Category Archives: Evil and Suffering

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Trials, Temptations, & Thankfulness (James 1)

This is a brief excerpt from a  series at Pathways Church on truths from the book of James (from back in Oct 2008).  

  • TRIAL: I sat on the porch watching my 3 little kids playing in the street realizing that I would/could very well lose everything; a lawsuit that threatened to cause me to lose everything–KEY: No matter how much you have prepared; no matter how much you have planned for every situation; no matter what you say and do; no matter how much control you think that you have–you will be hit in life with things that are unfair and out of your control and yes, even devastating.
  • TEMPTATION: The night before Thanksgiving I lost sight of God.  I doubted His love, His presence.
  • THANKFULNESS:  Thanksgiving day came and although I was not that thankful, I chose to be thankful and list and look for thankful moments “…consider it all joy…”-James 1:1 Later on James mentions a ‘crown of life’.  My pastor friend, Bucky, shared with me that maybe we have misunderstood the ‘crown of life’ to be a crown we receive after we die.  Maybe this is a crown that we wear now on this side of heaven in the kingdom of God that is NOW HERE!  Maybe the trials we go through give us the eyes to see LIFE as God wants us to see LIFE as a GIFT!

Please enjoy my short audio about my “trial” and what it has taught me about thankfulness.  And as always please leave a comment!

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So you are planning a trip to the Battlegrounds at Gettysburg

So you want to take your kids to see Gettysburg?  Here is my advise based on my experience taking my kids:

  • Read up on the topic before the trip–kids learn by example (if dad is into it, they will be….): #1. Killer Angels–this will get you pumped to see Gettysburg.  It is a GREAT read. #2. Battle of Gettysburg at Wikipedia–this is a short clear summary.
  • Listen on the way–This is the best audiobook on Gettysburg(you can get it at amazon or download it to your ipod at audiobooks in itunes); The kids could only take this 2 hr book on tape in 15 minute intervals, but it is important for you to get through it before the trip to get the kids pumped about the history.
  • Gettysburg Museum–FIRST STOP–we went to the Gettysburg Museum first.  It gave the kids a great summary and got them excited to see the battlegrounds (there may be better museums? This one had a hokey pseudo-disneyland re-inactment, but it was good enough.  Remember to get their free brochure of their audio tour (it has a very simple map of the battles–we did not do the audio tour–it was at least 2 hrs long)
  • Touring the battlefields–#1. Union Line–Go to the Pennsylvania monument first (you can climb to the top and get a great overview and at the top they have pointers to show you where everything occurred) #2. Go to little round top–this was a KEY defensive position and holding this hill on day #2 of the battle was key to victory–there are some great plaques that teach about some key people–Strong Vincent etc. #3. Devil’s Den–my kids were into the idea of snipers shooting at the Union line from this key rock formation. #4. Confederate line–we ran low on time so we just went to the very high tower at the center of the confederate line–great view of battlefield.
  • Patience–my kids must have asked me at least 2 dozen times: “Now who were the Rebels, who were the guys in blue, who were the Confederates, which side was Robert E. Lee on again….” It was all worth it when my son did a speech on Strong Vincent for school….They really do listen.
  • Summary of the battles–Day #1. The push–The confederates AGAIN had a significant victory on the first day which made them too confident for the following days.  Day#2. The flank–Lee decided to go with tactics that worked for him in the past despite very poor positioning.  Meade fell back to excellent defensive position, and Lee couldn’t breakthrough at Meade’s flanks.  Day#3. The charge–The most famous part of the battle(s) is one of the most brutal and some would say courageous or crazy ideas.
  • Lessons learned–Pride before the fall–age old adage–Lee’s over confidence appears to be his undoing; superior weapons save lives–The Union had rifles that had superior technology to the Confederates which helped them to fire more rapidly; a powerful military is important–although I am not big on guns etc. studying military history has helped me to understand that a high tech/powerful military is important to keep the peace (I recently heard a commentator say that we need to get out of all these other countries that we are in (save A LOT of money), but maintain our military edge…so if there is a problem, we can keep the peace…); location, location, location–the view from little round top was a powerful reminder that the high ground is always key…
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Where is God? Part 2: No Where Else To Go (CREATOR)

During our 6 week series titled: Where is God? We will be exploring 6 C’s of Evil and Suffering: Connection, Creator, Choice, Cross, Compassion, and Conclusions.

Part 2 addressed the Creator by looking at the Book of Job.

  • Why ask Why? It is ok to ask why in times of suffering.
  • Friends or Fiends? Job’s friends had it right the first time when the comforted Job with not trying to answer why but being present with him.  The most honest answer may be: I don’t know, or as C.S. Lewis responded to a theologian friend of his when his wife, Joy, died, “It’s just a bloody mess!”
  • The God of our misunderstanding.  Job’s heart was right, but his theology was wrong.  When we go through a dark time, we often turn to our false understanding of God.  I turned to my understanding of God–a distant God who told me that I was not enough.  Our times of suffering are defining times because we will either run away from a false god of our own making, or we will finally see the true God who is closer than we could ever imagine and who is whispering in our ear, “you are enough! You are my beloved child!”
  • Why to Who.  Finally we turn away from the why and focus on the Who.
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Wild and Crazy? Maybe it is the Holy Spirit

I had the opportunity to speak on the Holy Spirit for my wife’s women’s group.  They are doing a series based out of Francis Chan’s book: Forgotten God: Reversing our tragic neglect of the Holy Spirit

The take home message: If it sounds wild and crazy, maybe it is or maybe it is and it is the Holy Spirit working!

“Our guide is the Holy Spirit, whom the early Celtic christians like Patrick called the Wild Goose.  They knew he could not be tamed.  Ours is merely to trust and follow his haunting call, and he will take us on the adventure he has for us…”-Eldridge (The Way of the Wild Heart), pg 125

Please share with us your thoughts after you listen to the teaching.

Questions:

1. Have you ever been ‘healed’ or have you heard of anyone being ‘healed’ by God/The Spirit?

2. Do you believe that the Holy Spirit still is active? In what ways? Are ‘the gifts’ open or closed?

3. How active is the Holy Spirit in your life?  How does the Holy Spirit manifest?

References:

uberlumen posts:

An Encounter With God

Do Miracles Really Happen?

Miracles and Healings AMAZING Stories

Miracles and Healings #1-4
Books:

Acts

Turnings by Guy Chevreau

The Kingdom Triangle by JP Moreland

You Were Born For This by Bruce Wilkinson (how to develop a life of everyday miracles)

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Patience, Perseverance, Passion, Hard Work, and “wait for it”

Rob is an amazing person who has a great career and a wonderful family.  Rob was my closest friend from age 3-13.  We still see each other once a year.  This is not really a story about Rob and me.  I am quite certain that Rob doesn’t even know the angst that I went through trying to keep up with him. 

Rob and I were swimmers, and he ALWAYS beat me in the stroke that we both did best (breaststroke).  He may not even remember all those swim meets where he would beat me handily, and he certainly (I hope) doesn’t  know about the emotional pain of never being able to beat his best friend… until maybe later…

Rob was a grade behind me in school so our paths began to separate.  He got into baseball, and I remained in swimming.  In high school, we both chose to play water polo and that meant that we would both be swimming together again.  We were the 2 main breaststrokers on the team so we found ourselves swimming against each other again.  This time, however, I was always in the lead.

I tell this story to my kids periodically.  I want so much for my kids to know that only time will tell the eventual outcomes.  They suffer, much like there dad has, when their friends beat them (and especially if their siblings do).  It is after these defeats that I turn to the “Rob story” in hopes of reminding them that with patience, perseverance, hard work, these circumstances can change.  Todays winners can be tomorrows losers in ANY race that you might find yourself in.

In the movie Minority Report, the main character (Tom Cruse) is being chased while he is helping to rescue a woman who has the power to see the future.  As they are being chased through a busy shopping mall, she is whispering in his ear directions to follow so they won’t be caught.  At one point she quietly chants, “wait for it…” over and over so that the main character will trust her advise and stand still in one place.  The place she advises them to stand is right in the middle of the mall in plain sight of everyone to see.  Unknown to the main character, a man with a large bundle of balloons is going to walk across their path blocking them from view at just the right moment when a group of police chasing them is trying to spot them. 

We don’t know the future.  We must stay on the right course.  If we are gifted and passionate about a sport or a career (for example), patience, perseverance, hard work, and just ‘waiting for it’ may, in time, allow us to finish better than we ever imagined that we could.

Life is filled with trust.  We must trust in God’s plan even when we want to trust in our plan.  We have to trust that our current state of affairs, our current losses, our current struggles, may, in the end, bring wins, success, and maybe even joy especially when we “run with perseverance the race marked out for us [by God].”

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  run in such a way as to get the prize.”-1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”-Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

 

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Where is God? Part 1 Now Here: A Walk Through Psalm 13

I had the honor of flying solo for a sermon at my church.  We are doing a 6 week series titled: Where is God? This 1st in the series addresses some practical tips that can be applied to help all of us to deal with life’s stress, anxiety, pain, and suffering. It is subtitled: Now Here, a walk through Psalm 13.
Here are the power point slides, the 2 video clips, and the audio is below. Please share your thoughts.


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The Suffering of Christ for us: Station 7 of the Cross

How do we ‘modernize’ the suffering of Christ on the cross? How do we depict His suffering so that we can best understand the brutality of our sin? One artist has tried:

“This piece was originally created by Jackson Potts II, for a collection of works hanging in Xnihilo Gallery. The installation is a modern take on the traditional Stations of the Cross, and the gallery requested 15 artists to each depict one of the stations. Due to reasons which will be explained in subsequent posts, the gallery was not able to hang this piece. We invite you to view it here and to comment upon it.
Here is Jackson’s artist statement.

Jesus Falls for the Second Time.
When I came up with this idea for my piece, one of the things that I wanted to show was that Jesus was innocent, and the crowd still wanted him to die. So I used a child (my brother Dietrich) to show the innocence of Jesus and how wrong it was for him to be treated that way. The police officer was just doing his job, as was the guard that was escorting Jesus to Skull Hill. The crowd was angry and violent except the one girl in the blue dress, who represents the people who loved Jesus.”

Here is the link to view the photo (it is brutal but thought provoking):

http://jacksonsstation.blogspot.com/2012_03_01_archive.html

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The Psychology of Choice & Character

Please enjoy this brief audio discussion regarding the psychology of choice in which I discuss several examples of the influence of the subconscious and of time on our choices.

Example #1: Volunteers were given scrambled sentences and one group was given a group of scrambled sentences that were about rudeness and the other group was given a group of scrambled sentences about being patient.  The group that had just found the words relating to rudeness were much more likely to interrupt the interviewer’s phone conversation.  Very interesting.

Example #2: The other example they did is they had again 2 groups but this time one group got scrambled sentences with words to be found about being old and the other group had random words.  These two groups of participants were then timed from when they left the office, where the testing was done till they reach the elevator and they found that there is a significant slower pace to the group of people that were finding the words that were related to being old elderly.

Example #3: One group was asked to think of a very smart person and then answer trivial pursuit type questions vs. another group that was asked to think of a very stupid person and then answer the same trivial pursuit type questions.  The group thinking of the smart person did better at answering the trivial pursuit questions!

Example #4:  Finally the last example is from the tipping point by Malcolm Gladwell and in this book he discusses a very interesting story regarding the good Samaritan.   Princeton University psychologist met with a group of seminarians people studying to become a pastor’s and they were trying to answer the question who would stop and help a person who is slumped in the alley head down, eyes closed coughing and groaning.  One group was told that they were late to the class that they were going to teach and they are expected in only a few minutes so they better get moving quickly.  The other group were told that they have enough time to get over to the classroom.  What they found was that on several occasions the seminary students going to give their lecture which was actually on the parable of the good Samaritan literally stepped over the mock victim as he hurried on his way.  What they say is of the group that was in a rush 10% stopped to help, but of the group that was not in a rush that had some time to spare 63% stopped and helped.  This study suggests that the convictions of your heart and the actual contents of your thoughts are less important in the end in guiding one’s actions than the immediate context of your behavior.

All of these studies suggest that we as individuals must be very cognizant of the world around us and to influence it in a positive way, to show a good character,  we must be aware of our surroundings and slow down.  Those with truly great character do the right thing no matter if they are late for a meeting nor are they influenced in a negative way by their surroundings.

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Saint Therese’s Little Way

When Saint Therese aka ‘the little flower’ felt shattered by her tormenting doubts, “God lowered Himself to me, and instructed me secretly in the things of His love.” What God showed to her she called the Little Way, which she defined as “the way of trust and absolute surrender.” It is “to expect everything from God as a little child expects everything from its father.” For Therese, sanctity “consists in a disposition of heart which makes us humble and little in the arms of God.” “My way,” she writes, “is all confidence and love.”

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Healthcare and ‘Filibuster Abuse’

The California Medical Association, that I am a member of, sent me a form email requesting that I contact my state senators regarding the healthcare issue. Reluctantly as an apolitical person, I sent a form email to Senator Boxer. Here is her form letter email response:
“Dear Dr.:
Thank you for writing to me about pending health care reform legislation. I appreciate hearing from you.
As you may know, the House of Representatives passed health care reform legislation in November 2009, and the Senate passed its version in December 2009. These moves brought us closer than ever to providing affordable health care for all of America’s families, an elusive goal since Teddy Roosevelt first proposed it nearly a century ago.

However, with its unprecedented abuse of the filibuster, the Senate minority has blocked further progress on this historic legislation. Like millions of Americans, I am gravely disappointed in these delays…

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator”

For some reason her letter deeply affected me, I surprised myself by my passionate response….

“The 2 largest lobbying groups in support of this healthcare bill are the insurance companies and the drug companies. These 2 groups have little or no interest in the well being of my patients.

The healthcare bill does not have ANY malpractice reform. Without malpractice reform, myself and my fellow physicians will continue to drive the cost of healthcare upward to protect ourselves from litigation. Without malpractice reform, there will be no success in reducing healthcare costs.

You mention the ‘unprecedented abuse of the filibuster‘. I cannot disagree with you more.  Not to mention the fact that there has been NO filibuster, the purpose of the filibuster is to allow the minority to have a voice. Without it, the minority and the American people would not have a voice. Our government is founded on the ideal that it is a government ‘by the people and for the people’.

You are my representative, but as a U.S. citizen, it is MY government.   Our government was established with checks and balances to prevent the abuses that I have seen recently. I cannot tell you how truly disturbed I am that a government representative would use the terms  ‘abuse’ and ‘filibuster’ in the same phrase. No matter what political party we align ourselves with, we should embrace and applaud the voice of the people.

I guarentee that many of the people that voted for Scott Brown were NOT republicans; it was a bipartisan election by the people and for the people. They voted for him so that they could have a voice, and that voice has a name: filibuster.

Thank you for your time.”

Sorry for the politics from a person on a blog that is apolitical, but what I have seen in the last year in politics has compelled me to become more political.

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Don’t Worry #3: Accept the Worst Case Scenario

In this 3rd segment regarding how to stop worrying, I pull some key points from “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” by Dale Carnegie.  The 3rd key is simple: Accept the worst case scenario.

“Step 1. I analyzed the situation fearlessly and honestly and figured out what was the worst that could possibly happen as a result of this failure.”

“Step 2. After figuring out what was the worst that could possibly happen, I reconciled myself to accepting it, if necessary…After discovering the worst that could possibly happen and reconciling myself to accepting it, if necessary, an extremely important thing happened: I immediately relaxed and felt a sense of peace that I hadn’t experienced in days. ”

“Step 3. From that time on, I calmly devoted my time and energy to trying to improve upon the worst which I had already accepted mentally.”
“I probably would never have been able to do this if I had kept on worrying, because one of the worst features about worrying is that it destroys our ability to concentrate. When we worry, our minds jump here and there and everywhere, and we lose all power of decision. However, when we force ourselves to face the worst and accept it mentally, we then eliminate all those vague imaginings and put ourselves in a position in which we are able to concentrate on our problem.”

“The same idea was expressed by Lin Yutang in his widely read book, The Importance of Living. “True peace of mind,” said this Chinese philosopher, “comes from accepting the worst. Psychologically, I think, it means a release of energy.” That’s it, exactly! Psychologically, it means a new release of energy! When we have accepted the worst, we have nothing more to lose. And that automatically means we have everything to gain!”

“If you have a worry problem, apply the magic formula of Willis H. Carrier by doing these three things: 1. Ask yourself,’ ‘What is the worst that can possibly happen?” 2. Prepare to accept it if you have to. 3. Then calmly proceed to improve on the worst.”

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Don’t Worry #2

As I pointed out in Don’t Worry #1, living in the ‘now here’ is a powerful way to combat worry. In Dale Carnegie’s book: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, his first point is: Live today! Don’t worry/focus on yesterday or tomorrow.

“…twenty-one words from Thomas Carlyle that helped him lead a life free from worry: “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.””

“What I urge is that you so learn to control the machinery as to live with ‘day-tight compartments’ as the most certain way to ensure safety on the voyage. Get on the bridge, and see that at least the great bulkheads are in working order. Touch a button and hear, at every level of your life, the iron doors shutting out the Past the dead yesterdays. Touch another and shut off, with a metal curtain, the Future the unborn tomorrows. Then you are safe, safe for today! Shut off the past! Let the dead past bury its dead. Shut out the yesterdays which have lighted fools the way to dusty death. The load of tomorrow, added to that of yesterday, carried today, makes the strongest falter. Shut off the future as tightly as the past. The future is today. There is no tomorrow. The day of man’s salvation is now. Waste of energy, mental distress, nervous worries dog the steps of a man who is anxious about the future. Shut close, then the great fore and aft bulkheads, and prepare to cultivate the habit of life of ‘day-tight compartments.’ ”

“Tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have lived today.”-Roman poet Horace.

“life ‘is in the living, in the tissue of every day and hour.'”

“This speech contains twenty-six words that have gone ringing down across the centuries: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6: 34)

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Haitian Earthquake Survivors Praise God

A friend and partner of mine just shared this video he took when he was caring for Haitian’s in an orphanage converted to a hospital. The Haitian’s spontaneously errupted into praise songs to God.

Also here is a link to a powerful letter from a surgeon who just returned as part of Samaritan’s Purse…

Haitian Earthquake Survivors from Jim Keany on Vimeo.

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Part #4: Burdens, Rest, and Meekness: Matthew and The Pursuit of God

Part 4 artificiality

Tozer points out one final source of burden: Artificiality.

“Another source of burden is artificiality. I am sure that most people live in secret fear that some day they will be careless and by chance an enemy or friend will be allowed to peep into their poor empty souls. So they are never relaxed. Bright people are tense and alert in fear that they may be trapped into saying something common or stupid. Traveled people are afraid that they may meet some Marco Polo who is able to describe some remote place where they have never been.This unnatural condition is part of our sad heritage of sin, but in our day it is aggravated by our whole way of life. Advertising is largely based upon this habit of pretense. `Courses’ are offered in this or that field of human learning frankly appealing to the victim’s desire to shine at a party. Books are sold, clothes and cosmetics are peddled, by playing continually upon this desire to appear what we are not.”

Finally to conclude our miniseries, Tozer points out the solution, once again, to our artificiality, pretense, and pride: meekness.  Only through meekness will our burdens be lifted and only then can we find rest for our souls.

“Artificiality is one curse that will drop away the moment we kneel at Jesus’ feet and surrender ourselves to His meekness. Then we will not care what people think of us so long as God is pleased. Then what we are will be everything; what we appear will take its place far down the scale of interest for us. Apart from sin we have nothing of which to be ashamed. Only an evil desire to shine makes us want to appear other than we are.The heart of the world is breaking under this load of pride and pretense. There is no release from our burden apart from the meekness of Christ. Good keen reasoning may help slightly, but so strong is this vice that if we push it down one place it will come up somewhere else. To men and women everywhere Jesus says, `Come unto me, and I will give you rest.’ The rest He offers is the rest of meekness, the blessed relief which comes when we accept ourselves for what we are and cease to pretend. It will take some courage at first, but the needed grace will come as we learn that we are sharing this new and easy yoke with the strong Son of God Himself. He calls it `my yoke,’ and He walks at one end while we walk at the other.”

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Part #3: Burdens, Rest, and Meekness: Matthew and The Pursuit of God

Part 3  Pretense and Little Children

Tozer proceeds to share another of our burdens: Pretense.

“Then also he will get deliverance from the burden of pretense. By this I mean not hypocrisy, but the common human desire to put the best foot forward and hide from the world our real inward poverty. For sin has played many evil tricks upon us, and one has been the infusing into us a false sense of shame. There is hardly a man or woman who dares to be just what he or she is without doctoring up the impression. The fear of being found out gnaws like rodents within their hearts. The man of culture is haunted by the fear that he will some day come upon a man more cultured than himself. The learned man fears to meet a man more learned than he. The rich man sweats under the fear that his clothes or his car or his house will sometime be made to look cheap by comparison with those of another rich man. So-called `society’ runs by a motivation not higher than this, and the poorer classes on their level are little better.”

Tozer then points the solution to our pretense.  The way of the child.

“Let no one smile this off. These burdens are real, and little by little they kill the victims of this evil and unnatural way of life. And the psychology created by years of this kind of thing makes true meekness seem as unreal as a dream, as aloof as a star. To all the victims of the gnawing disease Jesus says, `Ye must become as little children.’ For little children do not compare; they receive direct enjoyment from what they have without relating it to something else or someone else. Only as they get older and sin begins to stir within their hearts do jealousy and envy appear. Then they are unable to enjoy what they have if someone else has something larger or better. At that early age does the galling burden come down upon their tender souls, and it never leaves them till Jesus sets them free.”

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Part #2: Burdens, Rest, and Meekness: Matthew and The Pursuit of God

Part 2 Pride and Meekness

The first burden that A.W. Tozer discusses in Chapter 9 of The Pursuit of God is PRIDE.

“Let us examine our burden. It is altogether an interior one. It attacks the heart and the mind and reaches the body only from within. First, there is the burden of pride. The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal there will be those who will delight to offer affront to your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace? The heart’s fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. Continue this fight through the years and the burden will become intolerable. Yet the sons of earth are carrying this burden continually, challenging every word spoken against them, cringing under every criticism, smarting under each fancied slight, tossing sleepless if another is preferred before them.”

Tozer proceeds to point out the link between Jesus wisdom in Matthew 5:5 regarding the meek, and His ability to lighten our burdens (Matthew 11:28-30)

“Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and meekness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort. He develops toward himself a kindly sense of humor and learns to say, `Oh, so you have been overlooked? They have placed someone else before you? They have whispered that you are pretty small stuff after all? And now you feel hurt because the world is saying about you the very things you have been saying about yourself? Only yesterday you were telling God that you were nothing, a mere worm of the dust. Where is your consistency? Come on, humble yourself, and cease to care what men think.’

The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto…As he walks on in meekness he will be happy to let God defend him. The old struggle to defend himself is over. He has found the peace which meekness brings.”

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Part #1: Burdens, Rest, and Meekness: Matthew 5 and Chapter 9 of The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Matt.5:5a

I started the New Year resolved to read through the Bible (again).  As I read Matthew chapter 5, I was struck (again and again) by its beauty and transforming power.  On the same day, I just happen to pick up A.W. Tozer’s book: The Pursuit of God that I have been reading for months and turn to chapter 9 which starts with a discussion of the beginning of Matthew chapter 5–‘coincidence’? Unlikely.

Tozer points out that most of what constitutes evil, pain, and suffering in our world comes from you know who….you and me!

“In the world of men we find nothing approaching the virtues of which Jesus spoke in the opening words of the famous Sermon on the Mount. Instead of poverty of spirit we find the rankest kind of pride; instead of mourners we find pleasure seekers; instead of meekness, arrogance; instead of hunger after righteousness we hear men saying, `I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing’; instead of mercy we find cruelty; instead of purity of heart, corrupt imaginings; instead of peacemakers we find men quarrelsome and resentful; instead of rejoicing in mistreatment we find them fighting back with every weapon at their command…these are the evils which make life the bitter struggle it is for all of us. All our heartaches and a great many of our physical ills spring directly out of our sins. Pride, arrogance, resentfulness, evil imaginings, malice, greed: these are the sources of more human pain than all the diseases that ever afflicted mortal flesh.”

His words are oxygen to a patient gasping for air.  Christ alone knows how to ease our suffering, our pain, our burdens…

“Into a world like this the sound of Jesus’ words comes wonderful and strange, a visitation from above. It is well that He spoke, for no one else could have done it as well; and it is good that we listen. His words are the essence of truth. He is not offering an opinion; Jesus never uttered opinions. He never guessed; He knew, and He knows.”

“`Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Mat 11:28-30) Here we have two things standing in contrast to each other, a burden and a rest. The burden is not a local one, peculiar to those first hearers, but one which is borne by the whole human race. It consists not of political oppression or poverty or hard work. It is far deeper than that. It is felt by the rich as well as the poor for it is something from which wealth and idleness can never deliver us. The burden borne by mankind is a heavy and a crushing thing. The word Jesus used means a load carried or toil borne to the point of exhaustion. Rest is simply release from that burden. It is not something we do, it is what comes to us when we cease to do. His own meekness, that is the rest.”

In coming posts we will examine our burdens…

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Who was Wag Dodge?

In 1949, Wag Dodge lead a team of smoke jumpers to fight the Mann Gulch fire. His leadership or lack thereof has been used in business school classes as an example of how not to lead men.

Wag was a man of few words who was leading a group of men who he had not worked with before. When they were dropped from their plane down into the fire area, he immediately had his dinner. The men were taking pictures of the fire, and Wag’s lack of direction and seemingly carefree attitude seemed to lull the others into complacency.

When the fire took a turn for the worst and came right at them, Wag began to try and lead by directing the men to drop all their tools and to NOT run from the fire–both counter intuitive actions. These actions would only be followed by men who trusted their leader. He then burned a small area around them with a match and told them all to lie down and the fire would pass them by. Needless to say, the others made a run for it and all but 2 of them died. Wag laid down and sure enough the fire went over him. In fact, Wag’s ‘escape fire’ was the first of its kind in modern firefighting history.

So why am I sharing this story? I heard the details of this story by a business professor teaching a course on critical decision making. We, as Christians, are the Wag’s of the world, and as such, we are reminded of 2 important points from Wag’s story:
1. The world and its people are on fire, and they don’t know it until it is too late. Their solution is to panic and run. We have the answer–don’t panic, leave behind all your ‘stuff’, surrender, and lie prostrate before Him and TRUST in Him and NO ONE else.  If you do this, the fire will pass over you.
2. The world sees Christians as Wag’s; they will only follow us when we are in relationship with them….when we love them and share our lives with them.