Last week, while getting acquainted with some new friends, the question was asked, "What would you order if you could choose your last meal?" It's a simple question, a silly conversation starter. I was so fascinated by those who could answer without the slightest pause, not just what they'd have but where it would come from. I still don't have a solid answer, but I'm working on it ...
I spent the majority of my first 27 years learning how to please other people, becoming a master at keeping others happy. If I had an opinion about something important, I rarely expressed it. And, sometimes, I even downplayed my opinion about unimportant things.
Tonight, as I prepared to enjoy a very quiet evening at home by myself, it occurred to me that, at just past 30, I'm finally discovering how to enjoy the things that please me most. And, I'm discovering that the things that please me are the simplest of pleasures. It's rewarding and comforting to begin to recognize my preferences for everything from pasta to hand cream, wrapping paper to bubble bath, radio stations to men. I still have precious few preferences that I would not gladly surrender in favor of another's comfort, but there is something satisfying about identifying my personal preferences and being able to articulate them, if even for just myself.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Hagar and Heroes
In Scripture, the first time we are introduced to God as "El Roi," The God Who Sees, is in Genesis 16, in the story of Hagar. Hagar was a maidservant turned fertile concubine. Her fertility was a slap in the face to Sarah, who'd sought for years to bear Abraham a son. She was prideful about her pregnancy, and Sarah mistreated her. So she fled. Alone. Frightened. Without provision. Without status. Without hope. And, it was in that place, weeping by the roadside, that an angel of the LORD appears to her, delivering a message from God Himself. Upon receiving the message, the promise of protection and provision for herself and her unborn child, she calls the LORD, El Roi, "the God who sees me."
In discussing the teaching of this story with a friend the other day, I was asked the question, "How do you make a hero out of Hagar?" You see, she wanted to tell this woman's story, but she didn't quite feel comfortable with making her a heroine. In a moment I can only describe as Providential, I said the first thing that came to mind. "You don't." You see, Hagar is not the hero of this story; God is. He is always the Hero. The story isn't about her; it's about the God who sees her, the God who sees the invisible woman.
It's why we love Him. It's why we stand in awe of Him. It's why we need Him.
Thinking about Hagar also got me to thinking about another, more prominent Biblical woman - Mary. It is Christmas time after all, and certainly, we're hearing more about her right now. Mary, the amazing woman-child who bore the incarnate deity. The chosen servant of God. I've heard a number of sermons extolling her virtues. But you know what? Mary isn't anymore a heroine than Hagar is. God is the Hero in her story, too. He didn't choose her to bear the Christ child because of how worthy she was, but because of how unlikely she was. He is in the business of displaying His glory. It's always about Him.
And, that gets me to thinking about my story, and who the hero is there. It certainly isn't me. When God's power is displayed in human frailty, that isn't cause for me to boast. Paul said it best in II Corinthians 11:30, "If I must boast, I will boast in things that display my weakness." In other words, don't see me, and if you do see me, see how weak I am. Only when you recognize how weak I am, can you understand how GREAT God is.
He is always the Hero.
In discussing the teaching of this story with a friend the other day, I was asked the question, "How do you make a hero out of Hagar?" You see, she wanted to tell this woman's story, but she didn't quite feel comfortable with making her a heroine. In a moment I can only describe as Providential, I said the first thing that came to mind. "You don't." You see, Hagar is not the hero of this story; God is. He is always the Hero. The story isn't about her; it's about the God who sees her, the God who sees the invisible woman.
It's why we love Him. It's why we stand in awe of Him. It's why we need Him.
Thinking about Hagar also got me to thinking about another, more prominent Biblical woman - Mary. It is Christmas time after all, and certainly, we're hearing more about her right now. Mary, the amazing woman-child who bore the incarnate deity. The chosen servant of God. I've heard a number of sermons extolling her virtues. But you know what? Mary isn't anymore a heroine than Hagar is. God is the Hero in her story, too. He didn't choose her to bear the Christ child because of how worthy she was, but because of how unlikely she was. He is in the business of displaying His glory. It's always about Him.
And, that gets me to thinking about my story, and who the hero is there. It certainly isn't me. When God's power is displayed in human frailty, that isn't cause for me to boast. Paul said it best in II Corinthians 11:30, "If I must boast, I will boast in things that display my weakness." In other words, don't see me, and if you do see me, see how weak I am. Only when you recognize how weak I am, can you understand how GREAT God is.
He is always the Hero.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Christmas Survey
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Usually hot chocolate except for a small eggnog milkshake for New Year's
2. Funny Holiday memory as a child: Pick a Horton family telecast, any telecast.
3. Colored or white lights on your house? White
4. Do you hang mistletoe? As if my life needed more awkward moments.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Weekend after Thanksgiving, maximum enjoyment of all that effort
6. Do you remember your favorite gift? Probably my American Girl doll, Samantha
7. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He wraps them.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I knew he was real when I got that cassette tape with a message recorded just for me!
9. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve? Usually, but NOT stockings
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? White lights, red ribbon, red, green, gold ornaments, and lots of stars!
11. Snow? A few inches can be fun.
12. Can you ice skate? Can I, yes? Should I, probably not.
13. What is your favorite holiday dish? Mom's baked carrots
14. What's the most important thing about the Holiday for you? Family togetherness and time to reflect on the real Gift, Jesus.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Candy corns. Oh, wrong holiday? :-)
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Stockings on Christmas morning
17. What tops your tree? A gold star
18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving? Definitely giving
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? It's a tie between "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and "Joy to the World"
20. Candy Canes or Chocolate Covered Cherries? Neither?
2. Funny Holiday memory as a child: Pick a Horton family telecast, any telecast.
3. Colored or white lights on your house? White
4. Do you hang mistletoe? As if my life needed more awkward moments.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Weekend after Thanksgiving, maximum enjoyment of all that effort
6. Do you remember your favorite gift? Probably my American Girl doll, Samantha
7. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He wraps them.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I knew he was real when I got that cassette tape with a message recorded just for me!
9. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve? Usually, but NOT stockings
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? White lights, red ribbon, red, green, gold ornaments, and lots of stars!
11. Snow? A few inches can be fun.
12. Can you ice skate? Can I, yes? Should I, probably not.
13. What is your favorite holiday dish? Mom's baked carrots
14. What's the most important thing about the Holiday for you? Family togetherness and time to reflect on the real Gift, Jesus.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Candy corns. Oh, wrong holiday? :-)
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Stockings on Christmas morning
17. What tops your tree? A gold star
18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving? Definitely giving
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? It's a tie between "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and "Joy to the World"
20. Candy Canes or Chocolate Covered Cherries? Neither?
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Bad News Good News
This past weekend, I had the challenge of teaching Sunday School from a passage in I Kings 18.
It's a fairly familiar story for most of us who grew up around church about Elijah, the prophet of God, who challenges 450 prophets of Ba'al to prove who is the One True God by building altars and seeing whose God ignites it first.
There's a great challenge in the passage where Elijah calls the Israelites together and asks them how long they will limp along between two opinions. (As our pastor put it, it's difficult to run when you're straddling a fence!) Then he calls them out saying, "If the LORD is God, follow Him; if Ba'al is god, follow him." The lesson was all about choices in life and choosing the right God and being fully committed to Him and confident of His faithfulness despite all odds.
You see, from a human standpoint, the prophets of Ba'al definitely had an advantage. There were 450 of them! They had the support of the king and queen. And, in what turned out to be a sudden death match, they won the coin toss. And, they were deeply committed to their false god. They danced and sang and shouted and even cut themselves for hours trying to get his attention and call down fire for their altar. And, just in case all those advantages weren't enough, Elijah went ahead and stacked the odds a little more in their favor (Crazy or Jesus?). He had his altar drenched in water, not one or two, but THREE times before he even began to pray.
But, then he prayed. And his requests were simple. He prayed for four things. 1. Show these people that the LORD is God. 2. Show them that I am your servant. 3. Show these people that You are the One True God. 4. Draw these people back to yourself. (always, always, always a redemptive purpose!)
As soon as the prayer was off his lips, fire fell from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the altar, the STONES of the altar, and licked up all the water around the altar! God left NO DOUBT about who was in control that day.
And all the people fell on their faces and worshipped.
And Elijah seized all 450 prophets of Ba'al and slew them.
Do you know how badly I wished this story had ended with the people face down in worship? That's what I call some happily ever after. But, it didn't end there. It ends with the slaying of 450 men. Here's where I need to confess that growing up in church, having heard most of the stories of the Bible a number of times, I rarely blink at such a statement. It's always been taught to me in such a way that I would tend to think, "and the good guys won and went out for a milkshake and the bad guys lost," as though they were heading back to their arena to prepare for the next contest, rather than heading into a godless eternity.
So, most of last week I wrestled with this ending. What was it supposed to teach us? What does it say about God? About sin? About worship? About violence? Was it necessary? Why was it necessary? And the questions go on and on and on.
The first thing I determined is that there is a lesson in the slaying of the false prophets. There's a lesson about how much God hates sin. There's a lesson about how seriously He deals with sin. There's a lesson about the necessity of eradicating any hint of impurity from among the people of God. And, ultimately, there's a lesson about good news and bad news.
It is often said that the Gospel is not good news until one understands how bad the bad news really is. Until one understands his desperate need for a Savior, the fact that Christ died for him doesn't truly thrill him as it ought. In much the same way, God's love is not nearly as powerful to us until we understand how severe his hatred of sin is. Once we begin to grasp how much God hates sin, then we can begin to grasp the miracle of His love for sinners.
The same choice that Elijah put forth to the people of Israel is the choice each of us must make. Many of us want Jesus as our Savior, but we haven't even begun to accept Him as Lord in our lives. The reality is, though, that there's not an option to have Him as Savior without making Him Lord. If the LORD is God, choose Him.
It's a fairly familiar story for most of us who grew up around church about Elijah, the prophet of God, who challenges 450 prophets of Ba'al to prove who is the One True God by building altars and seeing whose God ignites it first.
There's a great challenge in the passage where Elijah calls the Israelites together and asks them how long they will limp along between two opinions. (As our pastor put it, it's difficult to run when you're straddling a fence!) Then he calls them out saying, "If the LORD is God, follow Him; if Ba'al is god, follow him." The lesson was all about choices in life and choosing the right God and being fully committed to Him and confident of His faithfulness despite all odds.
You see, from a human standpoint, the prophets of Ba'al definitely had an advantage. There were 450 of them! They had the support of the king and queen. And, in what turned out to be a sudden death match, they won the coin toss. And, they were deeply committed to their false god. They danced and sang and shouted and even cut themselves for hours trying to get his attention and call down fire for their altar. And, just in case all those advantages weren't enough, Elijah went ahead and stacked the odds a little more in their favor (Crazy or Jesus?). He had his altar drenched in water, not one or two, but THREE times before he even began to pray.
But, then he prayed. And his requests were simple. He prayed for four things. 1. Show these people that the LORD is God. 2. Show them that I am your servant. 3. Show these people that You are the One True God. 4. Draw these people back to yourself. (always, always, always a redemptive purpose!)
As soon as the prayer was off his lips, fire fell from heaven and consumed the sacrifice, the altar, the STONES of the altar, and licked up all the water around the altar! God left NO DOUBT about who was in control that day.
And all the people fell on their faces and worshipped.
And Elijah seized all 450 prophets of Ba'al and slew them.
Do you know how badly I wished this story had ended with the people face down in worship? That's what I call some happily ever after. But, it didn't end there. It ends with the slaying of 450 men. Here's where I need to confess that growing up in church, having heard most of the stories of the Bible a number of times, I rarely blink at such a statement. It's always been taught to me in such a way that I would tend to think, "and the good guys won and went out for a milkshake and the bad guys lost," as though they were heading back to their arena to prepare for the next contest, rather than heading into a godless eternity.
So, most of last week I wrestled with this ending. What was it supposed to teach us? What does it say about God? About sin? About worship? About violence? Was it necessary? Why was it necessary? And the questions go on and on and on.
The first thing I determined is that there is a lesson in the slaying of the false prophets. There's a lesson about how much God hates sin. There's a lesson about how seriously He deals with sin. There's a lesson about the necessity of eradicating any hint of impurity from among the people of God. And, ultimately, there's a lesson about good news and bad news.
It is often said that the Gospel is not good news until one understands how bad the bad news really is. Until one understands his desperate need for a Savior, the fact that Christ died for him doesn't truly thrill him as it ought. In much the same way, God's love is not nearly as powerful to us until we understand how severe his hatred of sin is. Once we begin to grasp how much God hates sin, then we can begin to grasp the miracle of His love for sinners.
The same choice that Elijah put forth to the people of Israel is the choice each of us must make. Many of us want Jesus as our Savior, but we haven't even begun to accept Him as Lord in our lives. The reality is, though, that there's not an option to have Him as Savior without making Him Lord. If the LORD is God, choose Him.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Caption Contest
This was my friend Kolton's visit to Santa Claus this year. I'm not sure who was more traumatized, Kolton or Santa!
What should the caption under this photo say???
What should the caption under this photo say???
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)