Abraham and God

Ella's Dad at Ragged Edges posted a very challenging set of questions in this week's Christian Carnival, which I wanted to try to answer.

I think Joel at Chez Joel is on the right track, suggesting that God knew beforehand how Abraham would respond and how God would provide the real sacrifice, and that this experience had more to do with showing Abraham something about himself, that he was prepared to be obedient to God even unto an ultimate sacrifice.

But I think there is something more to it as well.

It is easy to forget that God knows the whole sweeping scope of life on this Earth. He knows how He created everything, He knows every twist and turn, He knows how and when it all ends.

But for us, we read in His word the stories of Genesis, and no matter how these stories are intended for us to learn, they all chronologically occur before God has reached out to Moses and called Him to serve and lead His people. The Ten Commandments at this time exist in God's intent, but they haven't been communicated by God to man. Abraham lives in a time when humans worship many gods, and the One True God has quite astonishingly befriended him.

Abraham uses ritual sacrifice as a means of atoning for sin or placating his God. His neighbors no doubt did the same. Other peoples, near and afar off, do the same, but to other gods. Some even sacrificed children.

It is difficult from a time of revealed Salvation to fully understand the fears and superstitions and jumble of observances that must have been the ancient world. Today, we see what Abraham was about to do to his son Isaac as a crime, we struggle with how a Just and Perfect God could call upon Abraham to do what we would know as evil, if he followed through and God had not stopped him in time.

Abraham was fully obedient to God, and trusted that whatever God would tell him to do would be right. He didn't question or second guess as the story is told. He knew Isaac to be a gift from God, supernaturally given to Abraham and Sarah beyond all expectation, and that God had promised Abraham that he would be the Father to many nations. God knew that he would be this obedient, and as it turned out, Abraham's faith in God was well placed, and God provided the sacrifice in place of Isaac.

In the Old Testament, there are many ways in which God and His Holy Spirit (not to mention His angels) work that are profoundly different from the ways we experience the world (and word) today. Life was more brutal, God allowed and even ordered the children of Israel to completely annihilate certain tribes and people groups, to scatter and enslave in some cases, and to occupy the lands of others.

In our way of thinking, and in today's context, these would seem like evil instructions, and if God told people to do such things today, it would indeed seem that God Himself was directing His people to do evil in His Name.

But God knew things that these primitive people did not, and these Chosen People, His tribes of Israel and Judah, might easily have been wiped off the face of the earth absent His providence. He must have brought them through these times of brutality because that was the way it could be done, and there were things the children of Israel needed to learn: about themselves, about their neighbors, about God himself.

And there are things that His followers today learn from this story.

God wants our full attention, our full commitment, our complete sacrifice of self, to "die to self" in fact so that he might be glorified. He wants us to obey even when it doesn't make sense to us, even when it doesn't seem like the right thing to do.

And one final point. Genesis describes Abram becoming Abraham at the moment that God chose to call Abraham His friend. Abraham spoke to God as a friend as well.

I remember someone once remarked (or I might have read this in a study), that God wanted to share something of the great work that God was going to do with His Son Jesus. God wanted His friend Abraham to experience what God Himself would experience by giving His one and only begotten Son to be taken in sacrifice for fallen man. This allowed Abraham to experience God on a very personal level, and God was able to see in Abraham the love and conviction of Abraham in that he too was willing to sacrifice Isaac, if that's what God needed to call him to do.

That's my $.02, and thanks Ella's Dad, for a great post.

Best of the Carnival

Here are my picks for "Best of the Carnival."

Chad at Plaidberry posts, Keeping it Real:

This is a Savior, afterall, who shared in the human experience, including even those times of isolation, sadness, and temptation. If our Lord did not shy away from expressing his subjection to such hardships, why should we? Personally, I think that accusations of hypocrisy will melt away once we become truly genuine and vulnerable.

I wrote the following comment to Chad that reflects my take on this.
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Chad,

Thank you for posting this call to humility. My wife and I as new Christians struggled for many years to reconcile the attitudes of the believers around us and their behaviors.

We came to faith through recovery and 12 step, and have even run Christian based 12 step recovery groups. Yet with many of our erstwhile Christian "friends," we felt pity and a patronizing dismissing of our ways of relating and communicating vulnerability.

They chose not to be vulnerable with their fellow believers. When life turned difficult, many spun totally out of control, as if they were wholly unprepared for the consequence of unresolved damaged emotions (and sin).

This is not to fault them, but it was sad, and we needed to keep searching for a true fellowship, which we found :) Praise God.

But this notion of acknowledging that we are sometimes very far from God (not Him from us, but us from Him) is both very hard to accept, but very freeing to admit.

Thanks Chad. Difficult, but necessary message.

Ella’s Dad at Ragged Edges posts James, Abraham, Andrea Yates:

Talk about your ragged edges; this is about as raggedy as they get. I know that if I heard a voice or felt an intuitive prompting to kill my daughter, Ella, I would ascribe the source of this command to somewhere, anywhere, other than Heaven. But as far as Abraham is concerned, I don’t know how to synthesize this text with what else I know God to be. How can James’ plain prescription against seeing God as the source of temptation to do evil be true if God, indeed, tempted Abraham to kill his own son in order to pass a test? I just don’t know, although I do know that simply playing with the words so that Abraham was “tested,” not “tempted,” as this study guide on James does, is completely unsatisfying.

Check out his post. I am going to prepare an answer for this tomorrow and send it to Ella's Dad, who I have come to know while blogging.

Bruce at Spruce Goose posts Blogging: Some Inside Thoughts:

If the "arrows" on my blog site don't point to Jesus then I am making a big mistake and should stop blogging. Someone ( I think it was James Denney) once said, "No one can, at the same time, show himself to be clever and glorify Jesus Christ."

I am convicted with this one. I had a conversation tonight with Mrs. Dadmanly, and I was sharing just these thoughts. I can't keep chasing traffic or links, because when I do, I'm not writing. And I'm certainly not tuned to God. Everything we've ever done, all our growth as Christians, all our steps of faith have been in response to what He leads.

He has led us to every new thing, given us new gifts just as we needed them, and provided all the opportunities we needed to grow and thrive in the center of His will. This work of blogging is not the final work, and may not be anything more than training or practice. I need to rededicate myself to seeking first His kingdom, His word, daily contact with Him, and then He will take care of the rest. Not Instapundit. Not NZ Bear. Not even Greyhawk, although I ask God to bless his efforts on our behalf.

Christian Carnival #71 is Up!

Christian Carnival #71 is up over at Techno Gypsy.

No posts from Dadmanly or Gladmanly this time, but lots of interesting reading at the Carnival. Check it out!

A New Treasure: Casting Crowns

My wife sent me a CD of contemporary Christian music, Casting Crowns by the band of the same name. (They have a web site that I am unable to load, but that could be due to limited bandwidth via military communications here in Iraq.)

They are terrific! I play this CD at least once every day, and often as I am first getting up and getting ready for another Army day here on the FOB.

I googled for some information on the band, and besides the web site, I found the following at Christianity Today. From the Biography, courtesy of Beach Street Records, Bandmember Mark Hall declares:

"I want to shake people up and help them see that Jesus is not a religion, and God is not a book," [Band member Mark] Hall says. "You can't pray to a book and you can't draw strength from an idea or standard. If there's no relationship with Jesus as a person to you, you're in trouble."

Amen to anything that can draw us closer to Jesus.

Will this shake people up? I guess I don't know. It's excellent musically, very engaging and (Holy) spirited. But what caught me and holds my attention are the lyrics, written by Mark Hall.

In "If We Are the Body," Hall introduces his plea for Christian outreach by presenting the example of a woman slipping into church, and overhearing the teasing of some thoughtless girls. He follows this with another of the lonely traveler, who reacts to the looks of judgment on the faces of the churchgoers by concluding he was better off outside. In answer to both these examples, Hall pleads with all of us:

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

Another song, “Voice of Truth,” Hall and Casting Crowns give poignant voice to that Peter in all of us who wish that we could step out on that wave:

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

And what we must confront are those voices of doubt and defeat. The enemy certainly, but also the lack and limits of our own trust in Him:

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

How often we let our past become the guidepost for our current disappointments! That image of the wave, laughing at me, captured perfectly for me the discouragement I can sometimes feel when I think God can’t possibly mean me for some task to which He’s called me.

But if I turn back to Him, ignore those voices of defeat, and listen to that “Voice of Truth,” I will be told something quite different:

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

I too resolve to listen to the Voice of Truth.

And I can’t resist mentioning one last track from Casting Crowns. This last sums up much of what I feel working through my salvation with fear and trembling, while at the same time doing my job here for my Company of 150+ Soldiers.

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You are

It is not who I am that caused You to offer salvation to whosoever believed in Your Son. It was and is and forever will be Your grand, gracious and glorious sacrifice of Your Son on the cross as atonement for our sins. No good works, no living “rightly” or righteously, no way to earn this priceless gift. It is in Your perfect and eternal Nature, Your character, that You “care to feel my hurt,” or “choose to light the way for my ever wandering heart.”

Casting Crowns is a wonderful new work inspired by and for His purposes. I think I’ll pop it in the CD player right now.

Christian Carnival VXX is Up!

Christian Carnival VXX is up at A Penitent Blogger.

Dadmanly has a previous post linked in the Carnival, Bible Illiteracy about David Gelernter's review of Bible Literacy Project report.


Gladmanly has the second part of the sermon, "It's Not Just me and You. Love GOD."

There are many other fine posts from Christian bloggers in the Carnival. Check them out, and be blessed!

Sneak Peek at Narnia

I really enjoy John Schroeder's blog Blogotional. John's been a very gracious reader and linker to Dadmanly, Gladmanly, and Debate Space, but more than that he's been a very good example of an experienced Christian Blogger from whom to learn.

Today John has sneak peek review of the new Narnia movie, from the book written by C.S. Lewis. John includes a link to the Narnia movie trailer, which he relates brought tears to his eyes.

I agree with John, and share his enjoyment of both C.S. Lewis and Tolkien's great Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy, as well as the rendering of the story of the Christ as the central feature of both great works.

John is determined to see the movie in its proper context:

I am trying to develop a mindset that allows me to enjoy the movie in the same way I enjoyed LOTR -- a great depiction of a story I love. The trailer sure does excite me.

I'm going to check it out as soon as it gets done loading. You should too!

Bible Illiteracy

Our parent Blog, Dadmanly, as a review and commentary on a David Gelernter article in the Weekly Standard Online, reporting the results of the Bible Literacy Project. Lots of good insights, and some thoughts from Lincoln, too.

Moral Frameworks

Debate Space, a joint construction of the Liberal Avenger and Dadmanly, presents a new topic for debate, what are the basis for moral frameworks and where do they come from?

That and lots of other civil discussion over at Debate Space.

Christian Carnival is Up!

The latest Christian Carnival is up at Semicolon.

Gladmanly has Part One of "It's Not Just You and Me" Love GOD included in this week's carnival.

Enjoy!

"It's not Just You and Me" (Part Two)

(Continuation from Part One)

Luke 11 (New International Version)

1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”

5Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’

7“Then the one inside answers, ‘Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.’

8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

I previously summarized this passage from Luke by suggesting that God wants us to:
- BE FORGIVEN
- FORGIVE
- YIELD
- BECOME VESSELS OF GOD’S LOVE

I suggested that the mercy we show others is part of the blessing of God for us. God means for us to approach His throne with grace. We can behave as if we are forgiven from the start, act like our sins are paid for in full. We can chose to be graceful, full of His grace maybe before we’re even sure of it ourselves. When we show grace and mercy to others, we tie into His purposes, and it opens us to the floodgates of His love, such that our anger and resentments can be washed away like our sins.

This week we continue with Luke, and talk about yielding to God, and how we can become vessels of God’s love.

Last week I talked about losing my temper. I said that the “blowing a gasket” kind of leadership style might be admired by some, it is rarely appreciated by the targets of wrath, especially those who suffer collateral damage. I do consider this a shortcoming.

I have been powerfully convicted of another shortcoming, and I think it relates to this whole notion of mercy and grace.

When my daughters were little, I had a hard time with dealing with infants and small children. I had a “family inheritance” that included the notion that kids had best conform to the family norms, that parents had their own time and space, that there were times for us all to be together, but other times “better seen than heard.” I had a hard time with crying, but more than that I wanted more control over my children than was probably healthy, for them or me.

I remember coming to grips with my sin in this area when one time, alone with my eldest when she was in the crib, she had been crying and crying and crying, I was exhausted, and had tried everything. I remember finally holding her in the crib and yelling at her to stop crying. Need less to say, it didn’t work, but I somehow then saw myself, and didn’t like what I saw.

I put a lot of time and effort into growing as a parent, learning what my buttons are, finding constructive and loving ways to discipline and correct my children. I’ve never struck them, and never felt I needed to, to properly discipline them. And we’ve been blessed by the results.

But with the stress of deployment, and maybe my youngest reawakening some of my earlier “fault-lines,” I found myself spending the months before and during mobilization training losing my temper a lot. Too much noise, too much activity, to much playfulness or even too much desire for attention – I snapped at him a lot, and I was confronted with the effect my shortness and impatience and intolerance were having on my son. I grieved at how uncomfortable I made him during those precious times before I deployed.

In the weeks since I came to Iraq, my wife shares that, while my son misses me terribly, wants nothing more than for me to come home as soon as possible, he also feels a lot less stressed, like he can be himself without worrying about whether I’ll snap at him. He can now be playful with his Mom, just be a 9 year old kid, be himself. I am glad for that, but regret that I did such a poor job of modeling mercy for my son.

But I can be forgiven. Forgiveness is our inheritance in Christ, because we believe. Forgiveness is mercy, the same kind of mercy I want to show to my son.

Why does God care if we forgive? It’s about mercy.

God wants us to forgive others not just so we can be forgiven by Him, but because He wants us to be merciful.

Merciful to each other. Show grace to one another. Turn the other cheek grace. Turn the other cheek mercy (Luke 6:36-38):

36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Being merciful helps us to grow more like Christ, as He works to grow us in our Christian walk. There is a dynamic that God has presented us with in His word, in the person of Jesus, and it’s a dynamic that can work for us or against us. Showing mercy draws us closer, judging pushes us further away.

James warns us (James 2:13):

13For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Does it mean that we let ourselves be abused, over and over, by the same people who we forgive, only to have them transgress again? By no means. Just as we don’t want to continue sinning because we are covered by grace, we don’t want to enable that for others either. (That, and we’re allowed to protect ourselves from recurring harm once we know the danger.)

But we do give people an opportunity to make amends, to admit wrong, to accept consequences, and THEN we can be reconciled through God’s example of grace.

He wants to use us in His purposes, and our example of showing mercy and grace when we wrong each other, He allows us to be the center of His will and purpose.

12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12-14)

God speaks of a way in which we can approach others. God wants us to show others the grace He wants so much to show to us.

36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

It isn’t some test, He doesn’t take back a single Word He’s said. It’s about mercy, and He wants us to receive it and share it with others. It is how we yield.

We are often in service, in service to others, or to something greater than ourselves. And there are ways that service is visible or demonstrated.

In today’s Iraq, those brave citizens who defied the violent, came out and voted, they served their fellow citizens, and the generations who will follow after. He they proudly held their purple fingers aloft, the sign that they had been brave, in service to their country.

God looks for that service from us. The most visible sign of our service to Him is how we show mercy to each other.

It’s vital that we notice how Jesus transitions from His instructions in how to pray, to forgiving and showing mercy to others, to then how to be a part of His purposes in spreading this gospel of mercy and forgiveness. From our opening scripture in Luke:

5Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’

We need to be bold. We shouldn’t hesitate to step out of our comfort zones, even if that means waking our neighbors up in the middle of the night. This is quite a witness He calls us to be. By taking that step, we make others around us know that there are other needs unmet, and we bring these needs to their attention in the very act of seeking their help in meeting those needs for a friend or a brother. And Jesus describes what will be the result:

7“Then the one inside answers, ‘Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

Our boldness in mercy helps others to be merciful as well. We “pay it forward,” in the phrase of a popular movie. By allowing ourselves to be vessels of God’s love, we are part of His message, part of His purpose, we are joining Him at His work around us. We may start a fire of benevolence and care for others that can transform a workplace, a community, even a nation.

A very wise little man said, “The Word is our shelter.”

From Paul’s letter to Colossians:

15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

As we are called to His peace, may we dwell in His peace forever.

"It's Not Just You and Me." Love GOD

(This is a sermon I've prepared for a future service here on our FOB)

Luke 11 (New International Version)

1One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread. 4Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
5Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’
7“Then the one inside answers, ‘Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.’ 8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

Do you ever wonder what God wants from you? You can probably come up with some basics, like reading the Bible, or saying prayers, or coming to church, or even doing some good things for your family or community. Maybe even serving your country in some way, whether under arms or not. And surely, these may all be things God wants you to do, what God wants all of us to do.

I would humbly suggest that while there may be as many missions for God’s people as there are God’s people, in essence GOD WANTS US TO:
- BE FORGIVEN
- FORGIVE
- YIELD
- BECOME VESSELS OF GOD’S LOVE

I get in moods, sometimes. Not just the normal First Sergeant stuff, I mean go red in the face, pound in the keyboard, shout and curse and generally pop a cork. After I calm down, and sometimes how I calm down, is my co-workers tease me back to reality. This is not an attractive quality. Admired as a leadership quality by some, this is rarely appreciated by the targets of wrath, especially those who suffer collateral damage. I consider this a shortcoming.

I had a really difficult, humbling week a couple of weeks back, where God used several opportunities to illustrate this shortcoming for me. The first thing that happened was that I lost my patience with some building problems, and basically tore off an angry email blasting my colleagues who I felt were ignoring our problems.

Well I received a nice back-blast, pretty much deflecting all that criticism right back at me. Not only did I ignore the possibility that the people I was holding accountable were doing the best they could, I was being pretty selfish (even if it was for my own soldiers, too) in the face of a lot of other priorities that were pretty important to everybody.

I made the best effort I could to apologize, to make amends for my harshness. (My Captain thought maybe he needed to give me an email “time-out” for a week or so.)

But still I struggled with why I have been so angry, so full of righteous indignation, so short, so intolerant of shortcomings all around me, but not so aware of my own. I’ve been increasingly stressed, short-tempered, quick to anger, anxious and even enraged at every obstacle to what I think is the best way for the world to function.

(You might say I have a control problem. If so, being a First Sergeant might be a little like an alcoholic making a living tending bar.)

And that’s when God helped me tumble down a little path of insight that led back to the cross. (Doesn’t He always?)

I started thinking about the Lord’s Prayer, the two parts, forgive us, as we forgive others. Matthew relates that Jesus makes the connection very clear (Matthew 6:14-15):

14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

In Mark’s account, it’s like there’s this payment you must make before God’s mercy kicks in (Mark 11:25):

25And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Matthew documents Jesus’ use of the idea of “just measures,” and the sense that the standard we use to measure others will be the same standard God will expect from us (Matthew 7:1-2):

1“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Luke elaborates that the mercy we show others is part of the blessing of God for us, and suggests that we will be given full recompense in the form of a very full measure (Luke 6:37-38):

37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

As any one who bakes can tell you, there is a big difference between a cup of sugar or flour tossed in and poured, versus a cup in which the contents are fully and completely packed, and then even with more running over the sides. We are not to be stingy nor sparing in measuring out our mercy to others.

I started feeling very ashamed, because I know I sit so often in judgment, and criticize, and do not forgive as I would want to be forgiven. And as if I owed a big debt I hadn’t paid, I started feeling like God was this Big Creditor in the sky, about to “repossess” my forgiveness.

It suddenly occurred to me, that maybe I was thinking about the whole thing backwards. I always thought that I needed to keep working and working at forgiving everything, and since there was always something I couldn’t forgive (at least not right away, and some things not really at all, ever), I never end up forgiven. I end up thinking I’m always just that much short of forgiven.

I think God means for us to approach His throne with grace. One of the ways we do that is to start behaving as if we are forgiven from the start, act like our sins are paid for in full. Be “illiberal” in our kindnesses towards others. Turn lots of cheeks, know that most of the time, others’ failures are our failures too, most slights and insults are unintended, that all of us have bad days and just lash out. We can chose to be graceful, full of His grace maybe before we’re even sure of it ourselves.

When I’m in a good place, able to treat others with kindness and understanding, I’m not as angry. Helping people fix problems (especially their own, leading to growth) makes me less stressed. Reaching out to people to help be part of a solution rather than radiate and amplify the problem – I end up without any passion for anger. There’s no box to hold it, and it flows out without building up. What am I feeling when I feel that way?

I believe that is how we receive God’s forgiveness in full, by ignoring the desire for “making it good” or “getting even” or “teaching a lesson” or even “righting a wrong.” When we show grace and mercy to others, we tie into His purposes, and it opens us to the floodgates of His love, such that our anger and resentments can be washed away like our sins.

Pride crowds out forgiveness. Pride is what allowed me to sit so often in judgment. I am so much better or smarter or wiser, which is what makes me that much more angry when I see all this ignorance around me. That’s pride! Pride blinds us to the simple fact that without God’s love, without the atonement for our sins by faith in Christ, we are all of us condemned.

And we don’t earn it, not by some gift of intelligence, nor by the skill of our effort, nor by some value of the products of our labor.

We were dead in our sins and condemned, until by faith in Jesus our sins were forgiven. They were nailed to the cross with Jesus.

7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace (Ephesians 1:7)

4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) (Ephesians 2:4-5)

8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Forgiveness is our inheritance in Christ, because we believe. Forgiveness is mercy.

I will close now, and pick up next time with the second half of Jesus’ instructions as found in Luke.

A very wise little man said, “The Word is our shelter.”

From Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being likeminded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

I know that I will have bad days again, I will pop a gasket from time to time, and I will sin, because I am a human being. But maybe as I grow in Christ, and watch for the ways I sin against others by sitting in judgment, I can keep short accounts by making amends. And I can meditate on the Word of God, which is surely our shelter in time of need.

May God Bless you and keep you in the center of His will.

Part Two here.

Christian Carnival is Up!

The Christian Carnival is up at Kentucky Packrat, featuring a post from Gladmanly.

Preaching Towards Maturity

John Schroeder of Blogotional responds to some discussion relating to an earlier post, in his latest. The discussion uncovered the dynamic "tension" (in a constructive sense) between how we can preach the Wisdom Literature (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job) "in a way that leads believers towards maturity, but also avoids legalistic moralism and accounts for the fact that Christ has come?"

I am very new to attempting to teach or preach anything, but already I can see the outlines of this dynamic tension. I especially appreciated John's thoughfulness and wisdom on this point, as he concludes:

The "Grand Unified Field Theory" of Christianity is the Holy Spirit. He ties together the seemingly contradictory strings of grace and the law. So, if I am preaching on Proverbs, I will invoke the Holy Spirit in prayer at the beginning and end of each sermon. I will ask the Holy Spirit to specifically indwell us all and to unify the tension. I would avoid the common, but meaningful, "May the words of my mouth and meditations of our hearts...," and say, "Holy Spirit, keep us ever mindful that you call us to grace and behavior. Create in us the proper balance between the lessons of Proverbs and the grace of the cross."

But most of all, I would preach boldly on Proverbs. It needs to be done.

I am grateful for experienced practioners such as John, to help us younger in ministry to benefit from his experience.

Rad the whole thing.

Janice Rogers Brown

Our other Blog Dadmanly has a lengthy excerpt from a commencement address delivered by judicial nominee Janice Rogers Borwn, a woman of religious conviction, high moral character, and an excellent speaker (as it turns out).

If you are not familiar with her, follow the link and check out what she has to say!

A Place for Faith

God wants us to find that place of faith as a Father wants His children to make their way. His word shines a vision of light, which we can use as a beacon leading us to that place of rest in His peace. The prophet of Proverbs 30 illustrates a proper attitude to keep that pathway clear and the beacon strong.

Proverbs 30

5Every word of God is pure;
He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
6Do not add to His words,
Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.
7Two things I request of You
(Deprive me not before I die):
8Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches--
Feed me with the food allotted to me;
9Lest I be full and deny You,
And say, "Who is the LORD?"
Or lest I be poor and steal,
And profane the name of my God.

We human beings are such fragile creatures sometimes. Capable of amazing feats of strength or endurance sometimes, at other times we are overwhelmed and buffeted by the merest wind of vicissitude.

With God we can find stability of purpose, and meaning. We find protection, but also guidance: a lamp for our feet, and a light for our path. (Psalms 119:105)

But we are easily distracted. Flush with riches and comfort, we can feel little need for God’s protection, and discomfort with His correction. We can justify and rationalize an inattention, to God and to our neighbors, who He commands us to love as we love ourselves.

Likewise, the struggle for day-to-day survival might keep us so desperate to make our way that we forget His way is still available, more narrow, but certain to lead to victory. It’s hard to keep that attitude when hunger or the creditors come knocking on the door. Neither of those unwanted visitors respond well to scripture readings or bible tracts.

Surely God’s word and encouragement is meant for us, not the object of our difficulty, but it’s easy to take your eyes of the Book when trouble demands your attention.

Our goal should be to preserve that place of sufficiency, where God can speak to us and through us, and thereby strengthen and equip us to then help our brothers and sisters find that place of faith as well.

His Name and His Son's Name

Throughout time, human beings have asked some very serious questions about our experiences. God's prophet, through Proverbs, provides some answers to a few of the more important ones.

Proverbs 30

4Who has ascended into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is His Son's name,
If you know?

Those who earnestly seek to understand this thing called Christian faith need to understand that, for the Christian, the life and ministry of Jesus is the fulfillment of the ancient Jewish pursuit of God. For over 1500 years, Jewish prophets and teachers sought to first define the character of the God they worshipped, but then to understand how it might be that their long hoped for Messiah would deliver them from physical and spiritual bondage. And scripture professed very clearly that this Messiah would be God’s chosen, God’s son, who was with God at the beginning and would reign with Him forevermore.

Here in Proverbs, Agur the son of Jakeh, spoke words of promise to his Jewish brothers and sisters. In his question, he acknowledges the Jewish tradition of the Divinity of Messiah, a Son of Man but also a Son of God, who has “gathered the wind in His fists” and “established all the ends if the earth.” He has been with God and returned to Earth to fulfill His Father’s purposes.

Seekers everywhere desire to know the God. They search for His purposes, they crave understanding for the confusions and tribulations for living this earthly life. Agur asks these seekers here in Proverbs 30, “What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if you know?”

The good news of the New Testament is an answer to that question. The great I AM, the God of Israel, the God of covenant and promise, "sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have life everlasting.” (John 3:16)