A Picture Paints...

This is my new favorite picture. I found it on Flickr.com, a photo sharing site, a few weeks ago and it had captivated my interest ever since. Every photograph means something different to different people, or at least it is received differently. For me, this little gate area is like the border between two worlds, the world we live in on the foreground side of this portal and the world of the imagination on the background side. I'm reminded of the famous wardrobe that C.S. Lewis wrote about in his Narnia books -- a wardrobe that served as a gateway from the real to the fantasy. When looking at my new favorite picture I wonder what it would feel like to walk through this wardrobe. I wonder what lies on the other side of this gateway. The grass looks really green on that side. The trees stand up straight and tall. The sun appears to be shining over there. Of course, it also is shining over here, but over there it looks more enticing. As if that side of the gate is a side of blessing -- the Promised Land -- and this is the far side of the Jordan. When I stare at my new favorite picture, I am captivated by it. I want to somehow enter the picture, ala Mary Poppins, and walk through the wooden barrier and take my chances on the other side. In that way, this picture is a lot like life. What do you think?

Just a Random Question

I was hit by a strange question last night (I say "hit" because once I thought of it I could not stop thinking about it). The question is this: If you could go back in time to your senior year of college (or that age equivalent) and tell your past self one thing, what would you say? Would you warn yourself about mistakes and bad habits? Would you encourage yourself to do something different, like asking that cute girl (for me) on a date? Would you pass out in shock after seeing your past self and realizing how much hair you had, how thin you were, and how much optimism you had about the future?

Just a random question on a random eve.

Dealing With Death

Death is always unexpected, even if you were expecting someone to die. Be it cancer or a car accident, death is always going to be hard to bear. It's always sad. I've concluded that there is no way to brace a heart for death. You can remind yourself daily of the mortality of man, or start thinking of life without a parent or friend, but when death actually comes to one we love, it still takes our breath away.

A lady whom I knew at my church died suddenly today. She went to sleep for a nap on her couch or bed and when she woke up she was in glory. We don't know why, scientifically, she died but she suffered from Muscular Dystrophy and had recently caught that nasty flu bug that is going around. We all have an hour appointed by the Father for us to leave this earth and her hour came today. When I found out this evening, I was stunned. I did not know her well but I knew her husband and family. They had moved away last year, so I didn't see them around church anymore.

Yet still, I am very saddened by her sudden death. Shocked is more like it. We have her funeral to plan this week at the church. Just had a memorial service for someone Saturday. And there will be more in the future, no doubt. For death may be unexpected but it is certain to affect us all, each and every one. There is no greater time than now to hold on to hope, and trust in the promises of God. Promises that death will one day itself die. Promises that the one who dies is Christ will live in the spirit even though he or she dies in the body. Promises that this lady and all others who die in Christ are dancing on streets of gold and drinking from springs so pure they put Ozarka to shame.

Hold on to hope.

The Problem of Sin

As I write this, I am puzzled by a news report I just saw on a local Dallas station. A preacher named Bob Larsen is traveling around the country and casting out demons at special seminars he schedules. He carries a silver cross in one hand and rants and raves, hoots and hollers, and deals "firmly" with "demons" in people. Oh, and they give him lots of money at each venue (his ministry made 1.1 million dollars last year). What makes Larsen's ministry so puzzling is his theology and execution of his theology. He preaches fear. He preaches an "us verses them" theology of divine warfare, attributing illnesses, addictions and other human ailments to demon possession. If you are suffering, the answer is a demon. Sometimes he has to cast a demon out of a person twice.

Good Bible scholars know that Larsen's theology is unbiblical. The main enemy of mankind is not demonic. It is internal. It is sin. Are we tempted by Satan and his demons? You bet. But are they responsible for our missteps and failures? Nope. We are. We bear the responsiblity for our actions and when we fail it is not because a demon caused us to fail, it is because we took our eyes off of Jesus and gave into our own sin natures.

The problem is sin far more than it is demons. Bob Larsen needs to understand this and start preaching Christ and making Him known.

The Candidate of Change

Everywhere you turn this election season, someone is talking about change. Candidates have staked a claim to the word, posting it on signs, banners, bumper stickers... just about anything that can be seen with the naked eye. A few of them have been brave enough to define change but most are content to just let the word speak for itself. CHANGE. It describes something else than what you have now. Anything else. Just change. Could be good, could be bad.

I'm reminded of another public figure who preached a message of change, one very near and dear to my heart. He popped up on the scene two thousand years ago and the following was said about him:

"The crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law," said Levi bar Alphaeus, a Jewish tax collector.

"No one ever spoke the way this man does,” said some Roman guards.

John the Baptizer, a local preacher, also supported this public figure. He said to a crowd, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

THE CANDIDATE of CHANGE

Come now and listen to the candidate of change
Speaking up on the hillside today
Join the crowd of thousands, quick, do not delay
And hang on to every word that he has to say

Some found inspiration in the candidate of change
Hopes were lifted higher
Others scoffed in laughter, for fools cannot sway
But none could turn a blind eye to those who came his way

His message it was simple, the old ways they must go
A system that is failing will be made new
He campaigned ever onward, spent many sleepless nights
Ever always on the road, never giving up the fight

The politicians were established in comfort and in pride
But the candidate of change had put his pride aside
Some say he was a long shot, a person most unknown
But the candidate of change persisted on his own

So they schemed and they plotted to end his campaign
They leveled accusations that would bring him shame
Though he did no wrong thing, he dropped out of the race
And the people who once cheered him now jeered him in disgrace

And hope faded away

Even though they scorned him and turned their stubborn eyes
The candidate of change bounced back with a big surprise
Gone but not forgotten, he showed up on the scene
And won the hearts of millions who gladly crowned him king

Of God and Politics

I'm amazed at how wrapped up in politics I can become. Just tonight I watched six consecutive hours of primary coverage on TV. I hung on every word, statistic, and prognostication the anchors and commentators said. It was pathetic. I guess since football season has ended, politics has become my new sport. Instead of hanging on every pass, rush or kick, I now hang on their political equivalents. Maybe its time for a spiritual check. What does God say about politics and the Christian life? Three of the most famous Bible passages are Matthew 22:17-21, which deals with paying taxes, Romans 13:1-7, which deals with the authority of rulers, and 1 Timothy 2:1-2, which deals with the Christian responsibility to pray for rulers. Between the three, we see that God does indeed care about elections and civic laws but maybe not in the way we think He does. It's hard to convince many Christians otherwise, but God is not a registered Republican. Nor did He support George Bush in the 1992 election against Bill Clinton, an election Bush lost. God elected Clinton, just as He elected George W. Bush in 2000. Truth is, every choice of governor, president, or congressman is the Lord's sovereign choice, regardless of political affiliation. Romans 13 is clear on this. It's all right to pull for one candidate over another, but always keep in mind that God is really in control. And His candidate always wins. What our God asks of us is to obey the authority He places over us and pray for him (or her). We should pay the government what we owe it, for it is God's delegated civil authority over us, so long as our obedience to God is not compromised. Above all, we should seek peace and tranquility with our government and with our neighbors. Keeping an eternal mindset during this election season is vital to making it through unscarred and without anger or bitterness. Note to self.