Daily Lesson for May 30, 2014

Today's Daily Lesson is from Matthew 7 verses 24 and 25:

24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock."

Yesterday I officiated a funeral and just before I led the family into the sanctuary I asked the congregation to rise and our pianist began to play the old hymn "How Firm a Foundation".

Here is something about life that must be accepted: there will be storms.  Rains are going to fall, floods are going to come, and winds are going to beat against the doors of every family's house.  If we deny that we will be surprised and disappointed when the storm does come, and we will in all likelihood be swept away in a torrent of shock, grief, sadness, and resentment.  We will be dismayed that such a calamity has fallen our home.

But those who know the storm will come are ready when it does.  When they built their house they dug deep and laid a firm foundation.  When the storm comes, they will weather it; they will survive.

I know that somebody is reading this and thinking that survival seems a pretty low goal.  I would say that person probably hasn't considered just how mighty and destructive some storms can be.  Illness, debilitation, the loss of a job, betrayal and death - some storms you hope just to survive.  And survival depends on how firm a foundation you've got.

Daily Lesson for Ascension Day, May 29, 2014

Today's Lesson is from Matthew chapter 28 verses 16 and 17:

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.  18 And Jesus came and said to them,“All authority iin heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And see, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I love this scene because it's so honest.  

Jesus has been raised from the dead. He appears to the women at the tomb and tells them to go and tell the remaining eleven disciples to go to Galilee, His home region, where He will meet them. When the disciples arrive in Galilee, He is there waiting and they worship Him.  But, the Scripture says, "some doubted."

So, Jesus was there in flesh and blood - but there was still doubt.  And not Jesus one doubter. Doubting Thomas usually takes the rap here, but the Scripture actually says "some doubted".  That's more than one.  Two?  Three?  Seven?  All eleven?

In the Baptist church when someone is senses a call to ministry an Ordination Council is set up to discern the fitness of the person for ministry.  They usually ask the candidate to tell them about what they believe about various things including the virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus, and His bodily resurrection.  I read this Scripture and have to wonder how many of of the disciples would have passed the test.  And yet, Jesus went ahead and commissioned them anyway.  There was no rebuke or chastisement for their doubt.  Instead, there were these words, "Go . . . Baptize . . . Teach . . . Make disciples . . . And see that I am with you to the end."

Sometimes we have our questions. Our uncertainties.  Nothing in this thing called faith is beyond a shadow of a doubt.  Nevertheless, we go.  And in going, we discover that we have something within us that makes others want to come too.  In other words, in going we see.  We see that it's true - that He really is risen, and alive, and with us all the way.

Daily Lesson for May 28, 2014

Today's Daily Lesson is from Psalm 82 verses 6 through 8:

6 I said, “You are gods,

sons of the Most High, all of you;

7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,

and fall like any prince.”

8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;

for you shall inherit all the nations!

Yesterday's lesson on the injunction to pray for our leaders has me today thinking about our need to keep a proper perspective toward all earthly authorities. Government and rulers are apart of God's divine ordinance, and should be respected as such. But ultimately all laws, governments, governors, and nations are subject to God Himself. To Him belong all nations and governments. In the end, all rulers, authorities, and nations will pass away; only the LORD's authority endures.

In the oculus above the rotunda in the United States Capitol Building, there is a beautiful fresco painted in 1865 by Italian artist Constantino Brumidi titled "The Apotheosis of Washington". The painting depicts George Washington seated amidst the clouds, rising high into heaven. It is Washington's exaltation or "apotheosis", which is a Greek word meaning literally "to become a God".

For many, George Washington was a God. But he too passed away, just like any common man of history. So will our present rulers. And so too will our nation. They're all temporal. It is God who is eternal.

Recognizing this helps us keep things in perspective.

Daily Lesson for May 27, 2014

Today's Daily Lesson is from 1 Timothy verses 1 and 2:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 

On Sunday night our U.S. Congressman, Randy Neugebauer, attended our Memorial Service.  As I welcomed the congressman I was reminded that Scripture instructs us to pray for those in positions of authority and leadership.

We may or may not personally like our mayor, or our city councilmen, or state and congressional delegations, or our president.  But either way, they are our leaders, and the decisions they make will have a major impact on our lives and the lives of future generations.  Because of that we are enjoined to pray for them - to pray for wisdom and sound judgement, and a limitation on misjudgment, error and abuses of power.  We pray these things that we might have peace and prosperity in our country and world.

You may ask, well what about when we disagree with a leader and believe him or her to be arrogant and abusive in his or her leadership?  My response is to remind us that Paul's instruction to Timothy about praying for those in power likely came during the reign of the Emperor Nero, the madman who began the First Roman-Jewish War and burned the city of Rome so he could build a new palatial complex, blaming the fire on the Jews.  Paul told Timothy to pray for Nero precisely because Nero was so reckless and abusive.

There is a government official serving now who I have a lot of problems with.  I don't like what he says or what he does and I believe that if he had full reign he would do a lot of dangerous and destructive things.  Yet I pray for him.  I pray that God sends him wise counselors.  I pray he listens to them.  I pray he sees the consequences of his decisions. And I pray God limits the destructiveness of his abuses.  

I pray these things for his sake, and for the sake of those he governs and others affected by his decisions.  And, you know, I pray these things for my sake also.  It is the way I seek to live a peaceful, quiet, Godly and dignified life in my own spirit; and it is a lot better than cursing.

Daily Lesson for Memorial Day, May 26, 2014

A Memorial Day Lesson

Yesterday our church hosted a Memorial Day Service of Healing and Special Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the War in Vietnam.  We heard stories of heartache, including one from one of our own church members Dick Baker who shared about coming back from Vietnam in his Marine uniform and being spat upon by war protesters. Yet we also heard stories of healing, like the one from a then-young nurse in the Vietnam War who years later received a phone call from one of the wounded soldiers she cared for during his convalescence.  He remembered very little from the days following his injuries, but he did remember the nurse who held his hand.

One speaker, with whom I have had the privilege of meeting on two occasions now, was Shilo Harris.  Shilo's father served in Vietnam and Shilo himself joined the 10th Mountain Division in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2007, the Humvee Shilo was in was struck by an improvised explosive device.  The bomb killed three of Shilo's men in the truck and left Shilo terribly burned.  He was in a coma for 48 days with burns over 35 percent of his body, and has since undergone over 50 surgeries.  The bomb took his nose, both his ears, and three of his fingers.  But it did not take his heart.  He is now a motivational speaker, a soon-to-be published author and a visible witness not only to the sacrifice some have made on behalf of our country, but also to this nation's indomitable strength and courage.

Following the service in the church foyer, Shilo and I embraced.  We were forehead to forehead and my hand reached across the breadth of the back of his bald head.  His skin was smooth with no stubble, as all his hair except a small crest atop his head was burned away in the fire.  "Thank you," I whispered, "thank you."

When we finally released, Shilo and I both looked down and saw my seven-year-old daughter standing beneath us watching our embrace.  I looked back toward Shilo.  "This is my daughter, Gabby," I said.  "What a beautiful little girl," he said.  Instinctively, I looked back down at Gabby asked what I always ask her when somebody says she's beautiful.  "What do we say in our house," I asked.  Her answer came in shy whisper directed back at Shilo.  "It's the inside that counts."  I looked back toward Shilo, seeing a twinkle of light from his eyes spring forth from out behind his badly-deformed face.  He was smiling.  "That's right," he said, "it's the inside that counts."

It's what is inside men like Dick and Shilo and the hundreds of thousands of men who gave their lives for our country that has made this country what it is.  And it is for what is inside - service, honor, character - that I am exceedingly grateful.

Mark Cuban's Bigotry and Race Comments

http://m.espn.go.com/nba/story?storyId=10971451&i=FB&w=1e1gh

I live in a fully integrated bedroom and still have my race issues to overcome. Though ‪#‎MarkCuban‬ could have been more sensitive when it comes to the Martin family, I think the substance of what he said was honest, reaching and showed the courage we need to help carry thisdifficult conversation forward. I am grateful for this. 

We are learning to speak about difficult and painful things as an American family. This requires grace and humility from all of us.

Daily Lesson for May 23, 2014

Today's Daily Lesson is from Matthew chapter 7

Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but udo not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?

When I was in high school football was everything. Friday Night Lights and all that.  And I was captain of the team and garnered a lot of accolades.

In the parking lot after a practice our senior year my best friend told me he was sick of football because he never got to play. He said he was really ready for the season to be done and he said he didn't care if we made the playoffs.  I heard that and laid into him with the full force of my anger.  It was because of him and others on the team like him that we were losing, I said.  I was so disgusted; and came within inches of punching him square in the face.

You know why I was so angry?  Because truth be told, I actually hated football.  I couldn't stand it's pressures and anxieties and the fear I went through every Friday night.  Secretly, I had wanted it all to be over since the very first day of high school.  But that was my secret; and I had to do whatever it took to hide it.  What I was fighting in my friend, I was actually fighting inside of me.  And I needed to put up a good fight.

We often see the specks in other people's eyes out of proportion because they are distorted by the logs in our own eyes.  The "sin" we are so quick to project on others is often actually much greater in us.  We fight them because it's a lot easier than fighting ourselves - or better, making peace with ourselves.