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Weekend Wanderings

Summer is winding down, most of the schools are back in session, and the tropics are heating up. Remember when Labor Day was the start of the campaign season? Wouldn’t it be great if we only had to listen to the candidates for two months, instead of a year?

Off the soapbox and on to the links:

Millennial whoop.
Updated classics.
Pep talks and the gospel.
More classics.
Rules.

Encouragement from Steve Brown.
Funny and challenging.
Documenting highways.
I don’t think I could do this.
100 years old.

Rachel Miller on the subordination controversy.
Controversy in Vancouver.
Excellent article!
A bit of sanity.
Flying pizza!

Heart of a shepherd.
Good post from Scot McKnight.
Being right?
Adulting.
Normal.

Have a blessed week!

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Ten Years Ago

It was on this date, ten years ago, that my mom left this life and entered the next. Today we went to the memorial service for the wife of a friend of my father-in-law. As family members spoke of their wife and mother, my mind went back to that day when we said goodbye to the one who had given me birth.

It was a bit hard to hear others speak of their mother on the tenth anniversary of my mom’s passing. I thought back, as I heard the sons speak lovingly of their mom. While the last couple of years of my mom’s life were spent dealing with the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s, I can look back beyond that time to the person she was before the disease so cruelly took her away.

The thing that stands out most in my mind was the quiet, solid faith of my mother. She was not a theologian or one who taught great numbers of people. But, her life had an impact on me, my sister, our children, and many others. She was what C. S. Lewis would have called a mere Christian.

Jesus said that one of the defining characteristics of his followers would be their love. That was certainly true of my mother. She was known as one who loved. Her love for her husband and for her children was evident to all. Her love for others outside of her family was obvious to all who knew her.

Mom was kind and hospitable to all, and was generosity was well known. She was the epitome of grace and love to all who knew her. I pray that some of that was passed down to me. While the last years of her life were hard on her, and on us, I am thankful for the memories of a mother who kept the greatest commandments, who truly loved God and loved others.

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Fruit of the Spirit: Love

I want to take some time the next few posts and look at the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 and ask ourselves how much the Spirit has been producing in us.

The first fruit is love. Love is more than just a warm, fuzzy feeling that you can just as easily get from swallowing a caterpillar. It is an inward feeling, true, but it is one that manifests itself in outward actions for the good of another. Jesus tells us that we are to love others as he loved us. That love is a sacrificial love that is concerned with the well-being of others. Jesus said that the greatest love is to lay down our lives for others.

It is good to ask ourselves from time to time, “Do I put others first?” “Do I work for the good of others?” “Am I willing to lay down my desires, my wishes, my agenda?” “Am I willing to compromise (without sinning) for the good of another? In short, “Am I willing to give my life for the well-being of others, regardless?”

I know that this is something that I sometimes struggle with, at least as far as motivation goes. That’s why community is vital. We need the encouragement and examples of others. I am thankful for what I see in so many of my brothers and sisters.

Let us continue to encourage each other to follow Jesus more closely.

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Weekend Wanderings

Jan and I spent the last two weekends visiting our son and daughter-in-law in Seattle. Our daughter came up from California for part of the time, and we were able to spend a couple days with Jan’s sister. We had a wonderful time. It definitely was cooler there than here in the sunny South.

Where have all the Christian intellectuals gone?
Jeremy Myers on Biblical illiteracy.
Good article from Michelle Van Loon.
Having good discussions.
Good essay on nostalgia.

In defense of play.
Funny article from McSweeney’s.
How to be happy at work.
Friends?
Endurance.

Boasting in weakness.
Being a peacemaker.
Knowing we are Christians by…
Surviving a crisis.
Leadership.

Good article from iMonk.
Bacon!
Scot McKnight on Kingdom mission.
Good post from Jonathan Merritt.
Daniel Wells on church refugees.

Have a blessed week!

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Refreshing Streams

A couple of weeks ago, I took a Saturday and went up to a mountain area not too far from here. After dealing with a bit of anxiety that had caused me to end up in the hospital with what I thought might be a heart attack (thankfully, it wasn’t), I realized that some old hurts still needed healing and were causing me to be anxious about certain things because I was afraid of being hurt again. A lot of things had been happening in my life the past couple months and I succumbed to the temptation to worry about some of them.

As I was hiking through this area, the air was hot and humid, and the trail was dry. I drank enough water before I started walking, so I wasn’t in danger of dehydration, but I did start to get thirsty. After about a mile or so, I came to an area that had a stream flowing through, with a bench for sitting. As I journaled and prayed, one of the thoughts that came to me was the Psalmist saying that he panted after God like a deer pants after water. Even though the stream next to me wasn’t fit to drink, I was still reminded of the many times God has refreshed me when I was dry and thirsty.

My Abba Father has always been there for me, even during those times when it didn’t seem like it; those times when I felt as if I were wandering in the desert with no water in sight. I can go on these mini retreats because I do have a source of living water from which to drink my fill. I realize there will be times when I will be panting and thirsty, but God will always be there with living water, even if it takes a while to get there.

I know that there will be times ahead that could cause anxiety and that I will be hurt. It goes with hanging around people. But I am also realizing that I am only called to show God’s love to folks. I am not responsible for the results. I am learning again to trust my Father’s love and goodness, and let him take care of me and those I care about.

The dry, thirsty trails are still there to wander down. But, there is cool, refreshing water along the way.

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Weekend Wanderings

Here in the United States, we are now living in a reality show. Both major parties have had their conventions and the race is on. There are candidates from other parties, but it remains to be seen how much noise they will be able to make. It’s a bit cooler here in the sunny South, but the highs are still expected to be in the nineties.

On to the good stuff:

Habits to drop.
A lost art.
Good post from Matt Johnson.
Interesting article from Kyle Chayka.
Challenging article from Bonnie Petroschuk.

New swimwear for men.
Can beauty save the world?
Dance.
Pic and poem for the week.
Good article from Daniel Bush and Noel Due.

Good reminder.
A book review.
Faith, hope, and love.
Another good post from Jared C. Wilson.
Knowing and believing.

Keith Giles on love.
The Rock.
Speech analysis.
Excellent post from Zack Hunt.
An apology.

Have a blessed week!

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Weekend Wanderings

It looks like most of the US is sweltering under very hot temperatures. In some places they are at dangerous levels. If you know any folks who don’t have air conditioning, please check in on them. The GOP act of the circus ended and now it’s the Democrats turn. Then three months of folks telling us why the opponent is evil incarnate and how their candidate will save us all. Hopefully it will pass quickly.

On to the links:

This is interesting.
Good one from The Babylon Bee.
The man behind the curtain.
Learning from grief.
Idols.

Last gasp?
World’s steepest street.
Cool story.
Provocative article from Eric D. Weitz.
Some things haven’t changed in England.

Interesting post from Keith Giles.
Empires and insecurity.
Beginning.
Chaplain Mike disagrees.
Allan Bevere on politics.

The cost of listening.
Good study on James 1:12-27.
Restoring dignity.
Good post from Sammy Rhodes.
John Frye on a game changing book . It’s been influential for me too.

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Blast From the Past: Encouragement

This was first posted on July 22, 2010.

While reading Jesus Manifesto yesterday morning, I came across this quote from Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022):

We awaken in Christ’s body
as Christ awakens our bodies…
and everything that is hurt, everything
that seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful
maimed, ugly, irreparably
damaged, is in him transformed,
recognized as whole, as lovely,
and radiant in his light.
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Weekend Wanderings

The world is a rather dangerous place to be lately. Between shootings in the US to an attack on a crowd with a truck in France to a failed coup attempt in Turkey, there are plenty examples of man’s inhumanity to man. Tomorrow the circus starts in Cleveland, at least the part of the circus managed by the Republicans.

Enough political talk. Here are the links:

Marci Preheim on grace.
A mega-problem.
Interesting article.
Eric Dorman on play.
Satisfaction.

Abandoning tough love.
Keith Giles on being in Christ.
Medieval wisdom.
An obituary.
Todd Pruitt on the subordination controversy.

Scruffy hospitality.
Just us.
Scot McKnight on heresy.
Missing the gospel.
From cathedrals to movie theaters.

Good post from Dan Edelen.
Good post from Jared C. Wilson.

Have a blessed week!

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Lessons From Meatloaf

The singer, not the food. I know what you all are thinking. “Fred’s really lost his mind!” Now that may be true, but bear with me.

In the song, “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” there is a line that says, “I want you, I need you, but there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you.” I wonder if this might be descriptive of many in the church in the 21st century.

One thing I do believe is true is that many in the American evangelical church have a hard time being in community with other believers. I’m not talking about gathering in a worship setting once a week, although that is a vital part of community. I’m talking about spending time with other believers, gathering in homes and other places and digging beneath the surface to build up and challenge each other in following Jesus. That is community, and it can be messy at times.

I think many are saying, “I want you, I need you, but there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna love you.” In other words, they crave community, being known and loved for who they are. They want to be loved and accepted. They recognize their need for community. But.

But, when it comes down to the hard stuff, the hard work of loving as Jesus loves us, the messiness of sacrificially loving others with all their warts and blemishes, that’s a different story. Then it becomes, “ain’t no way!” Some hang out on the periphery, never quite throwing their lot in fully. Others find a church that only asks that they show up once a week and put their money in the offering plate.

Although we do want and need to be part of a fellowship that accepts and loves us, and that challenges us, it is not really about our wants and needs. It is about obeying what our King told us to do, to love one another and to lay down our lives for each other. That is how the world will know we belong to Jesus, not by how we vote or what position we take on social issues. The first Christians, with all their flaws, learned to live with and love folks from all kinds of backgrounds and with all sorts of issues. Even though they were far from perfect, they were known throughout the world for their love for each other and for those outside. And, they turned the world upside down.

May God help us to say, “I want you, I need you, and I will love you no matter what it takes.”