God Loves Bad Guys

When our kids were smaller and I was busily trying to indoctrinate them into a lifestyle of love for old movies, AA - my youngest- quickly picked up on the way to identify bad guys:  the music changes.

It is very noticeable in the Star Wars saga.  Darth Vader's presence could be sensed long before he ever arrived on the scene, simply by listening for his dirge-like theme music.  We began to notice it even more in old movies; from the outset the bad guy would be pegged by a change in the tone of the background music.

In real life I think we sometimes size people up almost as quickly.  Some people walk around seemingly accompanied by an ever-present bad guy theme.  Perhaps we cannot literally hear the music but we sense it - sense it by the attitude of their posture, the tone of their voice, the way they accessorize or the way they smell.  In our head, flags go up and red lights flash:

Warning!   Warning!

This morning, my wife and I had police duty during the Children's Bible Time at our church.  Our job was to help the capable teacher maintain peace among these children ranging from the ages of about 4 to 10 years old.  As she taught the story of Jacob, I thought about bad guys.   Even some of those innocent children seemed to carry around those foreboding tones. Some were more difficult to like, despite their innocence, some may have seemed bent on making things difficult.

I listened as the teacher enumerated the major events in Jacob's early life:

• He tricked his twin brother out of his birthright (a right of the firstborn son that afforded him some awesome privileges).
• He tricked his father into passing the Blessing on to him rather than his twin, the rightful recipient (the Blessing was a legacy-building proclamation essential to the Hebrew culture).
• He was ousted by his family and hunted by his brother - and rightfully so.

Jacob's life was replete with bad guy music.

Then it happened.  I thought about God and how He haunted Jacob's every step; constantly pursuing him - as unlikeable as he was.

God loves bad guys.

He pursues them - stays with them - waiting; orchestrating opportunities to step in and save the day and bring the bad guys into the full potential that God planned for them. 

That realization changed my view of some of those "troublemakers".  Jesus loves the unlikeable, even the troublemakers.  He pursues them in a determined fashion until, like Jacob, He can bring them to their Bethel; or like the apostle Paul, to their Damascus Road.  That's where He changes their tune; trading their apparent destiny for the one He has chosen for them.

If I live with that realization in my heart every day, I will not be able to look at people the same way.  I will not hear the dissonant strains in the background; instead I will see someone God is pursuing.  I will see someone that was worth His time and trouble . . .
even someone that was worth the life of His only Son, Jesus.

Fear- a Path to God? Well, Sort of....

One of the things I like about reading small passages in the Bible, over and over again - is the way that new things effervesce to the surface.

As I was mulling over that Hezekiah post from last week and the subsequent verses that surround that story, something new occurred to me.  Or rather - something occurred to me in a fresh way:

God often reshapes the very weapons that are manufactured specifically for the purpose of destroying us - into tools for teaching us.

When I wrote that post - the thing that I intended to stress was how fear works against us and how when it is about to be defeated - it will boast and swagger even more demonstratively.  However, as I have been reading the story in 2 Kings 18 & 19 over a few times, I realized that there is a direct correlation between the way fear escalates its fury and the way the object of that fury is reduced down solely to a dependence on God.

As Hezekiah's enemies dialed up their terror, Hezekiah appeased and groveled and practically begged for deliverance.  Finally, as if at a last resort - he directly asked God for help.

As you read through those two chapters, you will notice that Hezekiah's trouble began when he stopped making his periodic extortion payments to the king of Assyria.  Eventually, the Assyrian army finished off Israel; that's when they turned to Judah and destroyed many of her cities.

That got Hezekiah's attention and he became fearful - look at how he responds - he tried to appease the Assyrians:  told them to name their price and he would pay.

They did and he did, but then they decided it wasn't enough.  That's when the king of Assyrian tried to notch up the terror by sending some military leaders with scary titles like "The Tartan", "The Rabsaris" and "The Rabshekah".

They taunted Hezekiah, taunted his entourage, taunted the people of Judah and taunted the God of Judah.

At this point, Hezekiah was reduced. He had foolishly hoped for mercy at the hands of tyrants.

As often is the case -even with us today- he turned to God when all of his own devices failed.  He sent for the prophet Isaiah and asked him to pray for them.
 Have you encountered people who are at that stage?  They ask for prayer but aren't quite ready to pray themselves.  Perhaps fear has just beaten them down so, that they don't feel their own prayers would be effective.

Isaiah prayed and sent an encouraging word to Hezekiah - the "Rabshekah"et al would hear a rumor and leave. 
That's what they did.  They heard the king was having trouble with some neighbors in their own land so they pulled out.

It is often at the point of defeat that fear will become even more threatening - like the snarling of some wild animal backed into a corner.

The Assyrians seemed to sense the relief their leaving brought to the people of Judah - and they seemed to know what God had said.  So through clenched teeth they pointedly advised Hezekiah not to think this was the end . . . he shouldn't believe that this "coincidence" meant that God was saving this people.

The threats had their intended effect.  I imagine it resulted in a cold chill down Hezekiah's spine.

Someone has said that Satan, God's enemy, always goes too far. 

This last menacing advice drove Hezekiah right to the place God intended.
He went directly to God - himself.  Hezekiah poured out his problems to God and quickly, God responded.

God's promise was certain ... the Assyrians would leave they way they came, they would not shoot one arrow toward the city, they would not even begin to build a siege mound on the city's wall; they would return they same way they came and never bother Hezekiah again.

And that's just what happened.

As someone who has been many times beaten up by fear, I am learning to recognize it. 
And I know (in my head at least) that the best solution when I encounter fear is to run to Christ first.

I am still working on getting that knowledge from my head down into my heart . . .

. . .and even further down into my feet.

Back on the Wheel

*Programming Note*

My posts have suddenly become sluggish in regard to the speed with which they are being processed, manufactured and distributed.

This is due to the fact that I am officially "back on the wheel"...

The activity level and the pace do not show signs of letting up until some time around mid February.

Someone's Been Reading My Mail!

Did you ever feel that way? 
Say you're sitting in church, minding your own business and suddenly the minister begins talking as if he's been reading your mail?

Or your wife anticipates your next move and offers a full analysis of your motive for that move ... and she's right!

That's kind of eerie when it comes from friendly forces - it's really scary when it comes from an enemy.

I am slowly reading through the Bible - really, really slowly ... on purpose.

I started a few years back and just decided to take each chapter and chew on it awhile - read it over a few times during a week - maybe contemplate on it during my drive to work.  It's been fun and enlightening; and I have to admit that it is also a little grueling at times. Recently I discovered that one accidental benefit to this process is that it puts me more in the place of the character in the story.  By spending several days on one portion of the story, while being unaware of the outcome that awaits in the next chapter - I find that I experience a little more realism.  It puts me in touch with the fact that God doesn't often tell us the whole story at one time.

Over the past week or so, I have arrived at the story of Hezekiah, a king of Judah (2 Kings 18), this guy really had reason to believe someone had been reading his mail.

The Pastoral staff at my church like to emphasize the fact the the Gospel of Jesus Christ can be found almost anywhere in scripture - Old and New Testaments - and so of late, I have been trying to read the Old Testament with that in mind - searching for Jesus and the Gospel.  I find, however, that I am not really wired that way so it goes against the grain.  Stories are what I am passionate about and I love the texture and authenticity of Biblical characters - Hezekiah is one such character.

Hezekiah was a righteous king - a king of reform.  He swept into office on a wave of change.  He destroyed idol worship left and right.  He even destroyed a monument held over from the Hebrew's Wilderness days - the bronze serpent that Moses had mounted on a long pole.  Idol worship had amassed such a grip on the people that they began to worship the bronze serpent.  Well, Hezekiah put a stop to that.

He also went in and made repairs and improvements to the temple, restoring a proper worship of Jehovah God.

The reforms Hezekiah put in place began to reap rewards.  The nation began to rise economically and militarily.  Hezekiah had done mighty things on God's behalf and God was rewarding him.

But suddenly, things seemed to turn:  another country was also on the rise militarily - Assyria - and Judah was paying protection money to them in the form of tributes.  The money kept Assyria at bay.  Hezekiah stopped paying them tribute.

 Over about a three year period, Assyria besieged the nation of Israel (at that time a separate government from Judah) and eventually led the whole nation away into exile.

So when Israel fell, Assyria came calling and Hezekiah was afraid and began to try and pay them off.  He was so afraid that he performed some very literal cutbacks on the House of God - he had the golden plates cut off the doors in order to raise a tribute for Assyria.

But, Assyria wasn't satisfied - they wanted to be sure Judah and Hezekiah learned a lesson so they sent a team to threaten them.

At one of the crowded gates of the city of Jerusalem, three high-mucky-mucks from Assyria's military showed up one day and spoke to members of Hezekiah's cabinet. 

In the hearing of all the people milling around the gate - and in the Hebrew language - these military moguls spewed their terrorizing talk. 

"Please!" one of the cabinet members spoke up, "speak to us in your own language - we understand it; but not in Hebrew ... in the hearing of all these people!"

But that was their purpose - to strike fear and doubt in the hearts of the people - so they went on and talked as if they had been reading Hezekiah's mail.  They spoke of how the people should not be fooled into believing that their God was any stronger than the gods of all the nations Assyria had already destroyed.  They told the people not to let Hezekiah trick them into resisting the irresistible force of Assyria.  They said that Hezekiah's way would reduce them to being forced to eat and drink human waste.

It was despicable what they said... and it sounded as if they knew what they were talking about.  For Hezekiah it must have seemed that his brief run of success was over and that ultimately following God wasn't such a great idea.

I got caught up in the emotion of this moment.  I found myself asking why things would happen that way when it seemed Hezekiah was doing the right things.

Then it dawned on me - no I think God dawned it on me - this wasn't the end of the story.  I remembered why I liked this story so much the other times I've passed through.  Though things would even seem to loom darker for Hezekiah God had a major turnaround in store.  God was going to set things right.

I will let you do your own investigation of the rest of the story; but today, does this post find you at one of those "enemies in the gate" moments?  Does it seem that the enemy knows all your secrets and is just waiting to move in for the kill?

Take heart.  Sovereign God is watching and He has a plan to set things right. . . it could be just around the next chapter....

A Job for You

"Let me see if I can find you a job"

Those words used to cross my mom's lips occasionally and it meant that I was idle and annoying her or someone else in the immediate vicinity.

I resort to that line quite often with my own children. As a shrewd marketing technique, I like to adjust the phraseology somewhat and call it a "project" rather than a "job" but the response it invokes is nearly always the same.

Do you remember the time-lapsed photography films of flowers bursting into bloom that we saw in grade school?  Well, imagine watching that film in reverse and you can get a mental picture of AA's immediate reaction upon hearing those words.  That's right, his knees quickly lose their stamina as he folds into a whimpering fetal position.

On the other hand, his sister, Ab - who has gained the wisdom of her advanced years - has learned to vanish into thin air.  Before I can even complete my sentence (which- upon reflection- does often take quite a bit of time), she's gone ... leaving behind nothing but maybe a wisp of smoke and some ethereal music.

It wasn't always that way.  In fact I have often prided myself in the work ethic of my children.  There was a time that I could just say "would you like to help Daddy?" and they would immediately pounce on the idea; and in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that they still do help out around the house - even if it is sometimes under protest.

My hope is that they will know that there is intrinsic value to work; and human beings are just better off when they are working.  Even in the beginning, when God created a beautiful garden in which His creatures would dwell - he provided responsibility for the man. 

We sometimes get confused into believing that when Adam sinned, part of the curse earned by his sin was that he had to work.  Actually he was working before sin entered the picture: naming the animals, tending the garden. No, the curse was that work would become difficult.  There would be thorns and thistles that would abound and disrupt the process of growing food. 

Today work is still difficult at times.  The thorns and thistles of workplace conflict have to be untangled; there are the stumps and stones of regulations, taxes and legal compliance that have to be cleared, we deal with the draught of a poor economy or low productivity.

Despite its tribulation, work is still good and it is a blessing from God.  There is something wonderful about being fatigued after a hard day of doing productive work.  Folks used to call it a good kind of "tired".

You may have noticed a new button for the High Calling community which I recently jointed. The High Calling promotes "everyday conversations about work, life and God".  Like me, you may have heard their radio spots talking about the High Calling of work in our daily lives.  This is a growing community of bloggers that recognize God's regard for work.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.                                 Ephesians 2:10 NKJV

Work is a gift from God.  Whether it takes place in a factory, a retail establishment, on a construction site, at a hospital bedside, on a laptop or even at a baby's changing table - good work is honorable and yours has been specifically planned in advance by the Creator Himself! It is part of our Walk and the way we approach it can reflect our relationship with Christ.

Not only that, but since God was deliberate in His actions involving work, we can know that He is still involved in the process - the daily grind: directing, teaching, shining through us!

Maybe He is saying to you, "Let Me see if I can find you a job".

There'S-NO Day Like a SNOW Day

In the southeastern United States, we regard snow as very fragile and fleeting.

Okay, so I don't really know how everyone else in the Southeast feels - that's the way I feel.

There is always a tendency with me to be very careful not to grasp the idea of a snowfall too tightly - lest it slip away.  This comes after years of hard lessons ... the weather forecaster, the "slight chances of precipitation", the "possibility" of school closings - those will all let you down if you count on them too much.

When I was still in school, I distinctly remember going to bed one night with predictions of a "winterstorm" still ringing in my ears and the fresh evidence of snow flurries and a howling wind outside my window.  Unfortunately, I invested too much hope in that snow event and it let me down; I awoke the next day to a cold, but dry, day.

So I think that we Southerners tend to keep the hopes of a significant snowfall at arms length.

That's probably why, when I was sleeping in the "snooze" zone this morning, I had one of those "going to work in your underwear" kind of dreams.  I dreamed that after sleeping through my normal getting up time and despite all the snow on the ground when I went to bed -   I awoke to find that almost all of the snow was gone! 

And I was late for work!

When I really awoke, the snow was still there - and in greater measure than when I left it last night.

The 4 to six inches that fell here last night is more than we have seen in a long time.  It was one of those all encompassing blankets that makes everything clean and white and quiet.  When AA jumped into his clothes anxious to be the first out in the snow - I almost cautioned him to be careful and leave some areas free from footprints.   I just didn't want it to get messed up as if messing it up might make the snow angry and it would go away.  Instead I opted to throw caution to the wind and let him go to trounce about where ever he pleased.  The snow was deep enough that the cover remained complete despite his rambling footsteps.

So I am enjoying another holiday (another Southern tradition).

Those of you that reside north of the Bible-Belt, may not understand all this fuss about snow.  I suppose if I saw it every day and in huge gray piles alongside the roads - I would gain a new perspective.  I would see snow for the nuisance it is! 

But for today, I am happy to live in the bliss of ignorance, as I tentatively and cautiously grasp the tender moment that is - a snow day.

My Top 4 Books for 2010

Whether officially or unofficially, I have -for the past 15 years or so- always set a reading goal in January.

I am not an "avid" reader, but I was influenced to read more by a quote which I think was uttered my Elmer Towns ("Mr. Sunday School").  It went something like this:

"If you want to know what kind of person you will be five years from now, look at the books you are reading and the people with whom you associate."

So, if for no other reason, I began deliberately trying to read more to improve my future prospects.  That statement also affects the types of books I choose.  My goal is usually to read 20 books each year . . . typically I read considerably less.

This past year, I think I read eight.

So if the foregoing does not ruin my credibility altogether, I would like to offer you my four favorites.

I should preface this by pointing out that I usually do not read "trendy" books until all the hoopla has fizzled.  It seems that I run up on these once-trendy books in the library or at a used book sale and think - "oh, I remember hearing about that book years ago - now it costs fifty cents?!? - I'll take it".

The list is in no particular order:

• The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes - this was a loan from my brother-in-law and I probably wouldn't have purchased it because (a) it was too newly published and (b) not anything I had even heard of.  It was an eye-opener!  I always felt FDR was overrated and a Socialist to boot - but this book left me with the impression that he may have been somewhat sinister.  I will give him credit for establishing a political mode of operation that has lasted for over 60 years ... hopefully it will soon wane.
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - on something of a whim, AA and I went to the library one day while Ab was at piano practice and I decided to check out this book along with the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  The Hobbit had me right away.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it captivating to me - very much like C.S. Lewis' Narnia series.
• The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman - shortly after R. and I married, we went to a church marriage retreat surrounding this book.  It was one of those "trendy" books at that time (about 20 years ago).  I picked up a used copy years ago and picked the book up to read several times but it never took.  For some reason this year, I was ripe for reading it!  Unfortunately, my relationship with the book is a "love-hate" one:  it was filled with good stuff - enriching stuff; but it made me very dissatisfied with the communication that was taking place in my marriage.  This is a book that is still working its influence on me.  I think God had something to do with the timing of my reading it.
• 1776 by David McCullough - someone on talk radio was raving about this book several years ago.  I have an insatiable thirst for knowledge of the Founders.  I just happened upon it at the library and checked it out.  The pitiful state of George Washington's leadership and his little ragamuffin army as portrayed by McCullough made be even more amazed at the miraculous founding of this country.  It also made the realization of God's providence undeniable!

So there you have it.  I am sure sales won't suddenly sky-rocket for any of these tomes based on my recommendation - but perhaps someone will read one and that will become the basis of a conversation.

Judge Not?

In all our endless efforts to become "non-judgmental", are we losing our judgment?

Have we, as a society, thrown away our ability to discern?