Author: Fred Shope

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Weekend Wanderings

Another week has gone into history. It was our first week back at school after Christmas break. It was hard getting up on Monday morning! The polar vortex has retreated back to where it belongs and the weather seems to be getting back to normal.

On to the real reason you’re here. The links:

A new type of addiction.
Something is wrong here.
Pretty cool.
Waiting on God.
Significant others.

Lori Ventola resolves to be shameless.
Linda Brendle wishes you a messy new year.
Michelle Van Loon on community.
Zack Hunt on grace.
Damaris Zehner asks us to consider the dogs.

What kids say.
In what way?
50 countries where it is hardest to be a Christian.
The baptism of Jesus.
Some winter comic relief.

Scot McKnight on the best age for leaders.
Circuses, monkeys and the new year.
Could the Bible be written today?
When Niagara Falls freezes over.
Good question from Jared Wilson.

Have a blessed week!

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Blast From the Past: The Truth Hurts?

This was first posted on September 24, 2009.

Last night I saw a church sign which read, “If the truth hurts, it must be working.” Well, maybe. It is true that there are times when the truth does hurt in order to work, times when hard changes need to be made in our lives. We can all think of times when truth was spoken to us, causing us pain that, in turn, caused us to change.

Unfortunately, many times the truth is used as a club. Some have an idea that they know God’s truth and that it is their responsibility to make sure everyone knows it. They claim to be “speaking the truth in love,” saying that they are showing love simply by speaking the truth, no matter how harshly the message is proclaimed. Of course, sometimes the “truth” that they loudly speak is nothing more than their interpretation.

There is also truth that does not hurt. The message of God’s grace and mercy is one example. The promise of resurrection is another. And while it is true that we all struggle with sin, it is also true that the Father loves us unconditionally, has given us the Holy Spirit to work in us, and is forming us into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

The reality is that truth transforms as the Spirit takes it and uses it in the life of the Christ-follower. It may hurt, but then again it may feel wonderful.

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And Another Year Passes

Another year is upon us. It seems to happen on a regular basis, no matter what we try to do. Along with a new year, there comes something called New Year’s Resolutions. This is when people determine that they are going to do certain things and accomplish certain goals in the next 365 days. That is why you see special deals on weight loss programs, fitness center memberships, and home fitness equipment. Other resolutions include career, financial, relational, or spiritual goals.

I have nothing against resolutions as such. It is good to have goals for the coming year. My problem is I tend to make resolutions and then not keep them. It seems that is a problem common to the human condition. It is very easy for us to see resolutions as devices to make us better people, much like the 5 steps to ________________ that you can hear in many churches on Sunday mornings. If we fail to keep these resolutions, we can become filled with guilt and frustration. If we are able to keep them, we can become self-righteous.

Pam Hogeweide has written a good article on what she wants for the coming year. It is titled, “Soaring into Everday Loveliness With One Word.” Pam writes that, rather than making resolutions, she has chosen the word “soar” as what she wants to do in 2014. She also asks her readers to comment with what their one word would be. I chose “grace.”

In the last couple of years, I have been learning what grace is. The idea that Abba loves me no matter what and sees me as his beloved son is liberating. As I learn, it is becoming more and more clear that absolutely nothing I can do will ever change the Father’s love for me or my standing as his child. I’m not saying that nothing I do matters, because it does. I’m saying that my actions can not make me a better person inside, that they can not make me righteous. I am righteous because of God’s grace through what Christ has done. It is finished, and there is nothing more for me to do.

I want to live every day in and from my Father’s grace to me. I want to do everything out of love and gratitude, not out of a desire to earn God’s favor or stay right with him. I want to walk looking at Jesus and his finished work, and not fearfully looking over my shoulder or around me, worried that I might screw up. Because I will screw up, sometimes royally. But, it’s okay because it doesn’t change who I am in Christ. It also doesn’t change the settled fact that God is redeeming everything in my life for his kingdom and his glory. I want to live out of that reality.

I also want to live a life that extends that same grace to others, to those whom I love and to those who are difficult to love. I want to love my neighbor (who just happens to be everyone) as Jesus loves me. I want to love others without putting conditions on them. No reciprocity, no demanding, and certainly no “exacting a pound of flesh.” I know I can only do that as I am able to rest in the grace of Abba. Otherwise it becomes just another one of those resolutions that I can’t keep.

My word for 2014 is grace. I’d love to hear what word you would choose.

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Weekend Wanderings

It’s the weekend again! During this Christmas break, the weekends haven’t seemed quite as important. School begins again on Monday, so they will once again be greatly anticipated. The whole country, with just a couple of exceptions, is in the grips of some very frosty weather. My heart goes out to those who are facing negative double digit temperatures and dangerous wind chills. It is getting down into the teens at night here in the sunny South, but that doesn’t begin to compare with what others are facing. Pray for protection and provision for those folks.

On to the links:

You know you wanted this bit of information.
Make sure you keep your coffee straight.
What is the church’s biggest problem?
Grace or hamster wheel?
A tree for each of the twelve days of Christmas.

A reject tree.
Eric Carpenter on love.
The new creation.
Encouragement from Jon Acuff.
Kryptonite.

Len has a recipe for clearing snow.
Pam has one word.
Keith Giles pledges allegiance.
Zack Hunt’s struggle.
Melody on confidence.

Cold but beautiful.
Listening.

Have a blessed week! May your year ahead be full of grace.

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Looks Who’s Here!

In the first chapter of his Gospel, Matthew lays out the genealogy of Jesus. He does so in a manner that  is a bit different than the usual genealogies that are common for kings and other important people. Rather than focusing on just the strong kings of the past and leaving out any folks who might cause others to look unapprovingly at the king’s background, Matthew includes some who didn’t quite fit the picture of a perfect ancestor.

The first unusual thing is the inclusion of women in the genealogy. In our culture, that would not be notable but in the culture of that day, women didn’t count. Women were seen as property, and any mention of a woman in a document would more than likely be an afterthought. Royal women were more likely to be mentioned in a ruler’s history, but not someone who was a commoner, especially if that commoner was a foreigner. Matthew includes five women, each one coming with baggage.

First, we see Tamar. She’s the one who was left without a husband or a child. Her father-in-law Judah, tried unsuccessfully to hook her up with his other sons and in the end fathered her two sons went she posed as a prostitute in order to seduce him and trick him into sleeping with her. The second woman in the list is Rahab, the prostitute from Jericho who married a good Jewish boy named Salmon. By the way, Rahab was not Jewish, although she seems to have converted. Salmon’s son Boaz didn’t fall far from the tree, as he also married a Gentile. If you remember the story, Boaz married Ruth, who was from Moab. So far, this genealogy is not looking quite kosher.

The fourth woman mentioned by Matthew is Bathsheba. You remember her. She’s the one who was out taking a bath one day, not realizing that King David was lustfully watching. After committing adultery and murder, David brought her into his house as one of his wives. She gave birth to Solomon, through whom the line of the Messiah continued. Fast forward a few generations, and we come to the fifth woman, Mary. Mary was Jewish, so that was good. She was also a descendant of David, so she came from good stock. However, there was a pretty big issue.

Mary and Joseph, while betrothed, we’re not yet married when Mary told Joseph that she was pregnant. Joseph, being the kind man that he was, planned on quietly divorcing Mary. After the angel revealed that this child was from the Holy Spirit, Joseph took her in to be his wife. There was still talk though, and the opinion of some seemed to be that Jesus was an illegitimate child. So, in the line of Jesus we have Gentile women, adultery, and seeming illegitimacy.

Looking at this list of the ancestors of the Messiah encourages me. First, I am encouraged to see that this King came as the King of all people, Jew and Gentile. This genealogy also tells me that God can use anyone to accomplish his purposes, even those who don’t fit the mold, those who don’t belong. In fact, it seems that God works more through those who are not the ones everyone expects. Those of us who don’t seem to fit in wonderfully (let’s face it, that’s most of us), are the very ones that Jesus came to rescue and bring into God’s family. Rejoice at the works of our loving Father!

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Weekend Wanderings: Condensed Version

Since I haven’t posted a weekend post in a couple of weeks, I thought I’d take a few minutes and share a few of the good things I’ve read lately. This doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of all the good stuff out there, but since this is another one of those crazy busy weekends, I’ll do what I can.

Here they are:

The most loving thing?
Bethlehem space.
Impractical Jesus.
Keep Christ in Christmas?
The women of Advent.

Michael Spencer may have been right after all.
Why Christians need Flannery O’Connor.
Heretics.
Tacky Christmas tree.
Free.

Enjoy your reading. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas as you celebrate the birth of the One who came to set us free.

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The Lord’s Prayer: Lead Us Not Into Temptation…

The final petition in the Lord’s Prayer is the request that our Father not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. As we have prayed for our Father’s name to be glorified, for God’s kingdom to come to earth and be lived out in his provision for us and in our forgiving and being forgiven, we then pray to be kept from temptation and evil.

Another way to translate this could be, “Don’t let us give in to temptation.” We are told elsewhere in Scripture that God does not tempt any of us to sin, although he does bring things into our lives to try, or prove our faith. This is the idea of the refiner’s fire that burns out impurities, thus proving the metal. God does try, or test us in order to refine us and develop the character of Christ in us. There is a danger that we will be tempted during the trial, tempted to trust our self instead of the Father. We are drawn into temptation by our own desires, and those desires can easily lead us to sin by not letting God work in us through the trial.

We pray for the strength to resist temptation and for the Spirit to help us avoid areas in which we would be tempted. We also pray for Christ to fill us so that our sinful desires are pushed out. As we become more like Jesus, and as he lives in us more and more, we find that our desires start to line up with the desires of our Father. More and more, we are able to say with Jesus, “I do what I see my Father doing.” As that happens, we are better able resist temptation when it’s comes, and we are even tempted less and less in many areas. Until we see Jesus face to face, our prayer will continue to be that we are delivered from temptation and the evil one who tempts us.

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Blast From the Past: God’s Response to the “War on Christmas”

This was first posted on November 22, 2010.

James Stillwell posted this a few years ago. It’s titled, “God’s Response to the ‘War on Christmas'”. This is worth a read.

Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. I don’t care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just get along and love one another. Now, having said, that let Me go on.

If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn’t allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn’t be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can and may remember Me anytime you see any tree.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list :

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don’t have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can’t afford and they don’t need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

4. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

5. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don’t know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile it could make the difference. Also, you might consider supporting the local Hot-Line: they talk with people like that every day.

6. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren’t allowed to wish you a “Merry Christmas” that doesn’t keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn’t make so much money on that day, they’d close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.

7. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary, especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name. You may already know someone like that.

8. Here’s a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no “Christmas” tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don’t know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to some charity that believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

9. Finally if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don’t do things in secret that you wouldn’t do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Sincerely,

-God

P.S. Don’t forget, I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I’ll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work, time is short. I’ll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those you love and, remember, I love you.