Why Do I Care?

There are probably a few folks out there - all right; all two or three of you - who wonder why I bothered blogging about or why I would care anything about what happens in the ICOC. After all, the reaction of most people in the fellowship of Churches of Christ to trouble brewing within the International Churches of Christ has usually been a grumpy and very un-Christian "Well, good."

Well, it's not good. Christians are Christians, no matter what the sign reads above the door of their meeting place.

And I have a debt of gratitude to one particular group of believers, then known as "Boston movement," who met on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis many years ago. They expressed first an interest, and then a deep love, for the soul of my younger sister and persuaded her that Christ still loved her in spite of some of her self-destructive tendencies.

Their persistence in what is now known as "discipling" her went far beyond trying to reach goals or quotas, and had an effect that has also persisted. My sister, now a married mother of three, has been a Sunday school teacher and care group leader among many other roles in her walk with Christ since then. Those believers reached out when our parents, as well as my older sister and I, could not have reached her - and I will always be grateful for that.

I don't have to agree with everything that folks in the ICOC teach and believe. (Hey, they tried to recruit my dad in those days to be an elder at their church ... isn't recruiting elders from other churches a pretty peculiar way to get them?)

They loved my Sis, and nothing can ever change that or its effect on her life.

And, by heaven, even if Jesus Himself were to write them out of His will (ridiculous thought!), I would still love them right back for that.

That's why I care.

Be Powerful

Pray today. Pray for Rachel Pleasant. Pray for little Ira Hays. Pray for Rebekah. Pray for the ICOC. Pray for victims, families, rescue workers, repair crews in the wake of destruction left by Hurricane Katrina.

Never doubt that prayer has power. Your will and my will may not be what God initially had in mind, but He is God, and He can - and has in the past - "bent" His will to accommodate what His children have asked for.

Thank you for your prayers. After a drought of career opportunities this summer, there seems to be a good soaking rain of them all about me. A friend called yesterday out of the blue and said he'd been praying about me. I told him it was having an effect! He sounded a little disappointed, and said "Please don't accept anything until I've had a chance to get back to you within seven to ten days." What he could only hint at was a possibility that would put my skills to good use for the Lord. I promised him I wouldn't say "yes" to anyone until we had talked again.

Nothing puts the paltriness of your own career satisfaction into perspective like seeing the devastation of a hurricane, or of cancer in a little girl, or of a rapidly-spreading infection in a young wife, or CDH in a tiny baby, or the potential of devastation in a struggle within a fellowship of believers.

Prayer has power, though.

Be powerful today.

The Least In the Kingdom

It's a phrase Jesus uses twice in Scripture, as nearly as I can tell - and it fascinates me.

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
- Matthew 5:19

He's talking about the Law and the Prophets (see context, v.17-20), I think. It may be a limited blessing, as some think, that's in effect only "until everything is accomplished" (v.18). But was everything accomplished when He uttered "It is finished!" on the cross? Or was there still work to be done, through the Holy Spirit, through believers - leaving that comment about being "least in the kingdom" still in effect?

And is He also talking about commands that are implicit in His beatitudes, His commission to be light and salt - and the ones that follow: treating others with respect, seeking reconciliation, resisting lustful urges, marrying for life, speaking with your own integrity, sharing and serving rather than seeking retribution, etc. etc. etc.?

Can someone disobey the least of commands, and teach others to do the same, yet still be a part of the kingdom of heaven - even if he or she is the "least" therein?

Could Peter still serve in the kingdom even though he was a bigot?

Could Paul and Barnabas still serve in the kingdom even though they had a sharp disagreement about John Mark?

Could preachers who preached Christ out of egotism and for profit still serve in the kingdom?

And is being "least in the kingdom" the worst thing that could happen to you?

The other instance when Jesus uses the phrase is in His description of John the Baptist:

I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. - Matthew 11:11 (and Luke 7:28)

Somebody like me who messes up all the time and sometimes inadvertently misleads others can be least in the kingdom yet still be greater than John the Baptist? Can I concatenate those two separate descriptions of "least in the kingdom" to ask that question?

If so, how could that be true? In what way could you or I be greater than a prophet who gave up a normal lifestyle, diet and wardrobe to live off the wilderness? Is it because the message I have is greater, more complete? Not just "The kingdom of God is near!" but "Here it is; and here are the details about how it got started ... and how Jesus accomplished it ... and how it involves you!"

Is it really possible that the message so far transcends the messenger?

There's a Storm Brewing ...

... and I'm not talking about Hurricane Katrina.

This spiritual storm is forming on the west coast, according to a couple of recent posts by Salguod, and may determine the course - or courses - that churches in the International Church of Christ fellowship may soon take.

It seems that a Los Angeles ICOC congregation has come up with its own version of A Christian Affirmation (drawn up by folks within the Church of Christ fellowship from which ICOC withdrew some years ago - and between whom some have opened a dialog of reconciliation). The new document is called the STATEMENT OF UNIFIED BELIEFS, PRACTICES, AND BROTHERHOOD.

This, apparently in response to former ICOC leader Kip McKean's statement - also quoted by Salguod, proposing (from Portland, Oregon) to revive "dying, former ICOC churches" by helping "any way we can" in their quest to be "'free to choose' whom to submit to."

I join Salguod and others who are saddened by this turn of events, and hope you will remember this group of believers in your prayers.

I'm not sure it's ever a good thing when believers feel compelled to draw up documents agreeing on what they must do and must not do and must believe and must not believe and who's in and who's out.

- Instead of emphasizing what Christ has done ... and that no one in the world is outside of His love ... and the incredible fact that He believes in us to share this good news with those He loves.

In The Potter's Hands

Okay, it's 4:30 a.m. and I won't be able to sleep until I've put this thought to pixels.

It's not a new idea.

It goes all the way back to Isaiah - 29:16, to be exact - where the prophet says we get everything backwards:

You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"?

Isaiah's telling us we need to back off how we think God should have made us; accept His sovereignty, His wisdom; and be what He made us.

It'll get tough for us if we don't (45:9):

"Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'He has no hands'?"

We'll always be unhappy - with God; with ourselves. But we'll blame Him instead of taking responsibility for what we've chosen and accepting the person He's made of us through our choices and words and actions.

If we can do that, we'll be blessed (64:8):

"Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."

Then Jeremiah takes up the theme (18:3-6):

"So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?' declares the LORD. 'Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.'"

But I shouldn't forget that Paul advises the same humility with the same metaphor, too (Romans 9:21):

"Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?"

"Why did you make me this way, God?" asks us. "Why did you make me with _____ ?" and we fills in the blanks according to us each.

More trouble with greed in my heart than others have? Lust for what isn't mine? Homosexual cravings? A bad ticker? Cancer? A craving for alcohol? The inability to have children of my own?

Silly us. We blame Him.

When we should thank Him.

Because maybe His answer is: "I wanted you to know suffering like my Son did."

"I wanted you to know what it's like to sacrifice, to give up what you want in order to have what you need - and what I give."

"I wanted you to understand what it means to be despised and rejected so you will be accepting and free of judgment toward others."

"I wanted you to perceive how important it is to have a good heart for as long as your life lasts."

"I wanted you to understand what slavery is all about, so you'll choose Me as your Master and crave living water more than the distillation of death."

"I wanted you to comprehend how dearly I love all of my children and how precious your adoption makes you to Me."

Have thine own way, Lord; have thine own way.
Thou art the potter; I am the clay.
Mold me and make me, after thy will
While I am waiting, yielded and still. - Adelaide Pollard

Okay. Now I can sleep.

Nothing to Say?

Is it possible I have nothing to say about Ann Coulter being named as an American Studies speaker at my alma mater Harding University, a conservative Christian institution which would expel any student for using the type of language or living the kind of lifestyle she represents - even if that student solidly agreed with her politics?

Is it conceivable that I have nothing to comment about the fact that Harding will invite Coulter to speak, but not alumnus and minister Mike Cope (possibly because someone misrepresents what he believes about baptism before their board) nor popular speaker writer Jeff Walling (possibly because he once told a group of young listeners that "Jesus liked to party" in connection with His turning water to wine at Cana)?

Sure it's possible. It's conceivable.

But most of what I could say has already been said, and better, by others. Look around on my linked blogs. You'll read what I mean.

At the same time, I'd just like to say that it's a pity that an entire fellowship gets caught by the world airing our dirty laundry in public even while technology makes it possible to communicate our feelings on this controversy more quickly and efficiently than ever before.

It was - and still is - a pity when the current technology was mostly "brotherhood newspapers."

It's not as if our communication could ever be private through these channels.

But we of the Church-of-Christ fellowship too often write/speak as if we are completely unaware that our words are out there for all to see and hear - or worse, as if we don't care what "the world" thinks.

"If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God." - I Peter 4:11a

War is Bad

Just so you'll know where I stand on the issue:

• War is bad.


• War is never the best way to solve anything, though sometimes it may seem to turn out to be the only way.


• War is never just. Not when innocent civilians die or are butchered yet alive: old ones, young ones, men, women, children. Not when young and strong and brave people die or come home maimed beyond repair or psychologically scarred for life.


• War is never the choice of the strong, but of the weak wishing to appear strong.


• War should only be the consequence of all other alternatives having been exhaustively tried and miserably failed.


• War therefore admits defeat at its outset.


• War is not the way to deal with a terrorist, unless you are particularly successful at killing mosquitoes with a shotgun.


• War is never to be the pastime of kings in the springtime.


• War is not what Jesus had in mind when he advised his followers to get a sword. If you must quote that verse, don't skip the next few when his followers present a certain number of swords they already have and He answers, "That's enough." Circle that number in blood-red in your Bible and refer to it frequently when you are tempted to quote only the first part of the story.


• War is never God's will. It may be within God's will, just as many other horrific consequences of sin and failure are, to remind us that sinleadstodeath sinleadstodeath sinleadstodeath. Sin is sufficient to lead to death. We do not need to help it along by having wars.


• There is more than enough warfare going on within the hearts of humankind, without spilling it out through our mouths and weapons grabbed by our hands.


• I could not willingly go to war without hate in my heart. It might masquerade as love for my country or my family or my God, but if I could ever be willing to go to someone else's land in order to kill some of their people, there would have to be some form of hatred within that I cannot dispassionately dismiss. You can be thankful to God that I am not called to be a soldier. I am not a hateful person, but I know what it is like to hate and be hated and I want no atom of it.


• Hate is not the characteristic which defines God, His Son or His people. We may hate evil - but we had better be very blanking sure it is what God has called evil and not just what we've decided evil is. Because we have a tendency to label what we don't like "evil," without ever seeing it in the mirror.


• Going to war is never the same as defending your life or your loved ones in your home or your hometown. Don't ever use that analogy to justify war. They are two different things. If you cannot understand the difference between them, there are no simpler words I can use to explain it to you.


• There may be wars that are justifiable by some, and actions within wars that are justifiable by some, but what counts is whether we try to avoid them in the first place and ask God to forgive us through Christ's blood if they happen anyway. Then it's justifiable if He says so. But, for God's sake, don't glorify it with regaling tales and paintings drenched in red and shoot-em-up-bang-bang blow-em-up-real-good movies that make my 12-year-old's heart race and yearn for such "glory." Glorify God instead.


• Stop acting as if war is always inevitable. There are always alternatives. Only a few times in modern history have people acted smart enough and brave enough to try. Ask yourself: Is it more important for the mission to succeed and to kill thousands of the uninvolved through open warfare, or to attempt the mission undermanned and underpowered, with stealth and courage, even when the odds are long against you?

I could say more, but that's enough.

For those of you who read my blog, know my heart and are aware how infrequently I use words like "never" and "ever" and "always," then you know I have posted this with passion.

You are free to comment - though I've started requiring verification on anonymous comments because of spoggers and spammenters - but you will not convince me otherwise; you will simply be wasting pixels.

Your Prayers Besought

I need to find a new job in four weeks.

Things haven't worked out well in my current one, and my supervisors and I agree it's time for me to find something else - and probably for them to dissolve the position.

I need to do good work that glorifies God, directly or indirectly, and I need to earn a living to support my family.

Beyond that, I am open.

So I'm beginning to update my résumé and portfolio site, and scan the available position sites/classifieds. That's why I haven't blogged faithfully of late, and why I'm behind on developing templates for the revamped New Wineskins site; and why I haven't made a big deal about my ten-thousandth unique visitor (whoever it was) because I just noticed this morning that the counter had passed it.

Thanks for dropping by, whoever you are, and please pencil me in on your list of petitions to the Father.

Praying Dangerously

I'm praying dangerously today.

I'm praying "Thy will be done."

Not "Help help help!"

Not even "Thank You thank You thank You!"

I'm praying The Big One.

Thy will be done.

Generosity, Thy Name Is Laura

Which also happens to be the name of my nine-year-old daughter.

A couple of nights ago she hopped onto mom and dad's bed where said parents were, as usual, engrossed in watching the home decor excesses of HGTV and said: "Would it be all right if I gave away all my toys?"

We cautiously assented, hemming and hawing, advising and warning.

Last night, she brought up the subject again as I walked with her to a neighbor's pool. She had started sorting the toys during the day and had filled five black 30-gallon lawn-and -leaf bags. She said she didn't play with them any more. I said that if she saw them while she was sorting them and hadn't seen them for a long time - and still didn't want to play with them - she had probably outgrown them. She thought that made sense.

Today, while Angi was sick with a cold and at home with her, they filled up five more bags of toys and drove them happily to Goodwill and checked them in. Some special ones she saved out to give to our neighbor's two small sweet children, one of whom has Down Syndrome. Tonight I came home and she proudly showed me a room that looked like it belonged among the home decor excesses of HGTV. But I don't think that's what motivated it.

There was no "giver's remorse," you see. No tears at the sacrifice. No regrets.

She gave because she has discovered the joy of giving.

To say I'm proud of Laura is not quite accurate. I'm humbled by her generosity.

I have a lot to learn from my daughter.

She has, in fact, taken me to the foot of a cross where - looking up - I can see the faintest hint of a smile expressing ultimate joy on the tortured face of the One who has given up everything for me.

Hoc Est Corpus

I haven't been up to blogging this week; sorry. I think I'm having one of those episodes of post-50 "mental pause."

Here are some of my thoughts from leading at the table last Sunday, beginning with one short verse that takes place at the paschal meal, possibly at the end when the hidden matzoh is brought out to close the meal, and Jesus hands it to someone close to Him:

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"As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him." John 13:27

That's a peculiar thing to read at the Lord's table, isn't it?

My point is that there's no magic in the matzoh.

There's no wizardry in the wine.

There's no "hocus pocus" in the phrase hoc est corpus - "This is the body."

There's no intrinsic protection from the Evil One in the emblems. Like Judas, who took the bread and went out the door a couple of verses later in John, we can take this bread and walk out the doors and betray our Lord any number of ways this week.

Or ...

We can choose to be changed. We can become what we eat. "You are what you eat;" that's the saying. We can become the Body of Christ. We can be living witnesses this week to His brutal crucifixion, His entombment until the third day, His glorious resurrection that guarantees our own - just as we are when we share this meal; when we dine on the divine.

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I appreciate your prayers this week while I'm listening for what the Lord intends in my life.