For My Beautiful Wife

Today is the thirty-third anniversary of the day I married my beautiful wife Jan. When we wed, we vowed to stick with the other through better or worse, health or sickness, etc. At the time neither of us really knew what that all entailed. As the years have passed, we’ve learned a bit of what it means to support each other in the good and the bad.

Through it all, I have been blessed to have such a gracious partner by my side. In Genesis, we are told that God thought it not good for man to be alone so he created a helper suitable (meet) for him. In the Hebrew the words translated “help meet” could be translated as a “helper who complements.” Not a helper in the sense of a servant, but a helper in the sense of a rescuer or deliverer. The word “ezer” is used of God as a deliverer. The word “k’enegdo” can be translated “against” or “opposite.” The idea is something which corresponds to, like a mirror image. So, you could say that a wife is to be a deliverer who mirrors her husband. Opposites attract right?

Jan has certainly been an ezer k’enegdo for me. She has been my deliverer by her love and loyal support. She is a complement to me and I have learned much from her through the years. I can not imagine what it would have been like without her through the moves, the job losses, the losses of my parents, and all the other ups and downs of life. As I look back over thirty-three years, I marvel at the grace of a loving Abba who knew exactly who I needed. I can’t fathom it.

Jan, it’s been an absolutely wonderful journey together these thirty-three years. I can’t imagine life with anyone else, and I pray the Father gives us many more years together. You are a tremendous blessing to me. I love you.

Community: Sunday at 10:30

There’s a church sign near us that reads,”Join our community. Sunday at 10:30.” Giving the benefit of the doubt, I imagine the leaders of that church meant well. They were inviting folks to come join their community of faith, which meets on Sunday at 10:30. Unfortunately, much of the time churches are simply inviting people to come into their building at a particular time on a particular day to sing a few songs and listen to a sermon.

Community has become a buzzword in society, including church circles. There are on-line communities, work communities, and housing developments have been replaced with communities. Some of these communities may develop a sense of camaraderie in the members, although I don’t believe the contrived, “planned communities” of houses are anything more than typical suburban sprawl. In the larger sense of the word, many “communities” in society may well bring people together.

I believe the church is different. Community is something that is not based on personal preferences, on a charismatic individual, on shared experiences. In the church, the only kind of community that matters must be based on the Gospel and our shared identity in Christ. The community that God wants is a community that lives life together, learning together to follow Jesus and love our brothers and sisters. In order to do this we must be together more than one day a week. Community needs time and contact to develop. The disciples were with Jesus 24/7 for three years. The first Christians met daily, going from house to house. I know things are different in the 21st century, but we still need time with each other often. We can not do this without learning from each other on a consistent basis.

We are family. While families go through periods where the members don’t spend as much time with each other as at other times, a functional family will not give up getting together. As brothers and sisters in God’s family, we are to spend time with each other. If you are part of a church body that meets in a building at a particular time on a particular day and gathers as friends and family at various times throughout the week, good for you. If not, why not begin?

Weekend Wanderings

I’ve been off and on lately with my weekend links posts. That’s because my weekends have been very busy with travel and other such stuff this summer. To prove the point, there will not be a post next weekend because Jan and I will be celebrating our 33rd anniversary in the Georgia mountains, and while I probably will have internet access, I won’t have the time.

Anyway, enjoy these links:

Eric Carpenter is (not) looking for the perfect church.
Brant Hansen has another blog post from Jesus.
Dan Edelen doesn’t see “I” in “church.”
Andy Stager has some wise words.
Jared Wilson is in tight.

Fear and trust.
Reconsider Jesus.
God speaks in life’s silences.
Rebuking the Devil.
Not knowing everything.

Nate Pruitt doesn’t read his Bible every day.
Henri Nouwen on organizing.
Alan Knox on reciprocity.
Kansas Bob asks who speaks for you.
Arthur Sido on dancing with Caesar.

“Biblical” or Gospel?
You have got to be kidding me!
Christian values.
Christianity and nationalism.
Perfect Christian syndrome.

Have a blessed week!

Weekend Wanderings

It’s Fathers’ Day here in the sunny South, as it is in the rest of the country. I am grateful for the two wonderful children the Father has blessed me with, and a wonderful daughter-in-law. Pray for the folks in Colorado who have lost homes, and in some cases loved ones, in the fires there. It’s more contained, but there is still a fair bit of danger for many.

Here are the links:

Swanny wants a cliche free church.
Frank Viola rethinks sickness.
Kansas Bob on the ordinary presence of God.
Dan Edelen didn’t go to church.

The temple.
iMonk classic.
Vindicated, or not.
But what do you do?

Zack Hunt on Stephen Colbert.
Just one more thing.
Josh Daffern on committees.
Grace versus indulgence.

What did Jesus look like?
A post on the information collection controversy.
Jesus is the great High Priest.
This is pretty amazing.

Have a blessed week!

Weekend Wanderings

The school year has ended and there is much rejoicing. The students are pretty happy as well. It is thunderstorm season, and already those storms have spawned tornadoes around the country. Hurricane season is also here, and the first tropical storm of the year has made its way up the east coast.

After a few weeks off, here are the links:

1 Corinthians from a different angle.
Missing purpose.
Scaling gracefully.
Power play.
Craziness.

Diane Nienhuis asks a good question.
A poem from Damaris Zehner.
Whitney Foreman on forgiveness.
Todd Hiestand on handling conflict.
Zack Hunt on the Bible.

No king but Caesar?
Culture > Vision.
Tale.
Pervasive mutuality.
Craft time Christianity.

I don’t know. This goes a bit too far, if you ask me.
Wayward Son has control issues.
Neil Braithwaite on the rich young pastor.
From Scot McKnight: What is love?
Joel Miller on the Bible’s most highlighted verse.

Have a blessed week!

What’s Neglected in Worship

This morning, Josh turned me on to this article on the tendency of the church to neglect the reality of tragedy as a part of worship, instead turning to a form that gives the impression that the Christian life is all sweetness and light. I wonder if we try to forget the stuff of life in our worship because we really don’t trust God to redeem every part of our life, and don’t really believe God’s heart is good toward us.