Lone Ranger

"Our work here is done, Tonto." - Lone Ranger

At the end of each episode, the Lone Ranger would disappear when people weren't looking.  Often times he would say, "Our work here is done, Tonto," and they would slip away unnoticed.  People would eventually notice and someone would remark, "Who was that masked man?"

Now, no one needs to correct me on the following.  I know the mythos surrounding the genesis of the Lone Ranger, however, the name has passed into pop culture as one who works alone. . . .

From the very beginning, the Lone Ranger was never alone.  After his band of Texas Rangers was ambushed, Tonto found him and nursed him back to health.  From that point on, Tonto was always at his side, fighting evil wherever it could be found.  Tonto bailed him out of trouble time and time again.  Tonto did a lot of the grunt work so the Lone Ranger wouldn't have to show his face.  Without Tonto, there could be no Lone Ranger.

It's a lot like that for us.

We come to Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit brings healing and restoration.  We grow in our knowledge of Christ through the power of the Spirit.  The Spirit sustains us, teaches us, encourages us, strengthens us, etc.  What we do is through the power of the Spirit in us.  I am crucified in Christ, therefore I no longer live, but Christ lives in me ...

We are not "Lone Rangers."  It is not by our strength, intelligence, talent, skill or cleverness that we accomplish His mission.  David wrote, "Know you that the Lord He is God; it is He that has made us and not we ourselves."(Psalm 100:3)  We are not self-made.  We can't do this.  Fortunately, He that has begun a good work in us will perfect it.(Phil 1:6)  And so, we rely on Him.

"With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." - Thomas Jefferson (Declaration of Independence.)

Me and My Kingdom

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:9)

It's supposed to be all about Him.  It's all about His Kingdom.  What's so hard about that?
Yet I don't seem to be able to remember it much past the last confession of my self-centered action or self-absorbed thought.
I catch a "high view" of God in a natural wonder or a passage of scripture or the words of a song or a sudden epiphany.  I commit myself to turning over all of myself to Him.  I make every effort to think only of Him.  And it lasts all of 3 to 5 minutes until my next selfish act.  Oh, what a wretched man am I.  The good that I would, that I do not, but the evil that I would not do, that is the very thing that I do. (Romans 7:19&24).  Always the war against myself.
Yet, He still loves me.  It's not about my performance.  Which is a very good thing.  He loved me when I was in absolute, active rebellion.  He loves me as I struggle.  And that love makes the struggle a little more bearable.  Little by little, sometimes in obvious increments, sometimes in such subtlety it goes unnoticed, sometimes in chaotic ripping and tearing, but ceaselessly the transformation continues, continually drawing me to surrender all I understand of myself to all I know of Him with His Presence bringing greater Peace than I've ever known.
Until the light of Presence shines again on my inner darkness and we begin again the refining process.
Oh, what a dearly loved by his Father in heaven who has given me everything I need for life and godliness and allows me to suffer the pain of being conformed into the likeness of Christ and that changes everything wretched man am I.

On the way to the center

Updates throughout the day as wifi allows.

Sunday Worship

A little piece of this mornings worship.

The message was about Godly wisdom applied.
We began with Proverbs 1:7 telling us that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but rather than debate what the fear of the Lord is, we looked at Job 28:28 that says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but to turn from evil is understanding.  Or, as I like to say, "None of this stuff really matters until you do something with it."
It's not enough to have a reverence, awe or even terror of God.  It has to change you.  The classic definition of learning is behavior modification.  It is not a mental assent to a series of propositions.  It is not enough to have the winning position in a philosophical or academic debate.  You must have a life altering (continuing to be altered) encounter with the living God.  Brother Lawrence talked about his "high view" of God that forever changed who he was.  How this view made it impossible to pursue anything other than the presence of God.
Jesus talked about it at the end of Matthew chapter seven.  Two men built houses.  Two men faced storms.  But, the man who put the words of Jesus into practice was able to stand.  We have to let His words work on us.
2 Peter 1 tells us that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness, therefore we are to get to work.  If we apply ourselves to the life giving power and grace that is available, we will find ourselves "productive and fruitful".  Nobody wants to live a ho-hum, meaningless existence.  And God does not call us to a life of boredom.  The call to come to Christ is an adventure that leads to unbelievable growth resulting in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.  If these things are increasing in our life, we become useful to His kingdom and we can pray with certainty, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
If these things are not present in our lives, Peter goes on to say, it is because we have forgotten that we have been cleansed from our former sins.  Or as Paul tells us in Romans 8, we are no longer obligated to follow the urges of the sinful nature.  It is allowed, but not required.  We can, but we don't have to.  The same resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead now lives in me and brings me from death to life.  Paul tells us that we have been made free, so we should live free.  Not free to indulge our flesh, but free to pursue a life of holiness.
We ended with "Happy Day", because we never want to forget that we have been cleansed from our past sin and are now free to be productive and fruitful and that dear brothers and sisters makes for one happy day.

God's Grace

Did you ever do anything so heinous, you were sure you could never be forgiven.  Maybe something as horrible as traveling internationally and setting the watches to local time but mentally converting them back to home time thereby waking folks up 2 hours earlier than was planned on the one and only day they have to sleep in before an arduous week of service work and following a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong day of international travel with security fun, rain delays and the like after too few hours of sleep on the night before they left . . . (just a hypothetical for instance).  Knowing there was nothing you could do to take it back or make it better.  Hoping, just hoping that somehow the family members involved could not only forgive you, but extend the Grace to let you know you are still loved ...
Or, maybe, like me, you've done far worse than that.
You see, it doesn't matter how bad you've been.  God chose to love you anyway.  Nothing ever separates you from His love and I can prove it.
We talk about how God knows everything, and always did.  But we live like what we just did is a shock to Him.  Do you realize that at the point Jesus died for your sins, God already knew that bonehead thing you did just yesterday and the one you are going to do tomorrow.  He already knew that even after you came to know Him, you would do some of the worst things you've ever done.  Yet He still had Jesus die for you.  He loved you while you were a sinner apart from Him and He loves you as a sinner with Him.
Should we continue sinning so that we can receive more of His grace?  Of course not!!  The life we now live is through the power of the Spirit of Christ in us Who gave Himself up as a payment for our sin and gave us the right to be children of God.  Let's live as His children.  Forgetting what lies behind, lets push for what lies ahead.
You know, God's Grace is a lot like orange juice.  Anybody remember Anita Bryant selling Florida orange juice and the commercial with the tag line, "It's not just for breakfast anymore!"?  Well God's Grace is not just for sin.  It is also power to live free from sin.  Christ died so that we might live free, so live free.  By His Grace, we are not obligated to do the things we once did.  Oh, yeah, we probably will sometimes, and His Grace still covers those sins too.  But, we don't have to.  If you want to experience more Grace, then instead of desperately depending on the Grace of forgiveness, humbly accept the Grace that powers transformation.
Grace and Peace be multiplied to you.

And So It Begins

Sat next to Ana from Venezuela on the way down to Miami. We talked about helping people. She teaches English to young children. She has a real heart for the poor in her country and the lack of resources to help them. A very enjoyable 45 minutes! I challenged her to help me change the world. If we will both help 2 people change their lives in our lifetime, we will win in about 800 years. And if you would join us, we can do it much faster.
Just sayin'.

Learning to Trust

Just when I think I've got it figured out, I manage to demonstrate that I don't have a clue.  You'd think that after more than 40 years with God, I would have this trust thing down.  How hard can it be?
I have a whole history of God's faithfulness to me.  I have a strong reasonable basis for my trust in Him.  I have a supportive community that has a similar faith.  I have historic documentation of His faithfulness and sufficiency for many, many others throughout the past ages.  I have many first hand accounts of His intervention on behalf of people I personally know.  What's not to trust?
And yet I still have little things here and there that I need to control...
Maybe I'm good to leave the outcome in His hands as long as He does it my way.  Maybe I can trust Him with the process, but He really needs to stick to the timetable I've established for this particular project.  In subtle ways, I still seek to control outcomes, people, situations and even God.  That's not trust.
Hi, my name is Jim, and I am a recovering selfaholic.
I have discovered that I am powerless over my self-centeredness and my life has become unmanageable.
It's a good thing God's got this.  And I can trust Him with trusting Him.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is coming up.  We'll have some kids over for food and fun Sunday night.  There will be a cookout Monday.  I'm not sure what else will happen, bu I am sure Laura will tell me what I am doing at some point.

Thinking about the sermon this week, I got stuck on how best to describe a memorial to the kids.  I know we will honor our fallen soldiers.  But what is a memorial.  Is it the ceremony/service, the ritual, the monument, the holiday ...

Wikipedia, the source of all wisdom, defines memorial as "an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person (who has died) or an event."  Further, it speaks of grave markers, headstones, monuments, fountains and parks.  There is no mention of ceremony or celebration.  At least not in the first few paragraphs.  I didn't look up Memorial Day.  I'm sure it has a well documented history.

"An object which serves as a focus for memory..."

I think I can work with that.  Unfortunately, I think what normally happens is the memorial becomes "an object which serves as a focus for the object."  Many of us have an understanding of what Memorial Day is all about.  But do we really think about those we are "memorializing."  Is our focus on the fallen or on the barbecue and beach.  Is it about the memory or the day off of work or school.  Is it just a day to seek our own comfort, entertainment and enjoyment or to remember those who died so that others could be free.

I think this year, our Memorial Day service will be centered on the memory of the ultimate sacrifice and the one who died so that others could be free.  And the object which will serve as a focus for memory will be Communion/Eucharist/The Lord's Supper.  Not the crucifixion, but redemption - the New Covenant that is in His blood.  We will take the body and blood and "proclaim the Lord's death," remembering what He has done.

And when our children ask us, "What does this mean?", we can tell them of the memory the object represents and of the Great Love the Father has lavished on us.

Jim and the Art of Lawnmower Maintenance

In Robert Persig's philosophical classic, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Bob teaches us the virtues of analytic thought over romanticism through events, circumstances and conversations he has on a cross country motor cycle trip.  I'm afraid I'm not as intellectually astute.  All I have is the day to day reality of living life, making things work and trusting God for results.

What I learned mowing lawns at the Children's Malnutrition Center in San Juan, Sacatepequez, Guatemala, C.A.:  (To read about the lawn mowing see our team blog, here.)

1. Inspection - It is a good idea to take a quick look at the mower before you begin just to make sure everything is still attached.  Little things like the shroud over the top of the engine or maybe even the muffler.  In the same way, we should inspect our lives.  What is coming apart and why?  We shouldn't wait until things start falling apart when all we needed to do was tighten a few relational screws.
2. Some Maintenance Required - Spark plug, oil and air filters are all expended parts.  When they are bad, they can have serious consequences to the operation of the mower.  In our lives, there are many things that need to be maintained - physical condition, nutrition, relationships, intellectual growth, spiritual connection ...
3. When Enough Is Enough -  When things aren't working well, it is best to stop and fix it rather than soldier on with unsatisfactory results.  Things like bent and twisted blades that extend below the deck of the mower and dig trenches in the yard when a wheel falls in a hole causing a need to raise the deck to the highest level leaving one with less than satisfactory results.  In our life and relationships, sometimes things just don't work.  Rather than making the best of it through the ugliness - FIX IT!  Learn a new skill, ask for help, pray a lot, study what God has to say about it (and then actually do some of it whether you like it or not), whatever it takes to make things right.
4. Fixing the Fixes - There are somethings you should not try to fix by just screwing it on tighter.  When you use a universal blade, it is preferable to use the accompanying adapters rather than tighten down the retaining bold until you strip out the threads and warp the blade.  Most of us have picked up some maladaptive behaviors.  We've learned methods of self-protection that are not conducive to good relationships.  We escape, withdraw, lash out, deny, begrudge, lie ... usually to cover pain.  Ask God for healing.  Learn new ways to deal with people and situations.  Pray Psalm 51.  Be transformed.
5. Repair Improv - When the necessary parts are not available, don't give up.  Use what you have to make it work.  Like finding longer bolts, washers and nuts to put the muffler back on when the retaining clip is lost.  In life, we don't give up.  We keep learning and growing and changing.  We fail and we try again.  We go back to the Bible, to prayer, to good Christian friends - the basics - until we find the missing part to make it work.  We persevere knowing that it will have it's perfect result that we may become mature and complete lacking nothing.

All I Have Needed

In the hymn, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, there is the line, "All I have needed thy hand hath provided."  It goes on to talk about how great is God's faithfulness toward me.  Me.  "Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me."  I certainly wouldn't argue that point.  He has been more than faithful to me.  He has been generous and gracious beyond any reasonable expectation.
But what about them.
We are surrounded on every side by poverty off all kinds.  Poverty of resources.  Poverty of education.  Poverty of community.  Poverty of hope.  Where is His faithfulness to them?
As we flew into Guatemala City, I had a window seat for the first time.  About half an hour out, I was watching the rolling hills, jagged peaks, river valleys, high plains and incredibly rich beauty scroll beneath us.  There was a lot of forested area, but there was an equal amount of hillside meadow.  There were vast, undeveloped areas without a hint of any human habitation.  Every now and then, a little hillside village would appear.  Little communities of no more than 100 dwellings.
Then suddenly, Guatemala City appears.  Our approach brought us over the city from the west and we circled around and landed from the south, giving us a view of about one third of this sprawling city of four million people.  Shacks and palacial estates sit side by side.  Middle class walled communities coexist with slums.  The first car I noticed was a Mazerati Granturismo.  Their are the extremely poor selling their handcrafts out side of international five star hotels.  The disparity is striking.
I know that Jesus said. "the poor will be with you always," but did He mean that he means for people to suffer in poverty?
I believe He has been faithful and His hand has provided ... we just can't handle it.  While people are malnourished, Guatemala's second largest industry is agricultural exports (mostly to the US).  People live in shacks while new luxury resorts are built.  Election posters abound from every possible ideology, yet nothing ever changes.  People continue their ancient animist practices, struggling without hope, while tourists visit cathedrals and chapels.
Great is His faithfulness to me, but what is the nature of my faithfulness to Him.