A Secure Path

While we live, even though the world is in the power of the evil one, we have hope God who gives life and can empower us to overcome. We have a firm foundation and we have an anchor that will secure no matter how intense the storms of life may be. We can sing: “We have an anchor..” “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols”(1 John 5:20-21). At Rock City Gardens near Chattanooga, Tennessee, a swinging bridge provides a path across a deep chasm between two bluffs. As I followed my children across the bridge, my daughter froze. She wanted a firm foundation; she sensed no security. Only my presence and coaching gave her the confidence to trust the bridge and reach the other side. We crave safety and predictability in our relationships. We don’t want a swinging bridge. We don’t want to navigate the swamps of depression and fear. We want firm ground, preferably concrete pavement, underneath our feet in our relationship with family, with friends, and with God. Though the cables strain, they are secured by the Savior’s hand. He coaches us and he guides toward safety; he demonstrates concrete love. Will you keep yourselves from idols? Will you trust the true God and eternal life? Will you say yes to the concrete love of Christ?

His Only Master Was Jesus

Fifty years ago, Marshall Keeble died at the age of 89. Leroy Garrett, in a book about the history of churches of Christ, called brother Keeble one of the princes of the church (Stone Campbell Movement, 680). Earl West, in his history Search for the Ancient Order identified Keeble as one of the three best preachers among churches of Christ in the first half of the twentieth century (Volume 4, 140). Marshall Keeble had no political power. He was not wealthy. His father had been born a slave. Yet he wielded, and continues to exert, great influence in the Lord’s church. He preached in small churches and clearings. He preached in large public auditoriums to a packed house. He preached in Europe and in Africa as well as in the United States; he baptized more than ten thousand people. Among his greatest achievements was his mentoring of young men who wanted to preach. In 1939, he became the President of Nashville Christian Institute, a school for training African-American preachers. Some of the students travelled with him on evangelistic campaigns and learned even more as they listened and as they watched. Although Keeble was a powerful preacher, he emphasized that he was not the focal point of the assembly. He pointed people to focus on Jesus, saying things like, “Don’t follow your Momma. Follow Jesus. He knows how to get to Heaven. He’s made the round trip. Your Momma don’t know the way to Heaven – she’s never been there” (Willie Cato, His Hand and Heart, 37). He exhorted his hearers to “prove all things, then hold fast to that which is good.” My parents took me to hear Marshall Keeble preach in 1964 when he was about 85 years old and I was 7 years old. He impressed me greatly with his fervent preaching that could capture the interest even of a small boy. As my family left the auditorium that night, I reached up to shake his hand and asked him if he would come to preach where I went to church. After asking me where I lived and worshiped, he was silent for a few seconds, then he smiled as he answered, “Maybe someday.” He loved to pray. He loved to preach. He loved his family and he enjoyed baseball. But more than anything else, he loved the Lord. The Lord Jesus was his master. His biographer observed that what made Marshall Keeble great was “…NO BODY and NO THING mastered him, except the Master himself.” (His Hand and Heart, 134). Let’s pray that they will say the same of us.

What Are the Boundaries of Forgiveness?

Are there actions or attitudes for which we will not forgive people? Well-publicized stunts or statements that horrify and cross societal lines of decency like a "comedian's" posing with a bloody head of a politician or a rock singer calling for violence against a national leader stir frenzied retorts. If a perpetrator apologizes in the midst of widespread public outrage, many question the sincerity of that apology. A man is convicted of identity theft; a women is convicted of sex with a boy who was her student at local school. We find it difficult to trust. You learn that your physician also performs abortions, or that a high school friend exploded a bomb at an abortion clinic. A friend married someone of the same gender, or another friend condemned that action. Last year, I read a social media post that identified being against divorce and remarriage as the most important indicator of faithfulness to Christ. Here is the question: What do you do when any of these people or the people that they oppose (if you agree with them) start attending the church where you worship? What do you require as proof of repentance? What are your conditions before you will forgive? What do you believe are the limits of God's grace? Some of the situations mentioned above might require different responses; a few might have legal requirements that present challenges to any assimilation. What would Jesus do? He reached out and touched lepers. He told an adulterous women to "go and sin no more" after quieting a group of men that wanted to stone her to death. He told a parable of a father who forgave a rebellious son and celebrated his return with a party (His other son did not appreciate the celebration). He also rejected some who could not commit fully to discipleship. I do not intend to minimize the horror of sin. I do ask how well we handle forgiveness. I question how well we help the fallen get back on their feet. Are the boundaries we set the boundaries that Christ sets? If we think that they are, have we considered carefully the arguments of those who disagree with us? How well do we comfort those whom God has called to salvation? How do we protect those who are vulnerable if they fall back into sin? What are the boundaries of forgiveness?

Preparing for Disaster

I return after an absence of several eventful months. My chaplain ministry continues to give me opportunities to serve those who give themselves to serve others. At the same time, I hope for opportunity to serve more. The rough draft of my book on prayer nears completion even as I intensify my search for preaching and teaching opportunities. This last week I was reinvigorated by hearing speakers discuss preparation for and ministry to people overcome by natural disasters. Illness and unexpected loss of a house or business damages one's spirit. One survives the storm through prayerful preparation, attributing proper value to material possessions, and by having the right amount of insurance. Insurance may be flood, fire, or earthquake related; it also can be soul-directed when one evaluates his or her relationship with God and acts to improve it. 1 Peter chapter three describes how Noah survived a world-wide flood and compares it to Christians being saved through baptism that confesses one's allegiance to God and faith that realizes the implications of Christ's resurrection from the dead.

Regaining Spiritual Balance

I read an article recently entitled "You Can't Run on Pop Tarts." It was a great article about living a balanced spiritual life. I read it as a fifty-ish person who runs 20 to 30 miles a week, usually fueled by a breakfast of a banana and two Pop Tarts. I watch what I eat more carefully at other meals, having reduced intake of red meat and regulating caloric intake. I replied to the article; this post is an expansion of my response. As we run the race of life, we encounter obstacles that we must resolve. Activities, relationships, and work may slow our pace. We pause to work on these distractions (some of which have inherent positive value) and may have trouble returning the path we want to run. Sometimes work demands our attention. Supervisors want to increase productivity; that may mean that employees work harder or longer. It may also invite ethical challenges - taking a short cut that reduces value but increases the volume produce, stealing a competitors formula to enhance our own product. We wake up one morning and realize that we run the race of life with the goal of getting promoted, getting a raise, or earning a pension. Values have vanished from our metaphorical wardrobe; family, faith, and integrity have diminished roles when we make choices in time use or moral choices. The same dilemmas may emerge in regard to recreational activities and relationships. We have a sense that we have lost our way. How may we regain our spiritual balance? First, we identify the distractions that keep us from living a spiritually healthy life. A biblical passages that urges running with our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-3) precedes that admonition by telling us to get rid of what holds us back or obscures our focus. A husband may have to cut down the number of hours he spends watching sports on television or playing with friends to improve his marriage. A teenager may have to distance herself from a "friend" who tempts her to compromise her values. Second, we associate regularly with other believers in worship and study activities that will help us improve our focus (Hebrews 10:25). It's hard to run alone; although I frequently run trails alone, the time goes much faster and I run faster when I run with others. The same principle applies to living for Christ. Although time in prayer alone is critical, the affirmation received from worship and fellowship in Christian assemblies helps bolster faithfulness to Christ and to the values contained in his teachings. We become more accountable through such association and so make decisions in a more thoughtful manner. Third, taking in regular amounts of Bible study seasoned with prayer will greatly increase the probability of our crossing the finish line and receiving the prize laid up for us in heaven (2 Timothy 4:1-8). Reading all the Bible systematically will decrease your straying from your path. It will keep you from focusing on a sliver of truth rather than the Christ who empowers. We can't live a spiritually balanced life that is fueled only by televangelists and contemporary Christian music. These "spiritual Pop Tarts" may have some value in pointing us to Jesus and the Bible, but they cannot replace the accountability and affirmation gained by regular attendance at Christian worship assemblies and Bible studies. Regular Bible study and prayer remind us where the boundaries lie and help us to stay on the path to a life that is eternal in quality now as well as in duration.

Looking for the King

"They were all looking for a king To slay their foes and lift them high: Thou cam'st, a little baby thing That made a woman cry. O Son of Man, to right my lot Naught but thy presence can avail; Yet on the road Thy wheels are not, Nor on the sea Thy sail! My how or when Thou wilt not heed, But come down Thine own secret stair, That Thou mayst answer all my need - Yea, every bygone prayer." - "That Holy Thing" by George MacDonald (1824-1905)

When Jesus began to preach, many of his contemporaries detected a difference in the way he taught and related from other itinerant teachers, rabbis, and religious authorities. Some theorized that he might be the long-awaited Messiah. Others scoffed. He did not fit their expectations. On at least one occasion someone, not realizing that Jesus had indeed been born in Bethlehem, rejected him because he was from Nazareth and not from Bethlehem, where they understood the prophet Micah to have said that the Messiah would be born. He did not satisfy the militaristic expectations of others, although they still, as in the aftermath of the feeding of the five thousand in John 6, tried to take him by force and make him king. We still try to force our expectations on Jesus and define him by our experiences. As first century Jews theorized about the coming of the Messiah, we speculate about the second coming of the Messiah. Most of them missed it badly; their example should warn us to avoid being dogmatic on this issue. When he returns, however, how we lived in his absence will affect greatly how we receive him when he returns. Let us study his teachings closely about how to relate to one another and to him. Let us, like early disciples, "devote [ourselves] to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (Acts 2:42). We cannot control how Christ will return. We can however control how we prepare ourselves for his arrival.