cuter temple, under the same roof. That temple has said that it will not live with this temple if this temple smokes. Individual wisdom.

But in the passage you read below, there is another key element to wisdom and knowledge that we often overlook. What will we do with God's wisdom outside of our individual realm? Will we do what Solomon modeled for us?

1 Kings 4: 29-34

Solomon imparted his wisdom.

He could've hung onto it and used it for his own selfish means. He could've horded it like a monopolistic monarch. He could have, but he didn't. In fact, he did the opposite. He gave it away in whatever way he could. You could say he was wise with his wisdom. What comes from God is good enough to be given away.

And give it away he did. Solomon penned proverbs – 3000 of them. He wrote songs. He understood the power of multi-media marketing. Get the wise words out in whatever way possible! Solomon even went so far as to develop SolomonU, or the Solomon International Institute of Higher Learning, where you could take courses directly from the professor himself…you didn’t get his teaching assistant or a substitute. Solomon was wise, seemingly humble, full of grace and he loved to teach. What he knew was too good to keep in the box.

You might say to yourself, "If only I had wisdom like that." Well, good news. It is available to you as well. God’s wisdom, given to the wisest of the wise, is still available to you and like all of God’s words, it is meant to be shared. So, ask yourself: What am I doing with God’s wisdom? How am I contributing that wisdom to this world? to the kids in my life? to the people I know? January is a great month to peruse Proverbs. You are invited to open it up and see what wisdom God has to share with you today.

About these things

2005-01-04T15:07:00.000-06:00

wouldn't know
what to say
wouldn't know
what to do

wouldn't care
about these things

wouldn't remind myself
when to go
when to leave
when to talk
about these things

when to move
when to sit
silent

so I give
these things
to you.

tell me
talk to me
move me
find me
a way through
these things
your way
through
these things.

born blind
then
there was the soil
upon my eyes
and your touch
and I saw
you
and your way

above these things

-- Rob Lamb, written 12/28/05

I'm back

2005-01-04T15:03:00.000-06:00

I'm back, after my self-imposed holiday break. Pay me a visit every now and then!

Famous Atheist Now Believes in God

2004-12-16T15:35:00.000-06:00

Hey, we scooped the news! For those of you who were at New Life last Sunday, we talked in the morning sermon about Antony Flew recanting his atheism. This is the AP story available at ABC.

Our God is an awesome God. Too awesome to deny.

Conservatives Are Trying to Put Religion Back Into the Christmas Season

2004-12-14T13:51:00.000-06:00

See the story here: AP news via Tampa

This is a great example of a story where you feel like you are forced to pick sides, but there is no need to. The real solution lies in a revised understanding. Should Christians water down their Christian expresions for the sake of a minor percentage of the population? No. But should they advocate only shopping at places that put up Merry Christmas signs? That is utterly ridiculous. To all of the embarrassing Christians out there who are well intentioned and horribly off base, "Please step out of the boat. You are not doing us any good. Writers like this one will broadcast your vain attempts and non-Christians will find yet another reason to hate us." Thankfully, the writer has included some Christian commentary to show that we all don't think this way.

The problem is that even Christians reduce some issues to matters of social justice. Christ can't be contained by the removal of his name. He lives. Happy Holidays doesn't.

Our real message to the PC establishment must be this. "You can attempt to water down the outward expressions of our holiday with politically correct lingo, but you cannot keep us from overflowing with joy because of the Jesus who lives our hearts. We will be filled with the Christmas spirit because we are overfilled with the Holy Spirit. Where we walk, He walks. What we speak comes from Him and his Word. We can't contain Him nor his celebration. You [PC people] would get more out of Christmas if you knew Christ yourself. By the way, can I buy your lunch? I love you and I want to do something for you."

Just one year, I would like to see what would happen if all the Christians picked a day prior to Christmas to take off of work and school and to serve their community. Let's call it December 22. All Christians could take December 22 and repaint the orphanages, feed the hungry, buy gifts for the poor, decorate trees for the elderly, wash cars, fix roofs, give money, and just bless people. Every person in every hospital and care center would receive a visit. Can you imagine an outpouring of the real spirit of Christ that would precede the real celebration of our Lord? It might, it just might, be the best Christmas ever...since the first one. A real celebration befitting a King would include our gifts of service in His name.

O Christmas Tree!

2004-12-13T16:45:00.000-06:00

Devotional time with God.

2004-12-12T07:24:00.000-06:00

There are many ways to run your devotional time with God and I can offer you dozens of ideas if you are interested. But the centerpiece of it all should be Scripture and prayer. Reflection is key. Periodically on this site you'll find Scripture references and some thoughts on those passages that can supplement your daily time with God, but there are many others as well. I have found several great devotional books at Lifeway and Family Christian Stores. Also, there are some websites with great writers who can also give you food for thought and well-researched application of the passages you read. Here is the link of a blog writer that I read from time to time Bibleskool. He runs a blog called Coffeehouse that can be reached through another website called Blogs4God.

Colson States Need for Teen Apologetics (NEWS)

2004-12-09T22:41:00.000-06:00

Go here. Great article. Worldview Boot Camp

2004-12-06T18:00:00.000-06:00

Ooooh, baby!! The Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. Can you say Chick magnet? Mom had one of these in blue from 1977-1984.

Confidence (DEV)

2004-12-06T17:05:00.000-06:00

2 Timothy Chapter 1

He was distressed over the filth on the vehicle. It had been weeks since he had enough time on a Saturday to wash the car, and it showed. Some kid had drawn "wash me" in the grime on the back hatch and there were kid pictures on the sides of the car, where a pallet of dirt had become a six-year-old's art gallery. It was time for the sponge and a hose.

Stuart started with the roof and he even used a step-stool so he could reach every spot. His curious pattern made certain that he would cover everything twice. He used a toothbrush to get the tough spots on the old alloy wheels. He wiped inside the door frames with a rag and Armor All. When he was done, the car was spotless. It was something of which to be proud.

His kids, though they didn't like the grime, thought that washing it was a waste of time. They just couldn't appreciate Stuart's old station wagon. It was old. It had fake wood on the bottom half of all of the doors and quarterpanels. It was uncool in every way.

Periodically they would implore him to part with it. "Dad. Can't we get rid of that car?"

It was at this point that Stuart would expound upon the dozens of virtues to this particular model of station wagon. He would go on and on about the high miles, the low maintenance, the variety of jobs it could do. He could quote all of the dealer's statistics from out of the showroom brochure that he still had in a file down in the basement. Finally, he would end with, "It's paid for and I don't want to spend any more money." The kids could never find a good argument to counter that point. They just wanted a better way to get around town even though the station wagon was adequate.

Surrounding us right now are all of the world's "better ways." There is the better way to lose weight. There is the better way to invest your earnings. There is a better way to shop, a better way to exercise and dozens of better ways to cook your food. But there is no better way to live than in living your life for God. You do not have to be, nor should you be, humble to the point of sheepishness when it comes to talking about your faith. You should be proud of your faith in a humble way.

Paul instructs Timothy from a prison cell in today's Scripture passage. His words are eternally useful. Paraphrased, they go something like this: "We are going to suffer humiliation and appear foolish at times for the sake of our faith. But Christ was disgraced beyond belief for us and he CONQUERED DEATH...so the joke is on my captors. When you are disgraced, remember that God doesn't want you to cower down timidly. You have the power of the Holy Spirit at your side and you have love and self-discipline, which they do not. The playing field is not level. We win in the end!"

Can you live that out today? Can your faith stand firm in the midst of an entire world screaming out false hope about better ways? Can you know that their hope is false hope, fleeting hope, losing hope? Pray for courage today, and for the ever-present knowledge that Jesus Christ stood and still stands for the best way of all.

2004-12-06T15:59:00.000-06:00

Nothing like a sunset photo. This car is actually in excellent shape, and currently available if you are the high bidder on ebay. It's at $510 as we speak.

Rejected (DEV)

2004-12-01T16:11:00.000-06:00

Imagine this: You have a spouse or a good friend who lives with you. You walk into the kitchen one morning and you say, "Hello" or "Good morning!" or some other such pleasantry, to which they reply,

"I don't wish to speak with you today."

So you give her the benefit of a doubt. "Maybe she is just having a bad day," you think. "I'll leave her alone and check back tomorrow." Tomorrow morning comes. You walk into the kitchen.

"Hi, there!," you say with your most cheerful smile.

"I'm not interested in speaking with you," she says. "I don't care what you have to say. I'm not curious about your thoughts. Leave me alone."

You become, well, incensed. This was a person who said they were your friend through thick and thin. She may have even pledged her life to you at one time or another. But now she is rude, hurtful, and uncaring.

"Okay, I'll come back another day," you mutter disappointedly, with tears in your eyes.

Day Three: You give it one more try.

"Are you ready to talk yet?"

"No," comes the simple reply. Your relationship has been, for reasons you can't comprehend, cut off.

Now, switch roles for a moment. Every morning you awake and someone walks into your room and wishes to have a little communication with you. He lives in your house and in your heart. He's longing to talk, to converse, to commune with you, because you are a special part of His life. He has a relationship with you. Yet some days, or even daily, you may tell him, "No. I don't care what you have to say. I'm not interested in your thoughts. Come back when I'm in trouble."

This is what it is like ignoring your daily prayer and devotional time with God. For many of us, thinking of it as exercise or study or discipline may not be the picture we need. Think of it as the time when God speaks to you and you tell God what is on your mind. If you can make a mental shift and get the idea that Jesus and you are in a real relationship, you will begin to want to spend time with Him. After a while, you'll guard your time with Him like a pit bull holding a chew toy.

"No one can get my time with God away from me," you'll think. It won't be a matter of hurriedly finding time to meet, because everything else on your schedule will need to step aside for this very basic need of yours. Like living, like breathing, like coffee in the morning, like lunch at noon, your time with God becomes that other meal time. You'll crave it as you do time with your spouse or a good friend.

Don't believe me. Give it a try. Step up your commitment to spending time with Jesus. It will become the cornerstone of your day, upon which all other events and relationships stand. Toss out all of your feelings about how difficult it has been before and look forward with expectancy to what fruit this new conversation will bear.

Most days I include an extended reading passage, but for today I leave you with one verse, and really only the last half of the verse is what you should focus on.

Matthew 28:20

National Geographic (NEWS)

2004-11-24T09:51:00.000-06:00

Don't be fooled by the November National Geographic cover title, "Was Darwin Wrong?"

Their answer is a resounding, "No. Of course not."

If you can get your hands on a copy, read the article, then get an informed Christian viewpoint from the Christianity Today article, "Were the Darwinists Wrong?".

The creation debate is getting incredibly hot right now. I'll be featuring notes on it from time to time. Though occasionally dry for those who don't enjoy science texts, I would highly recommend Lee Strobel's new book, The Case for a Creator.

(RANT)

2004-11-23T14:46:00.000-06:00

Anyone who loves me and who has $1242, can purchase one of these for me for Christmas.

Ski Machine (DEV)

2004-11-23T13:00:00.000-06:00

Ecclesiastes 5:8-20

[Friends of ours, Joe and Jamie are in Colorado skiing this week. In honor of them, I thought I could relate a story of mine, loosely tied to skiing. It’s the story of the Ski Machine.]

Good evening. I would like to welcome you to the Purpose-Driven Anonymous meeting.
Hello. My name is Rob. I am a purpose-driven addict.

“Hello, Rob.”

Before we get started, I would like to ask you to turn off your cell-phones and pagers. Jim, please put down your Palm Pilot…you can go over your calendar after we leave. Pastor John, drop the book. Donna, your husband requests that you please come home from church some night this week before 9:00. Now, let’s get started…

There has been a lot of talk lately regarding being “Purpose-Driven.” For the most part, it’s a good thing. Way too many people run around in a perpetual fog of meaninglessness and purposelessness. For people like this, God has jobs: Meaningful, fulfilling occupations of purpose. I really like the idea. In fact, like some others I know, I may like it way too much. There are people who try so hard to minister and to lead lives of purpose that they neglect the living of their life and they even end up doing a bad job of ministry. They end up getting unhappy in their ministry because they aren’t having fun with it and they feel too much pressure. They, me included, need to remember that fun is good. God designed fun. And sometimes that fun falls outside of the realm of their ministry.

Several years ago, I learned that valuable lesson from a video game. It was the Ski Machine at Tumble Drum. I’ve never skied. I would like to, but a good ski run in Missouri takes about five seconds from top to bottom. Plus, there are very few days with snow and there is often traffic at the bottom of the good hills. Then there is the problem of lifts.

We had taken the kids to Tumble Drum for a birthday party or something and I saw the Ski Machine and it looked like fun. Now, bear in mind, I had pretty much sworn off video games. Why? Because I was a purpose-driven snob. Video games have no purpose. I couldn’t be wasting God’s precious time by mindlessly moving some joystick around and by killing digital invaders with the push of a little red button. I was a Purpose-Driven Dad at Tumble Drum. My job was to bring a book and learn about how to reach lost friends and enemies while the kids had fun. But there was that Ski Machine, tempting me.

Okay, now I’m going to exit the realm of high theology for a minute and tell you that I think Satan learned the art of temptation from God. Not his twisted, sinful form of temptation, but the art of enticement. After all, God moves us to action when he wills it. The Holy Spirit is the Great Enticer, the Master of searching and winning hearts and minds. We know that we are "called" by God. We also know that God wants us to be happy, so I’m going to theorize (and I don’t think this is a stretch) that sometimes the Holy Spirit pushes us toward that which He knows we need to do, whether that is jump in a pit, board a boat (Acts 13:4), or get on the ski machine.

So, pushed as I was, I stepped onto the dual-footed platform of the Ski Machine and placed my quarters in the slot. I then did what all good indoor skiers do -- I moved my body back and forth in some kind of freakish dance based upon the animated images projected onto a big television screen.

And it was fun.

I was then on the road to recovery. Mindless fun seemed to have meaning on the Ski Machine. In fact, I kept going until some dumb kid made me get off because he wanted a turn.

So in light of my experience, I began to ask myself this question,

"Is there a place in our lives for that which has no purpose?"

Yes. Absolutely. We learn in our passage today that we should find joy in our work and we should be happy in the fruits of our labor and there is nothing wrong with it. Not every waking moment has to be consumed with purpose. In fact, I suppose one could say that there is purpose behind certain purposeless pursuits, such as naps and watching old reruns of Hogan’s Heroes. They both refresh us and therefore give us even more joy in the rest of our lives.

Okay, but don’t use this as an excuse to be lazy. You may be spending too much time in the Land of Purposelessness and you really DO need to find your purpose. Please stop reading and go find it.

There are a lot of great messages that come out of today’s reading. I would challenge you to list some of them in your quiet time with God. If I could pick one, overarching theme, I think it would come from verses 19 and 20.

“…when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work-this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.”

What an outstanding picture of the joy we can find in life with God.

Faith and Work (NEWS)

2004-11-22T09:51:00.000-06:00

Below is an interesting article from last week's Washingtonpost.com. I appreciate any article that doesn't slam faith efforts, and this is one. I've included the entire text because I think there is a sign-up involved with reading their articles. The link is provided if you wish to see the actual article.

Prayer Breakfast Draws Strong Tech Turnout
By Shannon Henry
Thursday, November 18, 2004; Page E01

The guest speakers appearing before a sold-out breakfast of 600 tech executives usually hold forth on such topics as cable communications and early-stage venture funding. But on this morning in the well-appointed ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton at Tysons Corner, Gary T. McCollum, vice president and general manager of Cox Communications Northern Virginia, and April Young, senior vice president of Comerica Bank, have a different topic: their spiritual journeys.
"They will be baring their souls before you," said Carl Grant of the Reston office of Cooley Godward, co-founder and board president of the Washington area's annual High Tech Prayer Breakfast

The personal testimonials -- and a turnout that has doubled since the first such breakfast three years ago -- reflect the growing number of technology executives who believe that their Christianity should be part of their work as well as their private lives.
The event is hosted by a 90-member who's who of players in the local technology industry, including XM Satellite Radio Holdings Chairman Gary M. Parsons;WebMethods founder Phillip Merrick; VeriSign's executive vice president, Robert J. Korzeniewski; and venture capitalists Hooks Johnston of Valhalla Partners, Kim Cooke of Blue Water Capital and Mark A. Frantz of Carlyle Group.
Nestled among the centerpiece flowers on each table at the breakfast, held Nov. 11, are stacks of brown paperback Bibles. A man outside the ballroom door gives out free religious videos.
In her remarks, Young tells of being "reborn" in 1980 when her life was in turmoil and she was deeply depressed. "I believed God had a plan for me," she said. The beginning of that plan, she said, was tithing to her church.
McCollum tells of growing up in a Richmond housing project, of losing his mother to cancer at age 10, of the breakup of his first marriage. "On the inside, I was a failure," McCollum said of his life before he found God, even as he was earning A's in school, quarterbacking a football team and attending church. "I was a 2 percent Christian," he said. "I don't like anything that's 2 percent."
In a conversation before his speech, McCollum said he tried to separate his religious and professional lives but concluded he couldn't. "You don't check half of yourself" when you go to the office, he said. "I bring my faith to work." McCollum said his beliefs shape the way he reacts to problems at Cox. "I stay stable and content and patient," he said. "We need to live this and show it every day."
Alland Leandre, president of management consulting firm Vyalex Management Solutions in Columbia, said he has come to the prayer breakfast for the first time because he wants to talk to other people in the technology industry who share his beliefs. "If I meet a salesman who is a disciple of Christ, we have something in common," he said. "It breaks the ice."
The nonprofit group that puts on the event, High Tech Prayer Breakfast-DC Metro, holds smaller meetings and study groups during the year. Its inspiration was the High Tech Ministries in Atlanta. In October, the Atlanta group held its 13th annual prayer breakfast, which drew more than 2,000 people and featured Intel Chief Technology Officer Patrick P. Gelsinger as keynote speaker. The Atlanta breakfast has attracted other nationally known Christian technologists to tell their stories, including executives from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers; Apple; MCI; and Cisco Systems.
At the Tysons Corner breakfast, the hosts have set out to recruit a few new Christians. Each person, who pays $600 for a table, is asked to invite some guests who are not Christians or not practicing their religion, Grant said.
Guests are given cards to fill out, inviting them to put a check mark next to comments such as "Please contact me about hosting a table next year," and "This morning, I decided to commit my life to Jesus Christ." Grant said someone from the ministry will follow up on the responses. Next year's breakfast already has been booked at the Ritz-Carlton and, if the group moves to a larger space in the hotel, will be able to accommodate 1,000 people, Grant said.
After the speakers finished, Jennifer Trax, senior manager of marketing and business development at law firm Shaw Pittman in McLean, stopped to pick up a free video and CD copies of speeches from the past two breakfasts. She was pleased to be invited by Grant, who is one of her competitors. Grant and Trax both work at attracting start-up technology businesses to their respective law firms. Trax describes herself as a Christian but "not an evangelist" who talks about her faith often. Today's event, she said, "put things into perspective for me."
Andrew Sherman, a lawyer with McDermott, Will & Emery in Washington, said that when his client Mike Bruce, chief executive of InScope Technologies in Leesburg, asked him to be his guest at the event, he thought he might feel out of place because he is Jewish. Sherman said he ended up taking notes from the speeches and brought home one of the Bibles in which he circled passages from the New Testament. He said the morning's message that there's more to business resonated with him. "My thought is we need to do something like this at the synagogue," Sherman said. "We need to bring more spirituality into the workplace."

Shannon Henry writes about Washington's technology culture every other Thursday. Her e-mail address is henrys@washpost.com.

Volatile, fragile, remarkable planet (DEV)

2004-11-22T07:30:00.000-06:00

Isaiah 24

You may or may not remember Gavrilo Princip from your sixth grade history class. Most of us probably don’t, but we should. The 19-year-old Princip was an assassin. Over 88 years ago, Princip stepped out from his position in a parade route in Sarajevo, pulled a pistol from his coat and shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie.

This one moment touched off a series of events that led to World War I, a catastrophic war that claimed over 15 million lives. The idea that a shooting of two people on a street corner in Sarajevo could touch off these kinds of events should remain at the forefront of our thoughts throughout our lives. Our world is volatile and fragile. During any one moment, some significant aspect of our world might change, bringing our social world or our political world, or even our physical world to the brink of disaster.

Isaiah touches on the fragility of our earth in the passages you’ve just read. We see it as the rock solid foundation upon which we live, but listen to Isaiah’s words when he foretells the story of our earth.

“The floodgates of the heavens are opened,
the foundations of the earth shake.
The earth is broken up,
The earth is split asunder.
The earth is thoroughly shaken.
The earth reels like a drunkard,
It sways like a hut in the wind.”

Isaiah isn’t worried because he also sees the triumphant return of God. In the midst of catastrophe, there is going to be a miracle.

“O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name,
For in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things,
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;
He will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.
In that day they will say,
Surely this is our God;
We trusted in him and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

Triumph and glory, protection and salvation. We have nothing to fear. (Proverbs 3:25) Though we live on a volatile planet, God is in control and he is looking out for us. Thank God for his protection today.

It's What You Crave...and Shouldn't (RANT-SCRPT)

2004-11-19T14:49:00.000-06:00

I just went to lunch at White Castle. When I was a kid, my Dad would work late some evenings. Missing dinner, he would stop at White Castle. Afterward, he would walk in the door of our house, take off his suit jacket, lay on the couch and groan. Mom would say, "Did you stop at White Castle?" He didn't have to answer. We all knew that he had by the groaning.

I have to sit in my chair at work and groan instead.

"Why do I always do what I know I shouldn't do?" asks Paul, the Apostle. He must've eaten at White Castle, too. (Romans 7:14-20)

2004-11-19T14:34:00.000-06:00

I think I just now noticed that the Pennzoil logo uses the Liberty Bell. How many years have I lived in ignorance?

Confession

2004-11-19T09:31:00.000-06:00

Psalm 51

Saturday morning, 10:30 a.m. I’m laying flat on my back on the driveway, staring up at the underside of my aging Ford Windstar. I am really happy. This is as good as it gets. I have a clean oil filter sitting next to me and I have my wrenches and I feel like a man because I’m getting ready to change my own oil.

Nope. I don’t need some high school kid from my local Swifty Lube to change it for me and then make me feel guilty for not buying the new wiper blades. I’m a man! I can do his job for half the cost and I’ll make sure my plug gets put back in the oil pan the right way.

I look over at the feet standing at the front of the car. They’re speaking to me.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

What could she possibly mean by that? I’ve done this dozens of times. Every time she asks the same question. It’s as if I’ve let her down before or I’ve previously broken some things that I was trying to fix. Okay, maybe that’s happened, but I’m better off because of it. I’m older now. I break less stuff. I’m changing my own oil. Don’t ruin my moment.

“Yes, honey. I know what I’m doing. In fact, send the boys out here. They need to see how to do this!”

If you’ve never changed your own oil before, it isn’t brain surgery. But there is a crucial moment in the process that can make the oil change either reasonably clean or really messy. It is the time when the oil plug is just about to come completely out. That is the point when the (usually warm or hot) oil is going to shoot out and you have to anticipate where it is going to land and get the drain pan properly placed. Also, if you are a fumble-fingered fool, you can very easily drop the plug into the pan of hot oil. If either happens, your body and your wife’s driveway will probably end up covered in oil. Now, if you won’t tell my wife, I’m going to be honest with you…most of the time I end up covered in oil. I get the driveway messy and I don’t even save that much money. The satisfaction of doing it myself is occasionally lost in the moments that I’m scrubbing the oil stains from the driveway with Comet and a scrub brush.

Since birth, many of us have been trained in the fine art of self-reliance. We are told how to do many tasks of life all by ourselves and we revel in attempting to do them. We are shown how to be independent and strong, how to conquer through adversity, how to survive in the world of business, how-to, how-to, how-to…

God appreciates our self-reliance and a good work ethic. (Prov. 13:4) But He doesn’t want us to carry it as far as many of us have. We have cordoned off our lives and told everyone to “Keep Out” including God. But God wishes to be a part of your efforts and he longs to be involved in your mistakes. You are going to get your life messy and dirty and at times the oil of your labor is going to drain all over you and you will look and feel and be, bad. Doing things your own way will sometimes cause you to sin. Your heart will feel black as night and your thoughts will be impure and your words will be garbage. Those times are when Jesus Christ will be there to clean up your mess. He is the King of Restoration and the Chief Mechanic of the Garage. There is nothing you have done that can make you un-washable. But getting clean takes breaking the rule of self-reliance. It takes confession. And it takes a heart that desires to be holy.

Confession humbles us. And that’s a good thing! When I’m humble and I come to a difficult moment, I can envision God alongside me, asking, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” More often now, as I get older, I just say, “No. I really don’t. Can you lend me a hand?”

Hostages

2004-11-18T11:30:00.000-06:00

1 Peter 1:13-25

Imagine yourself for a moment, a captive in a cell, in the middle of a hostile situation such as those that are happening weekly in Iraq.

You have nothing. You have no future because you know that more than likely you will be killed. You have nothing with which you can purchase your freedom. Even if you had money, your captors probably wouldn’t take it. Your government isn’t going to bargain for your release because it is a time of war and the government shouldn’t back down for your one life.

Your family? They love you. They want to secure your release, but they don’t have any power either. From almost any perspective, your situation looks grim and hopeless. It would take divine intervention…

And it did.

If you are a follower of Christ, you WERE a hostage. Your eternity WAS on the line…not just your life on this earth, but your life that never ends. Your government couldn’t help you. The family who loved you couldn’t save you. No amount of money was going to buy your life. In fact, money wasn’t good enough. It took a substance more precious than gold and a person more powerful than mankind to rescue you and move you to eternal safety. Only a sacrifice of blood from the perfect lamb could buy your freedom.

Followers of Christ have a different world-view for a reason. We’re outside the cell of captivity. We see (or we should see) those hundreds of hostages still caged in their cells around us. We walk through them and talk with them and we even hold the keys that will release them. But we don’t often ask them if they want to be free. We often live in fear of ridicule instead of living in “reverent fear” of our powerful Hero.

I am convicted in my own heart over this one issue: Fear of sharing. Peter says that we are to have “sincere love for (our) brothers, lov(ing) one another deeply, from the heart.” Freeing hostages is love.

As you pray today, pray for the hostages around you. Pray that you will have opportunities to share and then take advantage of them. And, daily, remember to pray for hostages and soldiers in Iraq and their families around the world.

2004-11-17T11:54:00.000-06:00

Thanks to friend, Mark Powers, I'm reveling in a new subscription to Science & Theology news. Several interesting articles this month, including an interview with Dr. Timothy Johnson, whom you will recognize from ABC News. Many good articles can be found at www.stnews.org

Refined by fire

2004-11-17T09:00:00.000-06:00

1 Peter 1:1-12

As always, read the passage...then the notes.

I've always liked the term, "refined by fire." It gives meaning to pain. It rejoices in poor circumstances. Being refined by fire is very simply, growth through testing. No longer do we have to be depressed over a difficult review at work. We can learn from it. No longer must we think that a month of auto repairs and desperate pleadings with God for rescue was all for naught. We now know that it was the fire, surrounding us, purifying our faith and building our reliance upon God.

Our trials are nothing, really. Peter says that we were chosen for obedience to God. Simple obedience results in 'seeing God' even though he isn't visible. Seeing God leads to believing more fully. Because we believe, we are then "filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy."

Fire ---> Joy. Hmm.

Has this proven to be true in your life?

Can you think of a time when you came through "fire" with faith and experienced unspeakable joy?

It is difficult to do, but there will come a day in your spiritual life when you begin to see difficult circumstances for what they really are: God's allowances of testing upon our lives to build faith. When the next difficult situation confronts you, challenge yourself to remain bold in faith. Call upon God to get you through it, thanking him for accomplishing it in advance...because He will.

I Can't Get No...(SERMON)

2004-11-07T23:02:00.000-06:00

(This is my sermon notes from 11/7/04. They are 90% complete, but unedited.)

I Can’t Get No….
Wrestling with God over our desires.

Notes before beginning:

Thanks to the people who worked Atticfest. Tremendous success.

The Election, my cautious sneak up to the television. My Ralph Nader joke.

I’d like for you to do a little something different with me this morning, because, I like to do things a little differently and so I’d like for you to stand with me for one more moment before we all sit and listen.
When I was a kid, periodically we would pray The Lord’s Prayer. It was often called the model prayer, because it is the prayer that Jesus said we could model our prayers after. He said, you don’ t have to pray big elaborate prayers like the Pharisees do, you can just pray like this, in your own house, in your closet.
It’s a powerful prayer. It is powerful because Jesus said it, and it is powerful because there is more in these few words than we can get in a thousand of our words. So, I’m going to ask you to pray it with me, out loud, before we get started today. If you know it, you can close your eyes. If you don’t, look with me up on the screen and you and I will pray it together. It goes like this:

Matthew 6:9-13
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.
Amen. Thanks. Thanks for indulging me. This message isn’t about the Lord’s Prayer, but there is a reason that we opened with that prayer and we’re going to talk a little bit more about it in a few moments.

There are some of you who are undoubtedly thinking. “I’m satisfied. I don’t have any harmful desires. I am joyful. Why do I need to hear this message?”
Well, I’m going to tell you why. This very moment, you may be the most satisfied, joyful person on the planet. But the desire of Satan is for you to live an unfruitful, unsatisfying life. His schemes are designed to make you think you will be satisfied if…
But, they never truly satisfy.
But this book has more to say about how to live a joy-filled satisfying life than any other. I could teach for an hour using only the words found in the Bible to describe for you the wonderful life God envisioned for you. But today what I want to do is to wake you up to the types of dissatisfaction you may be allowing to enter into your life and then show you God’s RECIPE for lifelong satisfaction.
I want to get to the heart of what God says about our satisfaction, desires, and joy.

How many of you have noticed a growing media preoccupation with personal satisfaction. If you haven’t, praise God, you’ve been keeping your television off more than the rest of us.
Over the last two years, I have been noticing some cultural trends that we should be very worried about…not because they are extremely dangerous to us (which they are)…but because we are highly susceptible to falling into the trap they are creating for us.
Their message, “Don’t be satisfied with your life.”

What leads to dissatisfaction in our lives?
∑ A sense of urgency.
The majority of us live busy, cluttered lives.

Examples: Gave examples from Better Off: Flipping the Switch on technology. Urgency that technology creates upon our lives. Mennonite-type community.

Most of us have very few base needs like food, that aren’t easily met, yet we still find ourselves urgent as if the world is going to come crashing down if we don’t do whatever it is we need to be doing.

We see this in the rush hour and in how people drive. You know you feel impatient in lines. You’ll walk out of McDonald’s if it looks like you’ll be inline longer than five minutes, mostly because you don’t have five minutes to spare. This sense of urgency tugs at our level of satisfaction and it is difficult to overcome.

∑ Regret(s)

∑ The horizon effect. What is the next cool thing?

∑
My old Macintosh.
The boat effect
What’s next, and next and next
The same thing applies with experiences. First there were sports, now there are extreme sports. Why? Because the regular sports got old after a while and we decided it wasn’t fun unless you could get maimed or killed while doing it.
Living for the thrill of the adrenaline rush.

∑ Allowing ourselves to harbor expectations.
We all carry expectations around with us…but the problem comes when we set those expectations higher than we should.
Who are we supposed to be and what can we expect?

Expectations are dangerous things.

I believe that God’s day-to-day working with us should help us to slowly remove ourselves from the realm of personal expectations. About the only really meaningful expectation for us to have is that God will provide for us and we can expect him to do an incredible work in our lives.

∑ Visions of grandeur.

(What is on the other side of the pretty picture.)

∑ A lack of restraint.

We don’t voluntarily limit our lifestyle s we should. If we had a Great Depression, this world would come crashing down. We are not thrifty people, for the most part. We spend and spend.

Jesus’ RECIPE for living a satisfied life.

R – Relationships

Much dissatisfaction is found in our lack of good relationships and the power to relate to one another. Our culture has been breeding the attitude of individuality for so long that many people live isolated, solitary lives. Ironic that the Internet, a largely personal medium is now making it easier for people to actually come together in community.

(Mention Meetup.com)

Jesus spent his time building relationships. He didn’t choose to live the life of a loner.

There is something wonderful about making friends and living in community with one another. Friendships satisfy. If they don’t, they aren’t working properly. I don’t mean that you are to seek happiness in other people. No one can make you happy. But we can see that New Testament believers sought the truth of Christ together. It was a satisfying bond.

E- Exercise restraint -- Learn to say no to self.

For many of us, and this includes me, the one tremendous difference that Jesus Christ has made in your life is the power of restraint and the ability to live a satisfied life because of that restraint. This is counter to everything the world and popular culture teaches and I’m sorry, they’re wrong.

Proverbs 13:18,21
18 He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame,
but whoever heeds correction is honored.
21 Misfortune pursues the sinner,
but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.

The Christian who wakes up to the fact that he/she will be penalized for not exercising restraint has just acquired the most useful bit of wisdom on our planet. God is just. Wrong does not go unredressed.

Willpower – “I don’t have enough.” You’re right. You, personally don’t have the willpower to keep away from those things which tempt and entice you. You must fully rely upon God to give you the power of restraint.

Personal restraint leads to satisfaction by allowing you to live unrestrained by a life of sin. Sin entangles us and shackles us…Personal restraint is the best preventive medicine for avoiding pain and dissatisfaction.

C - Count your blessings daily.
Recount

God’s desires>Our desires.

He knows how to bless us.

Blessings are the good things that are given to you and that happen to you and they come from God and they are gifts from him. They will give you fulfillment and satisfaction, but you have to recognize what you have been given.

Wait, there’s more to it than that. Blessings can also be the things you have been given and that have happened to you that you didn’t really want.

He knows what will satisfy us. And he knows it better than we do.

Justin Gallman were cleaning up from AtticFest a week ago Saturday night….Jeep story.

Recounting your blessings takes the focus off of your expectations. If you live life based on your expectations, you WILL be disappointed. Your spouse will disappoint you. Your children will disappoint you. Your home, your job, your social standing and everything surrounding you will disappoint you and you will live a life of pain and broken dreams.
Replace your priorities

Isaiah 55:1-2; 8-9

1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD .
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

I - Introduce Yourself to the Real You

Getting to know yourself better allows you to see yourself clearly and not to dream about what you know isn’t going to happen in your lifetime.

If you have a false image of yourself, you will never be satisfied with yourself. This is the one self-indulgent thing I would ask you to do…examine yourself and your life thoroughly by using any means possible.

WARNING: Do not use this as an opportunity to beat up on yourself. There are a substantial number of people out there who aren’t thinking through inflated egos like I am, but you are looking through the lens of low self-esteem. You need to discover those strengths in you that will help you to boost yourself up and show you where you will find success in your life.

When you know yourself and act upon that knowledge, you won’t go chasing the wrong jobs, the wrong relationships, and the wrong ministries. God wants you to know who you are so that you can understand the gifts he has given you and you can stay away from the ones he hasn’t given you.

Resources on Screen

P – Produce instead of Possess

People who work hard and who see the fruits of their labor are more satisfied than those who labor at things that don’t seem to matter.

I’m going to spend more time on this one issue than on any other because I believe it is the one we are most hung up on. We should think more about how the fruit of our lives than on what we want to own. Frame of mind issue. We spend far too long thinking about what we want to possess.

Say it again: We spend far too long thinking about what we want to possess.

Okay, we’ll come back to that in a moment.

First of all, God makes it very clear we are to work Hard and prosper.

Live long and prosper Spock used to say. He was almost right. The Bible says, work hard so you can live long and prosper.

Proverbs 13:4
The sluggard craves and gets nothing,
but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

Be diligent, work hard, and you will find satisfaction. There is satisfaction in work.

“I work 60 hours per week and I’m still not satisfied.” Well, Solomon even says here…work hard, but don’t work too hard. You’ll burn out!

This is his caveat right here.
The champion verse for Workaholics Anonymous
Proverbs 23:4
Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.

People work so hard to get rich because they value possessions and prestige more than anything in this world. Unfortunately it is a treadmill that leads to pain and sorrow. Stories of men who say, now that it’s too late, “I was worried about my job more than I was about my family.”

Valuing Possessions = Worry
Worry = Dissatisfaction

Jesus calls us to think about our focus. Our focus will determine our level of satisfaction. Remember we talked about visions of grandeur, and we just talked about knowing who we are. God wants us to keep in the front of our minds those things that are wonderful so that we won’t be distracted by things that we either have and don’t need or things we want but don’t need. Let’s read what Jesus says.

Treasures in Heaven
Matthew 6
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other…

I want to go back to that part about the eyes for a minute. This is so relevant to our satisfaction. To kind of get the picture of what Jesus is talking about here, it helps to imagine yourself with only one eye. Are you ready?

I’d like for you to take your left hand and cover up your left eye with me for a moment. Like this. Take your right hand and make it like one of those horse blinders for a minute, right along the side of your right eye. Now, inch the two together until you only have a little bit of what is shining in front of you showing through. Okay?

You can’t really see much, can you? This is the mental picture Jesus is showing us. Keep your hands up there.

Guys, look at the screen with me for a minute. What fills your vision? Where is your focus? It’s on whatshername. Can your focus be on your wife and on her at the same time? No. Can your focus be on any other woman and your wife at the same time? No. Women…if you aren’t married you have to pretend with me for a minute. Look at the screen. Can your focus be on Orlando Bloom and your husband at the same time? No. Can your focus be on any other man and your husband at the same time? No. You will be dissatisfied.

Everyone, look at the screen with me. Keep those hands up. Can your focus be on winning the lottery and your own finances at the same time? No…if you choose to focus on living the pipe dream, some other area of your life is going to suffer and you will be unsatisfied. I hear this all the time, “Well my dollar allows me to dream a bit.” I have to ask, “Why dream that dream?” If you are dreaming about how life will be when you win the lottery, can you also be thinking about how God is blessing you right now?

Last one, look at the screen with me. Can your focus be on your saving’s account and Jesus at the same time? No. No. No. No. No. No. You should know your money and understand your money, but if you spend more time checking your portfolio balances and stock market numbers than you spend in God’s word. Let’s say you’re a paycheck to paycheck person. This applies to you, too. If you spend your time worrying about the next payday, you are going to live a life of worry that you don’t need to have.

If you are focused on how beautiful you should be come, can you be thinking about how beautiful God made you right now? Can I just tell you, those of you who might have self esteem issues, God loves you and he sees your beauty and he knows how beautiful you are.

The lesson of Peter walking on the water toward Jesus. Focus on Jesus. Everything else will work itself out. God will help you to act upon the things you need to act on.

Matthew 6:25
…do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear… 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Focus on what??

His Kingdom
His Righteousness

What does he say here about worrying about possessions?

It’s what pagans do. Whether it’s the possessions you have or the possessions you don’t have, if you are worrying about them, you will be unsatisfied.

Example:

Not long ago, Tammy and I decided to remodel our living room. My aunt and uncle gave us their leather sofa and chair and we had some other furniture. I spent a couple bucks on paint and Tammy bought a rug. But there was one thing missing. What useful piece of furniture is missing from this picture.

A Coffee table. This could be a homework room for the kids if only we had a great big coffee table. We went out and we splurged and we purchased the world’s nicest coffee table. It is wood. It is beautiful. It is functional. Look at this. It opens up and the kids can do their homework while kneeling at the coffee table.

The first day rolls around. Zach pulls his homework out of his backpack to start doing it. He lays down his paper on the table. He begins writing on the homework, on the table. I look down and I said, “Stop!! You need to write on something else. You’re going to write right through your paper and scratch the table.”

We need pads for the table or something. The other day the boys were counting out their change on the table. “Those coins will scratch the table.”

Tammy had to bring me back to reality. We bought the table to be used by our family to get our family a comfortable place to study and play games and I had soon become more worried about the aesthetics of the table than the function it provides.

Guys, when it comes to possessions, God has given the world and everything in it to us for our use, not so that we can worship its beauty, but so that we can lead fulfilling lives that are satisfying and that ultimately bring glory to him.

Accept God’s invitation to follow him, serve him, and be satisfied.

E - Enjoy the Now

Stop wrestling with your past. Stop wrestling with your future plans. Stop wrestling with your desires.

How many of you have ever watched a high school wrestling match.

Many of you constantly feel like you are Wrestling with God over your desires, wrestling with God over your level of satisfaction, wrestling with God over your joy.

You know what. In reality, you aren’t wrestling with God at all. You are wrestling with Satan and your own sin on the mat of life. You are struggling at playing a game you don’t even need to play. God exists outside of this game. If you will focus on him, and ask him, he will life you up out of your match and declare himself declare you the winner because of his glory and power and righteousness. If you wish to have your face down on the mat, getting beat up and slapped around, getting your face ground into your sin and desire, that’s your choice.

Some of you are still wrestling with the guilt of something you’ve done wrong. You can’t live a satisfied life if you are still wrestling with that.

But if you want to say, enough is enough…I can’t handle my own desires, Lord. I can’t handle my guilt. I’ve never been able to find the secret ticket to satisfaction on my own and I don’t seem to be hitting the satisfaction lottery either…

If you want to say enough is enough, Jesus Christ, who went to the mat for you a long time ago will pick you up and you will win.

You want to know how I know? I read the book of Romans. Read with me.

Romans 8
5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man[5] is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind[6] is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you….you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.[7] 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Future Glory

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

More Than Conquerors

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[10] who[11] have been called according to his purpose…35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[13] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That love, ladies and gentlemen is the main ingredient in the Recipe for satisfaction in our lives. No matter what we face. No matter where we’ve been. No matter who we are…we hit the jackpot because we can be more than conquerers through Him. Nothing can separate us from his powerful, awesome love that he proves to us over and over again. He will satisfy you while you live on this Earth and he will give you total and complete fulfillment in his home in Heaven when you arrive. Praise God, he is greater than our desires.

The water of life that he gives quenches all thirsts. The blessings he gives are better than those we can ever long to hope for.

Let’s pray.