All is not lost, I am not gone. Posting has been limited here because there have been other deadlines and pressures that needed to get done first! 24 hours go by pretty quick!
What have you been doing in the last two weeks?
I hope that within the next two weeks there will be a new baby in our house!
~Peter
Have you ever said something that immediately after saying it you wished you had not said it at all? Of course you have. Likely it was said to your mother-in-law or your boss. It could have been your teacher, or your ex. It might have been your best friend (or now ex-best friend). Sometimes you just wonder, “Where in the world did that come from? Why did I say that out loud?”
I wonder:
The average man makes about 10,000 grunts a day while the average woman weaves about 25,000 words into an intelligent tapestry. Jesus says that language that you use expresses the contents of your heart.
Matthew 12:34 “You brood of Vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.”
Psalm 12 has caused me to stop and think about my words. I love the way that David reminds us,
“The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. You, O Lord, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever.” vs. 6-7
Pure words. Pure, unadulterated words. Those should be the words that come from my mouth. That is the type of language that we need to be working on. Except it isn’t about the language. It’s about the heart. Let’s get our hearts pure and the language will follow.
In contrast to the beautiful statement in vs. 6-7 David prays a very aggressive prayer towards those whose lips are evil.
“They speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongues that speaks great things;”
Wow! That’s aggressive. We were talking about this during one of our student meetings here at FBC recently and I asked one of our very artistically talented students to draw a rendition of this psalm. Check this out.
Proverbs 18:6-8 says,
“A fool’s lips bring strife, and his mouth calls for blows. A fools mouth is his ruin, and his lips are the snare of his soul. The words of the whisperers are like dainty morsels that go down to the innermost parts of the body.”
So what do you think? If your words are the thermometer of your heart, what is the climate like lately?
~Peter
I also really enjoyed this video interview of Maya Angelou…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n9Pq1LNLwM]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=t6FU1Fvn9Nk]
[HT: Collide]
Recently both the twitter-sphere and blogosphere have exploded due to a trending topic. At this point in time I am not bringing any late breaking news to the scene, an my intention is not to pile on; either on Pastor Bell, Pastor Piper, or any of the other big names that have written about this situation.
If you don’t already know what is going on I would reccomend that you catch up on the happenings through the blog post of Christianity Today writer, Sarah Pulliam Bailey. You can read her full article here.
I am sure that I cannot add anything to this already complex situation but I want to ask a question.
Is love winning?
As I read the blog posts and tweets of some really scholarly men and women concerning Rob Bell’s new book, I am concerned with the behavior and attitude that is shown. I acknowledge that I don’t always interact perfectly either, so I am certainly not trying to cast the first stone, or the second, or the third. The content of Rob Bell’s book I have very little knowledge of at this time. I intend to read the book at a later date. But the title I can whole heartedly agree with. The problem is that love is not winning. All of the hype that surrounds this book is proving that the Christian community is not loving its own the way that you would think it would.
The problem with love not winning is that we are showing to a watching world what Evangelical Christianity is really like. There is no option on Google that only allows you to sign on to the special evangelical portions of the internet if you are truly a member of the same variety. This is all pubic information that will never go away. The world wide web now holds all of us accountable for our writings and attitudes.
Jesus says in John 13
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
Paul gives us a stirring reminder of the power of love in 1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
With our back biting and written tongue lashings, what are we showing to the world around us? I’m pretty sure that Jesus said if you have a problem with someone write a blog about how small minded and misguided they are. No. In fact Jesus said the opposite. Jesus says in Matthew 18 go to the person in private and share with them their offense. According to Jesus there are two steps that need to be taken before ever taking the offense public.
How do you respond to your neighbor who says, “If Christians treat their own kind like that, why would I want to become one.” Or what if they said, “Does your church treat people like that?” We must be so careful to show to a watching world what really loving one another should look like.
I love what Philippians has to say about discernment:
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11
This has stirred a debate in my mind. Is love winning in my life or are there areas where I look a lot like this “Rob Bell Debacle”. What about you? Is love winning in your life?
Let love abound.
~Peter
Yesterday as we were traveling from home to school, Noah said the most incredible thing. First we were talking about the fact that it was raining, and then we spoke about the colors of the cars around us. As I pulled into the church parking lot I noticed that he was once again looking out of the back window up in the sky towards the steeple. I asked him what he was looking at. His response direct from his mouth;
“The cross. It is a kind of treasure for the Church.”
I smiled back at him and said, “yeah you are right it sure is buddy.”
My little theologian.
That challenged me right to my core. So I’ll pass the challenge on to you.
~Peter
Here is a recent assignment that I have written for my Genesis class.
“Dear Diary,
Man, I feel like such a girl when I say dear diary, but the other day the weirdest thing happened to me. I don’t ever want to forget it; not that I could even if I wanted to. So, I need to write it down. It was freaky and fantastic all at the same time. It was traumatic while at the same time transformational. It took me a while to calm down and stop shaking before I really processed what had just happened.
So the other day Dad asked me if I would go on a trip with him. He said that we were going to a place called Moriah. I’d never really heard of it before. All I know is that he said it was going to take us about three days to get there. He talked about going to worship God on a mountain there. Seemed kind of crazy to me. I mean why did we have to travel three days away from home to worship God? But anyway… PJ and Omri, the servants, packed up the donkey, and we headed out to the land of Moriah.
The first night out was cold. Really cold. I didn’t sleep a whole lot. The fire died out midway through the night, and I was so cold I woke up. It must have been in the middle of the night because everything was quiet and still. It seemed like every little cricket and field mouse was sleeping, too. Everyone was sleeping except my dad. I woke up to find him sitting across the fire just watching me. It seemed that he was taking in my every movement, almost studying me. I shot him a quick look as to say, “That’s weird dad, go to sleep.” He just smiled back at me and whispered, “I love you. Go back to sleep.”
The second day was boring. Like really boring. PJ kept carrying on with Omri and my dad had very little to say to me. He said he didn’t feel like talking. He seemed to be talking to someone though; his lips where moving, but I couldn’t make out any words. So I just kept walking.
The third day is when everything got a little weird. Okay, that may just be the biggest understatement the world has ever heard. Things became very weird. I don’t know how to exactly put this but… my dad tried to kill me! Seriously. He did! It all started getting weird when he told PJ and Omri to stay with the donkey, and we were going to go on ahead of them. When he said this, I was like finally, these guys never shut up! I could use a little peace and quiet. I assumed that dad wanted the same quiet. The only downfall of that was I had to carry all of the wood on my shoulders. What I didn’t realize was that I would soon be tied up laying on top of that wood that I carried on my back with my dad’s huge knife to my throat. I mean if that doesn’t qualify me for a lifetime of counseling, I don’t know what does!
Dad told me all along that we were going to worship God on this mountain. As I realized our situation had gotten weirder I asked Dad where the sacrifice was. He said God would provide. I thought to myself, “This ought to be good.” Then it happened. Dad tied my hands and my legs and picked me up and placed me on the woodpile. With all kidding aside, I just don’t understand how placing me on the pile of wood had anything to do with worship. Honestly, that pretty much wrecked my view of God. I always thought that my family served a God who did not want child sacrifices. Did I get it wrong?
As my dad was readying his blade, there was another voice I’ve never heard before. I will never forget the sound of His voice. It was firm, quick, decisive and gentle all wrapped into one. You could see the look on my dad’s face when he heard it. It was familiar to him. He had heard this before. The voice said, “Stop, do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him.” The next while was kind of a blur. It became a bloody mess. God provided a lamb for my dad to sacrifice. The same knife that was ready to slide across my neck was indeed bloody, just as it was intended. Yet the blood was not my own. I’ll never forget the smell of the meat as it was burned on the fire that day. In many ways it was a familiar smell, but on that day it smelled even better than ever before.
Dad hugged me and cried big tears that I didn’t know a man could cry. His tears rolled down his cheeks across my forehead and onto mine as he pressed me tightly against his chest. He kept whispering, “Praise be to YHWH. Praise be to YHWH.”
God confused me on this trip. At first I was angry with Him. I was angry that He would make my dad do this. I was scared. But when I heard His voice say, “Stop”, I knew that there was something more going on. There is more here than I really can put words to. All I know is that I’m going to keep following whatever God says. When I looked back and saw the lamb behind dad, I knew that God had placed it there. God said a whole lot more to dad, and all I know is that it sounded good.
I haven’t really talked to Dad about it much since that day, and I doubt we ever really will. It was kind of awkward, you know? I had to explain to PJ and Omri that I cut myself shaving and that’s why there was the scratch on my throat. I don’t think I fooled them.”
Can you imagine being Abraham or Isaac? What do you think would have stood out to you?
~Peter
Spring has to be near. Yesterday I came home and spring training was breaking out in my driveway. Grace and Noah were outside playing, taking advantage of the nice weather. We played soccer, football, baseball, catch, and rugby(sort of). You could tell that the winter blues had fully formed, and they were both tired of being house bound. I am totally with them on that one. Well they were working hard at breaking off the crust of winter. I enjoyed being outside with them and playing ball. It made me look around and see all of the spring projects that need to be done. Man this is going to be a fun spring. I can’t wait!
Are you looking forward to spring? If so, why?
~Peter
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From Confessions:
“We are made for God, and our hearts are restless until we find our rest in Him.” ~Augustine
It’s time to rest. Our world desperately needs rest. We live in ridiculously busy culture that moves at a pace that most people can only try and keep up with.
The God of all creation on the seventh day said it is time to rest.
Where are you finding your rest?
~Peter
Have you ever prayed for your own Exodus?
I mean, have you ever prayed that you would be able to sell your house and move? Have you ever prayed for a new job? Have you ever prayed for your neighbors to move? Have you ever prayed to be beyond car problems? Have you ever prayed for real friends that would usher you out of loneliness?
When I read the book of exodus I can’t help but notice that there is a group of people who are tired of their situation, and are longing to move on, have new neighbors and get out of the reality that surrounds them. This people group is the Israelites, and they are slaves to Egypt. They are the ones who are making bricks, hauling bricks and anything else that their masters force upon them.
Jump forward. Jump to February 11th, 2011. President Mubarak responds to the masses protesting his leadership and he steps down from power. Egyptians crash into Cairo’s Tahrir square and begin chanting “Egypt is free! Egypt is free!”
Jump to today. If you are a Coptic Christian, (an Egyptian Christian) do you think that you will ever read Exodus the same again? The Coptic Church has been persecuted and abused for their faith in Jesus Christ. However, right now there are conversations being had between both Christians and Muslims saying we don’t hate each other. We actually like each other. Conversations are beginning to be had saying, “You Christians really aren’t second class citizens.” The story goes on.
Right now around the world from us there is a movement going on. There is something happening. There are significant happenings taking place. Do not be dismayed. The God who moves powerfully in the Old Testament is still as powerful now and is still working in ways that we can only try and understand.
We need to continue to pray for the nation of Egypt and their new leadership. Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ that live in Egypt. This movement is not yet over.
When I read Exodus, I don’t think that I will read it the same way again.
What area in your life do you need to pray for an Exodus?
~Peter
Whew, this has been a rough week! Starting this past Sunday afternoon, our household has gone into a state of sickness. It has been pretty nasty! As of yesterday we found out that there has been some Pneumonia, and Bronchitis walking around here. UGH.
That explains my very limited posting over the course of this past week. Something which I am not wildly thrilled about! My goal is to post 5 days a week, M-F. Anyway… This past week as I said, Noah and Tiffany have both been sick. So, it’s a little bit like Dr. Dad around here. Which let me tell you is a scary thing. Mostly pasta for dinner, and last night a pizza. Every other day–prayer and fasting.
Noah has been quite feverous and just all around run down. Hence this picture:
Our go to medicine of choice is some knock off brand tylenol. However, it is not quite the taste that Noah is looking for. He resisted taking this medicine mostly based on the color. And I quote, “No, No, I don’t want to take that, I want blue, green, purple or yellow medicine.”
In steps my brilliant wife. (sick and all)
One drop of magic… and…
…the boomsauce has been made. The fever has been reduced and the child has been returned to a moderately low-grade-fever coma. Fortunately, as of right now Noah seems to be on the mend. And so does Tiffany.
So, here’s the question. Do we as adults believe that the color changes the flavor?
Does it matter to you what color something is? Think as deep or shallow on that one. I’m interested.
~Peter
I think history has shown that color has made a difference. What about today?