Breathless wonderment

I find it amazing to think that there is nothing God can't control to fulfill His purpose.

You are probably thinking, "Yes.... This is news to you?"

Well,... no I understand He can do anything but it still blows me away.

It was His will that His son would be born in Bethlehem in a stable and the way He made that happen is nothing less than breathtaking.

Mary and Joseph were from Nazareth and so its likely that without intervention that's where Jesus would've been born. But Bethlehem, which means "house of bread" is where God wanted Him to be born and He wanted Him to be born in a stable.

For that to happen (and to generalize scandalously) certain conditions needed to exist. There needed to be a foreign dictator in charge of Israel that wanted a census of his empire and no room at the Inn.

Lets talk about one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. No, I'm not talking about McDonalds but Imperial Rome.

Did God direct Hannibal Hamilcar to take his Carthaginian army over the alps into Rome? Because the ensuing war with Rome which eventually ended in defeat for Carthage gave Rome the confidence to look outward and conquer the majority of the known world.

After that Rome grew in power and gobbled up territory but she was a republic and had many controls in place to keep her safe from dictatorships. Until one man named Julius Caesar took control and placed himself at the helm.

Julius Caesar was, of course, famously betrayed by Mark Antony, Cassius and his friend Brutus. But Caesar left a will in which he declared Octavian to be his heir and Octavian became Emperor of Rome. Octavian is better known by his preferred title Augustus or "Revered one". Caesar Augustus established a civil service which then took a census of the entire Roman world.

And then this meant Mary and Joseph had to travel to their ancestral town of Bethlehem.

Pretty cool I think.

Oh yeah and the Holy Spirit also caused the virgin Mary to conceive. That may have been one of the reasons she and Joseph were denied a room anywhere in Bethlehem. Its unlikely that anyone would try too hard to find a room for a pregnant unmarried woman at that time. But that was all part of God's plan. He wanted His Son to be born in a lowly stable. Maybe because to the One who was involved in the creation of the universe there would be no difference between a stable and what you and I perceive as the greatest house on earth.

Neither could claim to be worthy of His presence.

But if I was Mary I might still wonder if there could've been a plan that didn't involve travelling 140km when I was nine months pregnant.

Jamais vu

Most people know of "deja vu" but have you ever heard of "jamais vu". Jamais vu describes the feeling you get when something that should be familiar becomes unfamiliar. Try writing the word "button" 25 times and see what happens.

Something similar happens when I read a passage of scripture over and over. Maybe the more you see something your assumptions and the associated inferences fade and the actual thing starts to stand out more starkly?

I've been reading Luke 5:33-39 over and over lately and I can't seem to grasp its meaning.
Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”

And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”

Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
 
I've never noticed that last statement before "the old is better" and It's only included in Luke's account.
 
I always believed this parable meant we must be changed before God's Spirit will be poured into us but now I'm not so sure that's what He's saying.
 
I started reading the context of that back to verse 27 and then the other two accounts of the same story in Matthew 9 and Mark 2. In the Matthew account Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6
 
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
 
Here are the facts of the three accounts:

1. Jesus called a tax collector Matthew to follow Him
2. Matthew held a feast with Jesus, His disciples, tax collectors and sinners
3. The Pharisees questioned Jesus on why He would eat with tax collectors and sinners
4. Jesus said, "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire Mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous but the sinners"
5. John's disciples questioned Jesus on why His disciples didn't fast
6. Jesus replied with 3 analogies: the bridegroom, the cloth and the wine in wineskins

I feel like the Hosea scripture is the key to unlocking the mystery.

God desires mercy for sinners more than the sacrifice of fasting that the Pharasees and John's disciples were offering. But a question still remains for me... What did He mean when He said "But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better." - Luke 5:38-39?

"The old is better"... This is the part I never noticed before and has got me scratching my head.

P.S. if you're wondering why there is a picture of coffee beans on this post its to demonstrate that if you looked at it carefully you would've noticed a creepy face lurking in those seemingly random beans.

Fallen

One of the more intriguing accounts in scripture is of the mysterious "Nephilim". Who or what were they?

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. - Genesis 6:3-5
 
Something about their birth or existence prompted God to limit man's lifespan to 120yrs and after that to bring the flood to rid the earth of violence and the Nephilim. And yet somehow years later they make another appearance as Israel is about to enter the promised land...
 
When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there . Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” - Numbers 13:25-33

God had miraculously saved Israel out of Egypt but still these people didn't believe that He had power to do what He said He would do. God explains it again to them that He is able and willing to conquer the land for them...

But they prefered the wisdom of Homer Simpson, "“You tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson is: never try.”

I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.” - Exodus 23:27-33

Sadly the people lacked faith and so they died in the wilderness. Years later, Joshua and Caleb would lead a new generation into the promised land. At that time God reaffirms His plan...

Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying,“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. - Joshua 1:1-5

The Israelites saw God's power being manifested in such fantastic ways, why couldn't they believe that He would give them total victory? They were more focussed on the giants in the land. It's actually worse than that, the spies (other than Joshua and Caleb) lied. They told everyone that the Nephilim inhabited the land, but this wasn't true. How could it be? They were destroyed in the flood. So what is the reason for this spurious account? It can only mean that they hoped the mere mention of the name would spread fear throughout the camp and help convince everyone to call off the invasion of the promised land.

How can we apply this to our lives today?

1) Moses is a type of the Law and Joshua is a type of Jesus Christ. Just as Moses could not lead Israel into the promised land the Law cannot save us, it can bring us to the border but only Christ can take us in and give us victory.

2) God can and will give us victory over every single stronghold in our lives but it won't happen in one day or one year. Why? that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land

3) We should not be afraid of any enemy or make any covenant with it. for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you

God will not fail you or forsake you.

Shameful

I think alot of Christians today are operating under the delusion that being a Christian can be "cool". I think this might be one of the root problems with the Church today.

Its like Fruity O's and Fruit loops. As a kid I loved Fruit Loops and I have never been tempted to buy the no-name generic equivalent "Fruity O's". Fruit Loops are not healthy and they are not attempting to copy any other cereal. "Fruity O's" on the other hand are trying to attract the Fruit Loop lovers as if to say "hey we can be just like your favourite cereal for less money"
Being a believer is not cool. Not because we're trying to be like the world and vying for the world's attention, that's just sad. It's not cool because being cool implies honour. Honour received from the world around us and the church at its heart is counter to what is esteemed by the world. Take for instance the Apostles of the early church. They were fools for Christ, weak and despised (1Cor 5:10). Not cool.

Believers are weak and must rely on the Holy Spirit for strength (2 Cor 12:9-10). Strength to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, strength to get through each day, every day carrying about the death of our bodies. We are the stench of death to the world (2 Cor 2:15-16). Have you ever smelled death? I have and it is the worst kind of smell. Our belief is sometimes called a crutch, its not. Its an entire life support system.

We have become fools for Christ. To the world its shameful to believe the earth was created, that Adam and Eve were the first humans, that Noah built an ark. That Jesus will return again some day. Don't think so? Go to a university or run for office and tell people you believe these things and see if you don't suffer any shame from them.

We act shamefully... or at least we should. We are supposed to serve our brothers and sisters. Not just getting them a coffee or helping them build a fence that's all great but that can actually bring honour to the giver. It was shameful in Jesus' day for Him to wash the disciples dirty feet. It was so shameful that it embarrassed Peter. We are to serve and think of everyone else as more important than ourselves and give honour to the most lowly members of our congregation.

Some churches today are so focused on entertainment and being cool that their worship has become more like a rock concert than worship. The leader looks cool, sounds really professional and the worship experience  is created to be technically excellent. Now we even have liturgical dance. For the uninformed, this is young attractive women dancing beautifully at the front. I imagine, this is supposed to enhance the already beautiful worship experience. I questioned this to someone who was promoting it and I was told that some young girl might look up to one of these dancers and then that would provide an opportunity to witness and lead her to Christ. I replied, "that sounds logical but Jesus didn't say "if ye be lifted up" He said "if I be lifted up I will draw all men to me"

At the time I knowingly misinterpreted this scripture to make my point but it didn't matter, the person who I was talking to had nothing to say further on the matter. Now I see that it was ok that I misinterpreted it and I'll tell you what I mean. Today we think of lifting up as being highly esteemed, to think better of someone or something but that scripture isn't saying if Jesus is lifted up in our praise as a banner or someone to praise. Jesus was saying that He would be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness. Like an enemies body hanging on a pole. It means that Jesus will be a curse because the Bible says cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree.

And this why on retrospect I think maybe I was right about quoting this scripture even if I didn't know it at the time. Our leader, our Lord became shame for us. If we are true followers we will follow Him bearing His cross and not scorning its shame but rather rejoicing that we are counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

I'm going slightly mad

What happens to people when they turn roughly fortyish and for all intents and purposes they appear to go completely mad? Is it hormonal? Mental? Spiritual? Why do upstanding seemingly intelligent people suddenly become unhinged and take leave of their senses.

You know what I mean, the people who suddenly decide that they're going to break their vows and run off with someone else to play house. Leaving their real family in their selfish wake.

The only way I can reconcile this behavior in my own mind is to assume that they have lost their minds because I'm sure of two things: one of us must have taken crazy pills and it wasn't me.

I'd just found the lost key to my mythic life
So I bravely shook free of my kids and wife
I had seminars booked as a second career
Until a still, small voice screamed loud and clear
- Lament for Desmond R.G. Underwood Frederick IV by Steve Taylor

Of course, if they're Christians they would know its sin. Sin that involves breaking a promise made before God. Ananais and Saphira we're killed for lying to the Holy Spirit about some property they sold. I would think that would encourage a person to keep promises they make in front of God. They would also have, I imagine, considered what they were throwing away and I'm sure they would have thought about what effect would be produced on their children.

And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son." - Hebrews 12:5-6

Still it's disheartening and disturbing to see it happening. When I pray for these people, I of course pray that God will bring restoration and healing but I also pray that God will chastise them. Not to be vindictive but because He loves them and as evidenced by the verse above, God disciplines those He accepts as His children. He will never leave us and He is the God of the impossible. He can bring them back even from the brink of insanity.

On arriving at the end of a road

How do you feel when you come to the end of something?

Do you feel sorrow as you reach the end and realise that whatever it is will now only live on in pictures or your memories? Or do you feel excitement and maybe a little fear trying to imagine what will come next?

If you're like me you feel bittersweet.

I've been looking back at my career and reviewing the ups and downs in my mind. I find the downs tend to reside in my memory which fades but the ups tend to stay in my mind and my centre and whatever part of my brain in which resides the seat of emotion.

My best memory and what I will carry with me for the rest of my life was similar to what the Psalmist described in the 23rd Psalm

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. - Psalm 23:5-6

Fifteen years ago I worked for a company called International Aqua Foods. Every year they gathered all the managers in the company for a weekend management getaway/awards banquet with their significant others. Two days at a resort culminating with dinner/dance, record of performance awards banquet.

It was really cool when I received the invitation in the mail, the banquet was in June at the Tigh Na Mara resort. We drove down island and all the arrangements were made and our place had already been prepared. Everything was paid for. All in all over the years my wife and I attended four of these banquets at places like this, Harrison Hot Springs and Whister. There's nothing better than a free vacation not just because you don't have to pay for it but because it feels so good when someone else decides to pay for you, to invite you and to make all the arrangements on your behalf. Where your room will be, asking you what you want for dinner and deciding where you will sit and at what table. I didn't care if I wasn't going to receive an award or even any accolades I was just happy to be there with my wife and enjoy the atmosphere. 

On this particular midsummer evening I had just raised my first crop of salmon. They were a group of Chinook salmon that we bought from another company as fry. The Chief operating officer of IAF didn't want to grow Chinook because they are slower growing and not as efficient but he agreed to let my boss purchase them because we had a site that wasn't operating and it was better than letting the site sit empty. It was a good deal for us to increase our production but he didn't expect any great results.

Managers from all over North and South America were all gathered together in the banquet hall and the COO was at the podium giving his address. He spoke about the company and key results and then he began to speak about me and the results of my site. I felt uncomfortable but obviously interested to hear what he was going to say.

I need to pause there and give you some background on the people sitting at my table with me. Of course there was my wife and I, my boss and his wife, I think two other site managers and their wives and one other manager that I'm going to call Calvin.

Calvin had some good points about him he was really knowledgeable and experienced. At times he could be a nice guy but every once in a while he would change into a completely different person. His Mr Hyde was a a psychological juggernaught crushing everyone in his path with his rapier wit and cruel tongue. When this personality manifested he was extremely intimidating. Few people ever stood up to him. Some avoided confrontation others felt if they took a stand that  he would bring an accusation against them to the boss and they would be fired. The boss's kids called him "Uncle Calvin"?

I won't bore you with all the details but when I worked for Calvin he had me under his thumb and later when we were peers for some reason he still held a power of intimidation over me until one day when I had a heated confrontation with him. After that we never had another problem. 

You get the idea lets go back to the IAF banquet...

The COO was speaking about me and the crop I had raised, I don't remember his exact words but it seemed to me that he went on for a little bit saying how pleased he was with the Chinook performance, the harvest quality, sales profit and my work. That was a great moment in my career. Great to be commended in front of my wife but that wasn't the greatest moment. That was still to come.

After his speech and all the awards were handed out the COO made his rounds from table to table, shaking hands and speaking to the people at the different tables. And then he came to our table.

"Well done", he said to me and shook my hand. Then smiling he turned to Calvin "Now why couldn't you ever grow fish like that Calvin?!" and then he proceeded to repeatedly and exuberantly slap Calvin on the back laughing "HA HA HA HA!" 

I was on cloud nine basking in the sweetness of an absolutely perfect moment. Poor Calvin his head shaking with every thump on the back looked like he had just eaten a lemon. For me it was a little tiny hint of heaven.

Shaking with fear and excitement

Standing at the edge of my life in this ragged tent 

I'm glad I'll be pushed and won't have to jump

You've covered every expense

You've made all the arrangements

Vindicated basking in the light of the Son

It doesn't matter what I do there

Perfectly and infinitely better 

Like arriving home at a holiday destination

Not in vain

Do you ever worry that you might be missing something?

Not your keys or your favourite TV show but something more important... something you're supposed to be doing.

I worry about that.

When I read my Bible and then look around at my life I start to wonder. Is it ok that I'm working at a secular job and not really doing much of consequence in relation to eternity?

Then I remember something that happened in my past...

Years ago I was in Tofino working as a salmon farm tech with a pretty unique crew. There was Mel the site manager. He was 7 feet tall with a wandering glass eye. Roger. He was an ex-Navy seal who had once been fired out of a submarine torpedo tube. "Larry" was on the lam from the law for practicing as a sex psychologist without any credentials. Nick, I don't remember anything strange about him except that he sometimes brought his wife out with him... and oh yeah she was a witch. Not to say that she was mean but rather that she could cast spells and such. Then Dave, Ren, Glenn and me.

After some time the company decided that they were going to shut down the farms in the area where we worked. As you can imagine morale and productivity plummetted. Mel quit and Roger and Nick got temporary promotions.

My newly promoted supervisors would stay in the house and watch TV and expected all of us to do the same. Once when I was going out to feed the salmon Nick asked me "Where are you going? Its raining out there."

It was weird, I felt guilty for not working hard and I felt guilty for even working at all.

Then one day out of the blue a strange boat showed up. I was feeding when the boat pulled up to the site and Nick and the rest of the guys came scurrying out of the house. Turns out it was a senior manager with the company. He came out to talk to me and said he had been travelling around and I was the only one that he had found feeding fish.

Long story short when they shut all the sites down I was one of the few guys who kept my job and got a transfer to another site.

I like to think about that experience because it might be analogous to how I feel now. I feel like I'm not doing much I'm no Billy Graham, I'm not smuggling Bibles into North Korea or helping to build a new church but I am teaching my kids and the few kids at Sunday school Biblical truths.

Peter became a disciple of Jesus in John 1:42 but still worked as a fisherman until Luke 5:8 and then when asked, he left everything including his greatest success.

Maybe its not so important what I do but that I'm willing to do whatever I'm asked.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:58

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. - Hebrews 10:35-36

Jawbone heap

“Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet” - Judges 14:14a

The story of Samson has always interested me. In particular, the episode when he tore a lion limb from limb and then later scraped some honey out of its decaying carcass. He ate it and gave some to his parents but neglected to tell them that he found it in what would amount to the ancient equivalent of road kill on a hot desert road.

I’ve spent some time reading this over and thinking about it and trying to discover what this means. I've come to the conclusion that it's the key to the whole story.

After eating the honey Samson went to marry a Philistine woman. Normally, Samson shouldn’t be looking for a wife among the oppressors of his people but God intended this because “He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines” – Judges 14:4. It appears that Samson was a judge with one purpose, to basically drive a crooked stick into a hornet’s nest.

And he was good at it. When he wasn’t killing lions, he was tying foxes tails together with torches, breaking down gates or killing Philistines. The rest of his time was spent chasing women.

At one point he fought an army with nothing but a jawbone in his hand. After the dust settled he surveyed the heaped up bodies and proclaimed that he had killed one thousand men, tossed the jawbone down and named the place “Jawbone heap”. And then he was thirsty. So thirsty, he felt he was going to die and so “he called to LORD and said, “Thou hast given me this great deliverance by the hand of Thy servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived. Therefore, he named it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. So he judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.”

The enemy is still roaming about like a young lion looking for someone to devour. God can give us superhuman strength to defeat the lion but here’s the rub… Samson went back and turned and looked at the decaying corpse off to the side of the road when he should’ve just put it in the rear view mirror and not looked back. He was curious and he saw some temptation in it. His whole life was about looking for pleasure in all the wrong places. Like taking honey from a corpse.

Sometimes he got it right. When he called on God at En-hakkore which means “spring of the caller” God gave him water and this seems to have given Samson the strength to avoid his destructive pleasures for twenty years.

God should always be the source for our strength and refreshment and not the world. When He gives us the victory we shouldn’t look back but have the wisdom to flee youthful lusts instead. I am often quick to ask God for strength but wisdom is greater than strength. Wisdom can keep you from getting into situations where you need it.

an unoriginal sacrifice

“A son honours his father and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honour? And if I am a master, where is My respect?” Says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name . But you say, “How have we despised Thy name?”

“You are presenting defiled food upon My altar.” But you say, “How have we defiled Thee?” In that you say, “The table of the LORD is to be despised.”


“But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly? says the LORD of hosts. – Malachi 1:6-8

Last week, a few days before harvest, a toxic plankton bloom hit one of my farms killing a tenth of the salmon we were raising. Like a tree casting its fruit to the ground before harvest. Instead of harvesting we spent the whole week removing a half a million pounds of dead fish.

On the outside I displayed an attitude of determined motivation. But on the inside, the mix of disappointment, pressure, and exhaustion; produced a feeling in me that is best described as melancholy despair. Now, after two days rest, I feel fine but in my Bible reading I came across the passage of scripture in Malachi quoted above and I believed it had meaning for me.

God doesn’t ask me to sacrifice animals because Jesus sacrificed Himself for me but what does He ask me to sacrifice?

Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. – Romans 12:1

I find sometimes I offer God whatever’s left in my day. Time that I wouldn’t offer my work or even myself. I’m ashamed to say I have never even fasted or spent a substantial amount of time in prayer. I’ve fasted a few times for work when I haven’t had time to eat breakfast or lunch but never for God.

I’m going to have to make some changes to prevent my company from suffering more of these kind of losses and more importantly hopefully no one figures out I’m to blame for this last one. If I see any bones in the office on Monday I’ll turn and run straight out of there. (sound of bones rattling in a small leather pouch then spilling onto the boardroom table) “The bones tell me… Hey where’s he going?”

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, “How have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!


Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.


Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it may not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes” says the LORD of hosts. – Malachi 3:8-11

Post script
I originally had titled this blog "Lame sacrifices" thinking that title was a clever play on words, but I happened to do a search and came across this blog --> Lame sacrifices where someone has written basically exactly the same thing six months ago. Right down to the same bible verses and title! I'm afraid to look any further in fear that I will discover more evidence that I am an unoriginal blogger.   

Not today

She halted before a pool called Rushy-pond, flanked by the ends of two hedges; a railing ran through the centre of the pond, dividing it in half. Over the railing she saw the low green country; over the green trees the roofs of the town; over the roofs a white flat façade, denoting the entrance to the county jail. On the roof of this front specks were moving about; they seemed to be workmen erecting something. Her flesh crept.
She descended slowly, and was soon amid corn-fields and pastures. In another half hour, when it was almost dusk, she reached the White Hart, the first inn of the town on that side. – The withered arm, Thomas Hardy

I’ve been thinking about something lately. A question that won’t go away. Why aren’t there any miracles today? This supernatural void is so glaring that there’s even an atheist website called “Why doesn’t God heal amputees”. Do we not need miracles anymore?

The story quoted above is about a young woman with a withered arm named Gertrude. She tries every medicine known to man, desperate to be set free from her ailment. She needs a miracle but even though she goes to church she never prays for one. At the end of her rope she breaks down and goes in search of a conjurer named Trendle. The same conjurer who had told her that her arm was cursed.

Trendle’s house was reached at last, however: he was not indoors, and instead of waiting at the cottage, she went to where his bent figure was pointed out to her at work a long way off. Trendle remembered her, and laying down the handful of furzeroots which he was gathering and throwing into a heap, he offered to accompany her in her homeward direction, as the distance was considerable and the days were short. So they walked together, his head bowed nearly to the earth, and his form of a colour with it.

“You can send away warts and other excrescences I know,” she said; “why can’t you send away this?” And the arm was uncovered.

“There is only one chance of doing it known to me. It has never failed in kindred afflictions, - that I can declare. But it is hard to carry out, and especially for a woman.”

“Tell me!” said she.

“You must touch with the limb the neck of a man who’s been hanged.”

She started a little at the image he had raised.

Some people will tell you that miracles do happen today, just not here.

I attended a BBQ recently where someone said exactly that. Two teachers from the Christian school that our kids attend who had been away on sabbatical said they had actually observed miraculous healings. And even heard of dead people coming back to life. I’m not sure what you’re supposed to say when someone drops a bomb like that on your conversation. It fell like an atom bomb and came to a crashing thud in our circle of folding chairs. I made a point of looking around at the group of fairly standard Christians and studied their reactions.

The general response was “Wow! That’s great” followed by an attempt to change the subject. Some had a faraway look in their eyes and I imagine they were trying to decide if the teacher was lying, mad as a hatter or slow coming to a punch line. I like discussing difficult questions so instead of allowing the conversation to transition to something lighter I kicked at the explosive canister lying at our feet. “And so why don’t those things happen here?”

“I’m not sure… maybe we don’t expect it to” was the reply.

My wife says I was out of line. She says, (and I quote) “if you are attending a purely social gathering and you see that a subject is making people uncomfortable, then you should leave it alone, you should not deliberately seek to stir up a hornets nest”. I guess most people don’t want to talk about stuff like that at a BBQ. They want to talk about sports, their favourite TV show or some other trivial matter. It was of no consequence because the rest of the group wouldn’t continue discussing the subject and so I’m still left wondering what the answer is.

By this time the young woman’s state was such that a grey mist seemed to float before her eyes, on account of which and the veil she wore, she could scarcely discern anything: it was as though she had nearly died, but was held up by a sort of galvanism.

“Now!” said a voice close at hand, and she was just conscious that the word had been addressed to her. By a last strenuous effort she advanced, at the same time hearing persons approaching behind her. She bared her poor curst arm; and (the hangman), uncovering the face of the corpse, took Gertrude’s hand, and held it so that her arm lay across the dead man’s neck, upon a line the colour of an unripe blackberry, which surrounded it.

Most people that I know have given up on magic and spells. We’re much more scientific, more logical, more technologically advanced today. We trust our Doctors and modern medicine. I’d still rather trust God, I’d rather He still healed us.

I’d rather Jesus still did things like this…

And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse Him.
And He saith unto the man which had the withered hand, “Stand forth”.

And He saith unto them, “Is it lawful to good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? To save a life, or to kill?” But they held their peace.
And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man, “Stretch forth thine hand”. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. – Mark 3:1-5

Two-faced toast

This Mother’s day our kids wanted to make breakfast for their mother. So my daughter took mom’s order… Coffee and toast.

When it was ready to go they decided they would use a metal serving plate with a locking metal cover to serve their mom in bed. None of us could’ve imagined what a bad idea this would prove to be.

They all paraded in, my daughter carrying the coffee and my son carrying the toast. When he went to lift the lid off it was locked and he kind of struggled to open it with one hand. As he struggled with it he inclined it ever so slightly and unbeknownst to all of us the glass plate had slid inside up against one side of the cover. That was also precisely the moment that his older brother decided to help remove the lid. This was all that was required to tip the balance in favour of calamity when the lid was finally removed. The toast thus unfettered flew quickly sideways and as is commonly known turned exactly upside down and headed for the floor. There was, of course, in that brief instance of time a great effort by all to catch the flying toast but this only produced the inenviable result of also spilling coffee.

We all had a good laugh, cleaned up the mess and started over. I pretended to find it funny so everyone would think I had a good attitude too but my nerves felt exposed and raw. One of my sons started making the second piece of toast and asked my daughter what mom wanted.

“Toast with peanut butter on the bottom and jam on the top”, She said.

When it was happening I was vaguely aware of this conversation taking place it was only later when I replayed it in my mind that I fully understood the significance of the miscommunication that ensued.

“Toast with peanut butter on the bottom and jam on the top?” he asked confused “Are you sure that’s what she wants?”

“Yup” she answered. When the toast was ready she came out to take it to her mom “Huh?.. You put peanut butter on the bottom?”

Now my ears perked up and I realized he had made a double-sided piece of toast. Literally peanut butter on the bottom, or one side and then flipped it over and put jam on the top… on the other side!

I’m ashamed to say this is when I lost my composure and freaked out just a little bit… “Why would you do that?!” “Use the brain God gave you!” “Of course she wouldn’t want it on both sides!”

My daughter wisely chastised me, “Daddy don’t yell and ruin Mother’s day”,. I stopped, took a deep breath and apologized to the two of them.

It’s not smart to bottle your feelings up and pretend like you don’t feel angry. I know it’s ok to be angry. But It’s definitely not ok to lose control. I’m supposed to be a good example to my kids but sometimes my example instead of how to behave the first time is how to apologize later.

In your anger do not sin – Eph 4:26a

Fathers do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged – Colossians 3:21

Earworms

How do you recognize a false prophet?

I heard a story about a woman and her son that made me wonder about this. She had an experience in her congregation that really bothered her.
(Cue soundtrack, “Brother Love’s travelling salvation show by Neil Diamond)

Hot august night
And the leaves hanging down and the grass on the ground smellin’ sweet

move up the road
to the outside of town and the sound of that good gospel beat

I guess her pastor had invited a guest speaker who was supposed to be a prophet to pray and speak prophecy over the children in his congregation

Room gets suddenly still
And when you’d almost bet you could hear yourself sweat
He walks in

The gathered faithful with their children all in a line, he prays for each of them one by one. The parents smile or shed tears of joy as they hear him say to their children the usual “God has great plans for you” or “You will meet someone who will soon make a strong impression on you” or “The archangel Michael has some golden plates for you”. It was all fairly standard until he got to her son, and then the story takes an odd turn. He put his hand on the boy’s head and began to pray.

A worried look crept across his face.

Eyes black as coal
And when he lifts his face every ear in the place
Is on him

He avoided any of the aforementioned affirmations,

Starting soft and slow
like a small earthquake

said nothing to the young boy and said to his mother instead

and then he lets go
and half the valley shakes

“You need to pray for him every single day!”

Nice.

I wonder how he decided to choose that boy to receive that “word”. Did he pick him randomly? Or was it the way he was dressed? Was it the way his mother brought him forward full of hope and love for her son? Maybe he has some ridiculous pattern. I wish someone had called him out

Even if you believe God still speaks through prophets, did any of God’s prophets in scripture ever speak like this? Sure their words were like salt in a wound when they rebuked Kings and nations but they were pretty clear about what was wrong and what would happen next.


And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains but have not love. I am nothing. – 1 Corinthians 13:2

And what is not a result of love?

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love – 1 John 4:18

This guy used a negative prophecy, if you want to call it that, to try and prove he was legit but most others seem to want to scratch an itch in people's ears. These guys sooth and massage Christians with their prosperity and healing messages. The result is that people are content to stay where they are and keep their eyes fixed on their material collections and the health of their bodies. It feels good to snuggle into a comfy pew, close your eyes and hear the fervent man on the stage rock the mic and boldly proclaim, “You know what God has for you?”

“Yes”, you may answer, “An eternity spent worshipping His Son”

“Er… yes”, he replies and then louder “but I mean in this world!”

“Oh,” you say “uh… trouble?”

“No sir! Spirit of unbelief, I rebuke you! Favour!”

“Favour! Favour! Favour!..”

(Camera focuses on the clock on the wall both hands do a couple quick laps around)

“… Favour! Favour! Favour!”



If God still speaks through prophets, If He still heals people or works miracles I don’t believe it’s through these guys. Jesus said John was the greatest prophet who ever lived and if he lived today would he wear an Armani suit, drive a Lexus or have an air-conditioned doghouse? Probably a safe bet to say no. But if you dare say “Uh… excuse me sir? I don’t think what you’re saying or doing lines up with scripture?” You’ll be sure to get told you’re calling the work of the Holy Spirit the work of the devil.

Here’s a quick test: Do they confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh? (1 John 4:2), Do they speak as the world and does the world listen to them? (1 John 4:5), Do they love their fellow Christians? (1 John 4:7-8), Do they have God’s Spirit? (1 John 4:13), Do they confess that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 4:15), Do they fear? (1 John 4:18), Do they say with their mouth “I love God” and hate their brother with their actions? (1 John 4:20)

Sits a ragged tent
Where the aint no trees
And that gospel group
Telling you and me

Its Love, Brother love, said Brother Love’s travellin’ salvation show
Pack up the babies grab the old ladies
everyone goes, everyone knows its Brother Love’s show

Brothers, I said Brothers
Now you got yourself two good hands
And when your brother is troubled
You got to reach out your one hand for him
'Cause that's what it's there for

And when your own heart is troubled
You got to reach out your other hand
Reach it out to the Man up there
'Cause that's what He's there for

Take my hand in yours Lord, walk with me this day
In my heart I know, I will never stray

Treading water

I hate failing or losing at anything.

It seems strange that I never get used to it. Sometimes I think it would be nice to slip into a long complacency nap but I keep working. You know that feeling when you’re working out and pushing yourself to do one more repetition. Where does the strength come from to do one more? Or what's in us that finally wins the argument to give up and let go?

If I’m doing the same thing over and over my fruitless determination feels more like foolishness. Let me give you an example from my past:

One day when I was young I was sitting in the Kmart café with two of my teenage friends eating fries and gravy. The fries were served in a rectangular cardboard tray. The kind of tray they give you at the hospital when you feel sick to your stomach. It’s a small tray of fries when you’re a hungry teenager. It infinitely smaller when you’re thirteen with a burning appendix threatening to explode.

Anyways one of my friends decided it would be “funny” to light my cardboard tray of fries on fire. I think he wanted to see me panic and try to put it out. I watched him light the tray with interest. And I remember deciding that I wasn’t going to do anything but keep eating my fries from the flaming tray.

“Dude your fries are on fire”, he says

I kept eating my fries.

Now I don’t think I need to explain the discomfort that a normal person would feel sitting in a public cafeteria with a plate of food burning on their table. The fire first lit, was not that noticeable. But it grew unhindered and as it grew it eventually reached the areas moistened with gravy and then it began to smoke. And not white wispy cigarette smoke but dark black tire-burning smoke.

When my fire-loving friend finally broke down it was no slow crumbling erosion but a full rapid crushing ruin. Even now I can’t prevent myself from smiling as I see him in my memory frantically blowing and tamping out the fire.

I’ve heard it said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results. If that’s insanity how would one define sanity? Giving up? Sometimes determination carries the day but there are times when a new paradigm is required. That brings me to my next memory which I didn’t fully understand the meaning of until recently.

I had to do a swimming test for one of the courses I took at work and it involved various skills one of which was being able to tread water for something like two minutes. Treading water for two minutes may sound easy to some and maybe it is but I suggest you try it next time you’re in deep water. Two minutes is a long time to tread water.

I was still young and idealistic and gave it my full effort. I can imagine that I had no problem for the first 30 seconds but then I felt my ability to stay afloat drop off exponentially from there.

At this point I knew I wasn’t going to make it and so I had two choices: 1) Give up and swim to the edge of the pool or 2) Sink underwater and drown. I didn’t want to drown so I said to the trainer standing at the edge of the pool.

“I’m not going to make it”, puffing desperately

“You have to”, he returned coolly, “To pass this course you need to be able to tread water a minimum of two minutes”

“This can’t be right, this is impossible” I thought and then called out to him again “There’s no way I can do it”

At this point my exertions were reaching the limits of my ability. My arms and legs were tired, losing oxygen, beginning to fall out of synch and move inefficiently.

“What will you do if you’re in the ocean and you can’t get out?”, he asked

“I would just float on my back”, I argued

“Fine.” He said to my surprise, “do that then”

So with that I took a deep breath, filled my lungs with air and rested calmly on my back. I could’ve stayed afloat like this for hours. It would’ve been nice to know this at the beginning of the exercise.

We can’t fulfill God’s requirements for us through our own works. The water is real. I could sink in it and drown. But God provided a way for me to overcome the water, namely air. By filling my lungs with air I was able to stay afloat. In a similar way God has provided His Spirit to dwell in us and if we walk in the Spirit, are led by the Spirit and live by the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Instead we will display the fruit of the Spirit.

Action is required on my part but not strength.