A B C and D

In hockey, there is a defined purpose.  In soccer, there is another well defined purpose.  Both of them start with a goal.  A hockey goal is 4x6 feet while a soccer goal is quite a bit larger-8x24.  All professional games play with goals in the same dimensions.  They are all in agreement about the purpose of the game, the size of the goals, and who the winner and loser will be.
The entire games are played with these dimensions in mind.  The field size, and the object size (ball or puck) are taken into account, and with the given amount of allowed players, the teams make plans.
Imagine on July 15th, the hockey and soccer worlds come out with an announcement that they are going to be making some minor adjustments, and all games played after July 15th will be affected.
The proposed changes are:  future hockey games will be held on the same size ice rink, and using the same size puck, but the goal will be the size of the soccer goal.  Future soccer games will be the same except that the goal size will be the hockey size goal.

You might imagine the objections and chaos that would ensue.  Some would like it, many would not.  Their feelings would be based on their understanding of the games before the rules changed.  In other words, they were living under accepted standards, and were acclimated to them.

I intend to share something that we are also acclimated to.

I wasn't planning on writing anything like this, but some letters popped into my head yesterday.  A, B, C, and D, only not in that order.  It is interesting as I write this out that they so happen to be the first letters in the alphabet which we would all agree that these are the beginning letters.  No shocker right?

Well, the order these letters came in were:  AD, and BC.  I started thinking about dates, and years.  These letters in this order are commonly recognized as letters that describe our dates system or calendar system. 

In a similar vein, I'd like you to remember what I wrote about the cycles of the moon, sun, and earth, compared to why we have a "week" in our calendar.  There was only one reason.

There is also ONE reason why we have AD, and BC.  Websters dictionary says that anno domini (AD) means:  in the given year since the beginning of the Christian era.  Literally:  in the year of our Lord.   BC means before Christ.  These definitions come from a 1984 dictionary that I can't explain why I have it in my house.

The ENTIRE basis for the year being 2012 is Christ.  Jesus Christ alone is the reason why you say 2012.  Its the same reason you write that number on your checks, and why you are how old you are- its based on time distance between when you were born and when Christ was born, and how long it has been since then.  To add to this, the BC counting method counts down as if we are in Cape Canaveral waiting for some big impending event that we might stop our day to stand and wait so that we may not miss it.  Then it came!  Jesus was born, and the system changed.  Everything changed when he came to earth, not just that we count up now.

This is the basis for our tracking, and just like hockey and soccer, we have accepted it, lived with it, and would be very opposed to change it.  This is our standard.  Jesus Christ is our standard.  Christian or not, He is the central reason.  Is your heart in acceptance of this or just your head?

To be opposed to this thought would be the same as a soccer player wanting to play with ice hockey goals.  No one would score, no one would attend, and the game would cease.  There would be no interest. 

You may be surprised to think how many things you do, say, and are accustomed to because of what Jesus did.

Eye Candy

I was listening to the radio last week while driving, and was getting an update on an upcoming soccer matchup.  I can't recall who was playing whom; but do recall something else about the conversation that jumped out at me.
Apparently there was going to be a player who was not only pretty good at soccer, but is well pleasing on the eyes.  The female co-host made this clear.  The other host acknowledged her comment, and continued with the conversation.  The female co-host then added, , "but there will be plently of other eye candy at this game."

I thought I would take this opportunity to be very clear.  I have heard many times things like, "looking isn't touching"  or "as long as you don't get caught", or "look as if its at the sun."

Jesus says in Matthew 5:27-30, "You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.  For it is better that you lose one of your members than your whole body be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.  For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."

1)  Adultery = sin.   Lust = Adultery.  Therefore  Lust = sin.  There is no "free-look", "looking isn't touching."  Jesus says you have committed by looking without touching therefore, DON'T LOOK.

2)  This is a big deal.  Hell or heaven is at stake in this lustful "game."  God's children (those who will inherit the kingdom)  will not have a lifestyle like this  (also see Galations 5:19-24).  To avoid Hell, don't just say you believe in Jesus.  ACT like you believe in Jesus. 

3)  Looking is not OK.  "Eye candy" in this context goes against everything Jesus taught.

4)  If you are a Christian, you should have eyes for Christ alone.  You are the bride of Christ.  He gave His life for YOU.  When you look at others, you have committed adultery against CHRIST.  This isn't about your spouse or your chastity.  This is about Christ.  You should only have "eyes" for Him.

Redemption

One of our pastors was preaching just yesterday, and said something that made me not just think, but be filled with awe.

The message was about being joyful in Christ, or being filled with joy.  As one catechism would put it:  "What is the chief end of man?"    Answer:  The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

It's the enjoy him forever part that I'd like to focus on.  Both parts of that answer are challenging, and I certainly wonder in many many many cases how the first one can be true.  Being joyful in God, and enjoying Him now and forever seems so high and lofty that how can we?  I am bogged down by cleaning my tool shed, mowing the grass (when it grows), providing income via work for my family, fishing, driving, and whatever this list is for you.  Aren't we constantly struggling to reach for eternal values and viewpoints when we are stuck in the mire and daily activities of this life?

In other words, doesn't it seem like we spend most of our time doing things that aren't really important when compared to the eternal plan and glory of God?

So, to enjoy Him is right and good, and seems right and good; but how?

So, this is what my pastor said. 

It may seem odd to come at the thought of  "enjoying God forever" this way, but let's go back to the beginning of the world.  God is God, and there are no others.  He needs nothing from anyone or anything.  Sometime before he created the world, he created the angels.  These angels what must have been beautiful, loving beings, yet not God.  Both the angels, and people then are created by God for his glory.

Lucifer, the most brightly colored, most beautiful angel, rebels against God, and is sent from heaven.  Many angels follow Lucifer.  These angels have fallen.  They are against God now.

Jump forward to Adam and Eve, and you and I.  Adam and Eve fell in a similar fashion.  We are fallen, and sinners because Adam and Eve sinned so long ago.  All children are born with this sin nature, and are apart from God, and cannot make things right with Him.

These angels and people then are fallen, and need to make amends with their sinning against Him or face his wrath and justice.

God's plan from the beginning was to send His only son Jesus to be the redeemer.  This redeemer; however, would not offer his redemption to the angels who fell but only to His people.

Ask yourself why God would give you a redeemer, but not the angels?  They cannot make it right with God, and He is not going to offer anything to them.

Talk about encouraging, amazing, astounding, and completely gracious!  This is the God who saves you, by offering His own son, and particularly for YOU, not for others.  Oh how He loves.  How could we not enjoy this God forever?!

But, I don't see

Recently, we drove from Michigan to Idaho to see my brother and his family.  You must understand that to drive from Lawton, Michigan to Kuna, Idaho, one must possess great stamina and patience on a multitude of levels.  It is about 1,900 miles, and takes 25 hours of driving to make it.  Leaving at 4 PM EST and planning an 8 PM arrival the following day is no small task.

We also have four children with us in the van.  Audrey is 10, Haley is 9, Brett is 6, and Madalyn is 3.  After an hour in the van on May 30th, Haley proclaimed we needed to stop for a restroom.  We did not.  Traveling with children adds an entirely new complexity to such a trip.

We eventually stopped (I think after 3 to 3.5 hours) for a restroom.  All felt better, and we continued for the remainder of the 25 hours.  Somewhere in Iowa, Brett asked me where we were, and I told him.  I added that we were headed for Idaho.  He knew this anyway, but I wanted to let him know he shouldn't expect a quick solution to our problem of being trapped in a minivan.

His response to me was what caused me to think, and not to get after him, or scold him for his childishness, but to ponder.

After I said we were headed to Idaho, he replied, "But, I don't see Idaho."

As a parent, I could have said, "Well, of course you can't!  We have 1600 miles to go and 20 more hours, and with the curvature of the earth, there is no practical way you could see Idaho even if it was 20 miles in front of us."  All true, but I didn't respond that way.  I don't think I said anything; however, I began to compare his response with many of my own.

God takes us in life where He wants us to go.  We are young and inexperienced in existing.  (Think about that)  We think we know what is going on, and we think we should be able to see or grasp what the final solution or destination might be for our plans, but God in the "front seat" holds the wheel, and has the entire "lifeplan" on schedule, and destined for success when we say, "But I can't see what you're doing."  As if we question which way He turns us, or the speed at which He travels. " What about stopping here?  It looks nice here", we might respond.

Questioning God on his plans is worse than my son telling me that while we were in Iowa driving on I-80, he couldn't see Idaho.

We must believe that every turn, every valley, every exciting mountaintop is His plan.  We must not question Him when we can't see the way.  He is working in our lives.  We can't stop having faith for a moment when cancer strikes, death steals, or fires, economies, and stock markets collapse.  These aren't our focus.  Our faith, hope, and love should be squarely focused on the God walking us through our lives in complete control just as my son should trust his father (who by the way had guided Brett to Idaho and back the exact same way twice before) to complete what he said he would complete.

The God of the universe has guided every single person who has ever existed on this planet since the dawn of time.  If that is about 6,000 years ago, I know that is a lot of people.  If God can handle all those people, and has never broken a promise to them or failed them in any way, I certainly trust that when He takes me somewhere that I am not familiar with, I need to trust Him just the same. 

He has done this many times before, and if you are His, he'll do it for you too.

Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 33:3,

Days, Months, and Years

I heard something recently that struck a cord within me, and might have a great impact for you.  I had never heard this before, and thought it was something every person should know.

It has to do with why we do some of the things we do all the time, or why we acknowledge some things day in and day out, week in and week out.

Let's start with a day.  Do you know why we have periods of time in lengths called days?  You might say that it is because it takes that long for the earth to rotate.  You're right.  We turn on an axis, and complete that rotation in a one day period.

How about a month?  Why were there month cycles set up?  Based waxing and waning of the moon, we used months the separate the times into months.  This make sense, I guess, and as I look at my calender, you can see the full moon, quarter moon, and half moon, etc  that make up each month.  This happens monthly and I never really paid much attention, but I'll accept that, and perhaps you will too.

I guess next would be a year.  Any idea why we have years, or what type of thing denotes a period of a year?  Turns out it takes exactly that long for the earth to orbit the sun.  As we rotate on our axis, we have a day, but as we make our way around the center of our solar system, we create a year's worth of days.  We are about halfway through our year now. 

The next part I heard really got me.  Why do we have periods of time divided into a thing called a week?  Answer?  There is no scientific, astrological reason for this time period.  I found that to be interesting; however, the reason was much greater than any celestial body's movement.  The reason we have weeks, and that there have been periods of time separated into weeks for thousands of years is because God created the world in six days, and rested on the 7th, and this was a week.

So what this means is that for every 7 days period starting with Sunday, as the world counts its calendar they and we are commemorating God's 7 day creation so long ago.

Just think about that for a while.

You are everything

Driving from place to place, I usually have a lot of time to think.  Frequently, I'll have a song on or a message to stimulate my thinking rather than just allow it to drone on and on over things that "need to get done." 

Friday morning this past week, I started what was a 90 minute drive, and hadn't turned on the radio yet, or began listening to anything, and I was just letting my thoughts wander.
From time to time, and it seems pretty regularly to me, I find myself thinking about the seasons of life, and the things we all do.  I started to think about gardening, and how my garden this year looks pretty good, but there are some improvements I'd like to make for next year.  Then I thought about how many more years I'd have to make improvements before I really get it how I'd like to get it.

My wife and I werent' planning on having more than four children, and I had accepted God's plan of limiting us to four.  At 29 (when Madalyn was born), I wasn't ready to say that at that age, I would never again have another child.  I began to think that not many 29 year olds probably ever think that whatever they are doing is the last time they will ever do it.

Then God gave us another child, and now I'm thinking the same thing.  This is going to be the last time.  When this baby walks, it will be the last time a child of mine walks for the first time.  When this child graduates, it will be the last time.  When this child marries, it will be the last child of my children to get married.

Then, my thoughts traveled.

One day I won't be able to make any garden improvements.  One day will be the day I last drive a car.  One day will be the last day I write a blog.  One day will be the last day I clean out the barn.  One day will be the last day I hug my children.  One day will be the last day I go to church.  Another day may be the last day I kiss my wife, clean my room, shoot a gun, mow the grass, high-five someone, put on sunglasses, shoot a deer, have sex, or even sharpen a pencil.

So, my conclusion to the matter is that all the things that I do every day-these things that fill up most days- will end.  I was feeling rather discouraged.

The next thought hit me like it wasn't even my own.  It seemed to land on me with great promise-a guarantee that surpasses all guarantees.  My eyes moistened, and I cracked a little smile after this thought, and I thought I would share it with you:

"But, I can worship God forever."

A New Deal

I cherish this part of God’s character and plan. 

In the book of Jeremiah, God has been pouring out his wrath on the Israelites for not honoring him.  It was a hard job for Jeremiah who was tasked to be a prophet on God’s behalf to tell the people that destruction and judgment were coming. 

In the middle of all of this seeming negativity, God says in Jeremiah 31:31-34 that he will make a new covenant with his people.  He states in verse 33 that he “will put his law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”  In the end of verse 34, he says, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”  This new covenant promise is something!  -Something different than the old covenant where God established the Law, which the people broke.  This time, he is going to write in on hearts.

In Ezekiel, he speaks of the same thing.  He says starting in chapter 36 verse 25, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.  And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.  You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.  And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses.  And I will summon grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.  I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.”

There are several amazing things found here.  To me, it seems perfectly appropriate for an eternal, holy, all powerful God to hold all humanity accountable for not keeping His Law from the beginning.  We don’t deserve a new covenant.  We don’t deserve His writing anything on our hearts or causing us to walk in His statutes.  By making this promise ( not an offer ), he graciously provides another way for those of us who live under this new covenant.  What a debt we are in!  What love is this?  How do we serve such a gracious and merciful Being?

What about guaranteeing food, and not just food, but the abundance of it?  Fruit will grow on trees for His people?  He isn’t just going to create life in you, but He promises to provide for you so that you will be taken care of.  It seems to me that He really doesn’t have to do this.  Couldn’t He create spiritual life, and then let us strive after grain, and fruits?  That would still be a kind act from a loving God.  Our God doesn’t just love, he greatly loves His people.

Third, the language used is:  I will, I will, I will, I will.  There is no part of either passage indicating an offer or something that might happen.  He is stating a fact that something is going to happen, and He is going to see it through.  Verse 36 of the Ezekiel passage ends with, “I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which as desolate.  I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

I am floored by His kindness, compassion, and desire to make these things happen for His people.  If these things were left to us, we would selfishly choose our own way (Romans 3:11).  It reminds me of 1 Samuel when the Israelites are begging God for a King to be like other nations, and Samuel rebukes them, and asks how they could do this great wickedness, and sin against God.  In chapter 12, the LORD sends thunder and rain, and the people admit their sin.  Samuel responds with: “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.”

WHAT??

Shouldn’t we be terrified after doing evil?  Shouldn’t we be cast aside after the Old Covenant is broken by us?  Why should the Israelites not have feared God after their sin, and why is their a new covenant for us?

The answer is in verse 22 of Ezekiel 36.  Before all of these verses, and before any man chose anything, God’s plan was in motion.  Verse 22 says, “Thus says the Lord God, It is not for your sake O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you went.  I will vindicate the holiness of My great name…”  He is seeking to bring glory to His name through the salvation of His people.

May we do what we do every day for the same reason that God shows his gracious hand towards us:  To the glory of His great name.