Category Archives: culture

A Slave of Love

Posted on by
Reply

For the past while I have had a clear vision of the spiritual battlefield.  I have seen the armies of Satan arrayed against my soul, and I have seen those armies marching against two good friends of mine.  I do not mean this allegorically, I mean that I have had a clear picture, I see these three battlefields – and each is slightly different.  We are in a real war, it is hidden from our natural sight and yet it is more real than anything we can naturally see, touch, hear, taste or smell.  I see Satan’s demons, I see the legions of the world allied with him, and here, within the castle walls are the skulking traitors of the flesh.  I will not describe in greater detail what I see and have seen here – I mention these visions only to emphasis the reality of this war – I have seen it in very real and very visual clarity.

The Battle

The Battle

The other day I was walking in a moderately crowded store, and I was struck by the knowledge that God loves these people around me, Christ died for them, and the blow nearly brought me to my knees.  The Spirit not only showed me God’s love for these souls, He showed me Satan’s desperate desire for them also.  But there is a great difference between the motivations of the two.  God’s desire is for a relationship of love; His motivation is love and His certain knowledge, based in love, of what is the very best for each of us.  Satan’s desire is hatred and death and destruction.  Satan has no desire for a relationship, no concern for our welfare, no care for our souls, no ability to nurture – he is the embodiment of sin and death.  

I want to make this very clear; in my clarity of vision in these instances, Satan is intent on desvastation.  He has no desire to win our souls or occupy our hearts.  His purpose is destruction and death, his motivation is hatred, his power is darkness and lies.  In these visions I observe the terrible forces of Satan, I see how vulnerable we are to his assault – but I also felt the power of God and knew I was safe in His protection.

Once, when I was a young boy, I was with my brothers and my mom a short ways from the house.  One of my brothers rode a bicycle there and I wanted to ride it back to the house.  I made my case that it was fair that I should ride it back, since he got to ride it over.  Mom agreed with me, and I rode it back.  A few weeks later we were in similar circumstance, but I rode the bike over.  This time I argued that I had the foresight to ride the bicycle over and therefor it was mine to ride back!  I made this argument in full awareness of the counter argument I had made weeks earlier.  It was a wicked argument – and a very successful tactic of Satan.  First, Satan tempts us with the lie that it won’t matter, we can sin and live, that no one will ever know, that it won’t affect our testimony or our walk, that just this once it will be OK.  THEN, as soon as we fall, he is right there in our ear, telling us how degenerate we are, how God doesn’t want anything to do with us, that we are unworthy and unclean and that we have no hope, our testimony is destroyed and our lives are without value.  All are lies.  It DOES matter, it WILL affect our testimony and our walk, it is NOT OK – but on the other hand, when we fall, God desperately wants us back, Christ died to cover that very sin, our testimony can be renewed and our souls are precious in His sight.

So much is flooding my thoughts at the moment, I don’t know how to put it in words – but the profound truth is that Satan has no care for us, he hates us with an extreme malevolence, because Satan is hate as surely as God is love.  Temptation is NOT, emphatically not, intended for us to experience pleasure; temptation’s purpose is for us to experience death.

This is not exactly where I intended to go today.  I know I have painted a dark picture in the preceding paragraphs, but upon this backdrop I intend to display a bit of the love and greatness and power and glory of Almighty God.

 

Slave Auction - Rome

Slave Auction – Rome

Romans 6 We are slaves.  In our natural, unjustified state we are slaves to sin and death.  When we come under the blood of Christ and are redeemed, justified and restored, we become slave to Him, slaves to righteousness and light and love and life.  We are either a slave to one or to the other vs 12-18

Jesus tells us in John 8:31-32 that the truth will set us free.  If the truth sets us free, from what or whom does it set us free?  Truth sets us free from lies.  The prince of lies is Satan and he commands the forces of darkness, of the world and the flesh.  It is becoming more and more clear that truth, light, love, righteousness, life – all are the same thing, they are all God.  Just as lies, darkness, hatred, sin and death are all Satan.   Back to Romans 6, the truth sets us free from lies and death (Satan) to become slaves of truth and life (Christ).  John 14:6

One of the lies of the world is that we are capable of directing our lives, but from my study yesterday, Jeremiah says that we don’t have that ability. Jer 10:23  While we were slaves to sin and lies and darkness, God bought us, with the blood of Christ, to be slaves of light and love and truth.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20

In Deuteronomy 15:16-17 there is provision made for the slave, able to go free, who chooses to stay and serve his master for the rest of his life.  The act of piercing the ear with an awl publicly declared the choice – “I am a willing slave”. 

I am a slave.  By whose awl is my ear pierced?

Joshua 24:15 (KJV)  Choose you this day whom ye will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

License or Love? Lordship or Leniency?

Posted on by
Reply

 

Click to buy

Click to buy

I just started reading John MacArthur’s book, The Gospel According to Jesus.  What I am reading there definitely is shaping my thoughts today.

This book addresses a point of doctrine over which I was unaware there was any controversy.  I will not pretend to understand all of the theological nuance regarding the question, but the question is basically this: Does salvation require submission to the Lordship of Christ?

Interestingly enough, my morning readings seemed to speak to this question.  Hebrews 12:2 begins, “fixing our eyes on Jesus…”  When I read this, it took me back to the days when I trained my dogs and a few horses.  When a dog or a horse has acknowledged you as their master, they will watch you intently whenever you are around.  They want to please their master, they watch you so they can understand what it is you want them to do, so they can do it!  Dogs especially will avert their eyes when they know they have done something wrong.  The verse goes on to say that Christ is the author and the perfecter of our faith.  OUR faith – He put the seed of faith in our hearts, and He is the one who will perfect the faith within us.  He is King, He is Lord, He is our master – keep your eyes on Him!  Why?  Because we have acknowledged His lordship over our lives, and we want to know how to please Him.

“A new commandment I give to you…” Jesus says in John 13:34-35.  Who commands us?  Our master, our Lord commands us.  All others give us suggestions, good ideas, instructions – our master commands.  What does He command here?  That we love one another as He loves us.  A quick aside – I know I believe myself to be lovable, and Christ loving me does not, at first glance, to be so unbelievable.  Indeed, sometimes I find myself thinking it would be unbelievable if He didn’t love me!  Isn’t that a pretty egocentric, or me-centered, way of looking at this relationship?  He knows my thoughts, He sees my actions, He knows every weakness…all those things I hide from everyone else so the will love me.  Why do I hide them?  Well, because I know those thoughts, those actions, those weaknesses are particularly unlovable!  Now let’s re-examine my attitude:  Christ is without sin, He hates sin.  He sees everything in me; even the things I don’t want anybody else to see, because those things are so unlovable.  How can I expect Him to love me?  He does, and that’s the miracle of it all, He does love me.  Now He, as my Lord, commands me to love others that same way.  Not because they are lovable, although some are, not because I feel like it, but because He love me, He commands me to love, and He is my Lord, my master.

Then in John 14:15 Christ says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”  Can we believe in the redeeming power of the blood of Christ, His sacrifice, His being and eternal presence as Creator God and NOT love Him?  I don’t know how that could be possible.  And if we love Him, we are to keep His commandments.  There’s the beauty.  He is our master, we are His slaves, and yet – He loves us, and we love Him.

Jesus tells us He is coming back for us, John 14:3.  He doesn’t tell us that He will be passing through and if we want to go along, we’re welcome to hitch a ride.  No, He says He is returning to take us with Him.  He is our master, we are His slaves, He will take us with Him!  Where?  To a place He has prepared, in His Father’s kingdom.  He takes us into the sovereignty of God…and this happens without me yielding to that sovereign God?  I think not!  He takes us into the presence, into the everlasting kindom, of the One to whom we are in subjection.

Peter says that we are aliens and strangers, 1 Peter 2:11.  In Hebrews 11:13-16 we are seeking a different, a better country.  And Hebrews 13:14 says we do not have a lasting city on this earth.  Christ is taking us from this earth, this life, where we are strangers and aliens…where we no longer fit in, or belong.  He is taking us to a better country, the Kingdom of God.  Why are we aliens here?  Why is Jesus taking us to His kingdom?  The answer to both is this: because we are now citizens of the Kingdom of God, subjects of the King, slaves to our Lord.  We don’t fit in because our thoughts and our actions are different, we don’t do what that great king, Everybody Else, commands.

We are under the Law of Christ, Romans 8:2, the law of His kingdom.  We are no longer under the law of sin and death, the law of this world.  We are no longer slaves to this world, we are slaves of Christ.

“Out of the fullness of the heart, the tongue speaks”, Matthew 12:34.  Jesus is making a general statement to point out the wickedness in the hearts of the Pharisees.  If our hearts are filled with Christ, we speak of Christ…we speak love.  If our hearts are filled with this world, we speak death and corruption and temporary vanities.  Out of the fullness of the heart…if we are truly saved, if we truly believe in our salvation and our Savior, if we understand our position before God – can we help but have our hearts filled with that?  I don’t mean to say, if we are saved, then our hearts are always filled with good, with Christ, with love.  No, but what I do mean to say is that faith in our salvation HAS to mean a filling of our hearts with something different from what was there before.  This filling of our hearts, according to the truth spoken by Christ, will direct and affect our talk. 

It seems to me, that even if it is possible to be saved without becoming a slave to Christ, making Him the Lord of our lives…even if it were possible, then it would be a spectacularly empty, hollow, unfulfilling salvation without Christ as Lord.  If I do the same things, I am caught up in the same vanities and wickedness, I am not acknowledging the King of the kingdom I am saved to inhabit…  If everyone else is doing the same, then we are looking forward to heaven, where everyone thinks and acts like they do on earth – because we haven’t learned differently – which means that the perfection of heaven will be corrupted by the selfish, venal behavior of man.  I think that’s been done before…

Why Salvation?

Posted on by
Reply
Click to buy

Click to buy

In an uncharacteristic move, I am posting a second personal study.  This morning I was struck by a thought in a book I am reading, Getting to No by Erwin Lutzer.  A quick aside:  I recommend this book for all Christians.  The subtitle is “How to Break a Stubborn Habit” – and there may be some who don’t believe they have a stubborn habit to break.  I won’t argue that here, and that is not the reason I recommend it for all.  As the author works through the power of God, how to acquire it, how to ask the Holy Spirit within us to move on our behalf, how to approach God in prayer, how to live our day in prayer – these are powerful instructions for every Christian.  In this book, Lutzer makes the statement that we are saved in order to have a relationship with God.  That isn’t an earth-shattering thought.  It fits perfectly into Christian belief, and yet, as the thought sank into my mind, I realized that it meant a shift in my view.  With a little thought, it is obvious.  We are not our own 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.  In a previous post, I spoke of Timothy Keller’s description of a dance we are invited to join.  It seems clearly evident now, but I didn’t notice it then, that we are saved in order to join in that dance.  Not for any other purpose!

Yes, our purpose is to glorify God, but as I mentioned before Christ is the glory of God.  We glorify God by living Christ in our lives.  What does that mean?  What do the words “…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27 mean?  In light of the knowledge that Christ came to earth to suffer and die to save me, in order that I might have a relationship with God; join the dance of love with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; I have a slightly different perspective – one that builds on my previous viewpoint, but changes my viewpoint in an important way.

So, the relationship we are called into is a relationship of love.  That seems evident.  Christ was God made flesh.  God is love.  Christ was the embodiment of love.  Our only hope of glorifying God, is Christ in us, or the perfection of love in us, through us to all we meet.  So glorifying God is being filled with His love, and expressing that love through our lives.  That is also our relationship with God, our dance of love, our communion, our conversation, our security in Him.

I remember, a few years back, being struck by the peaceful, confident attitude of my young nephew, and I confided to a friend that he, my nephew, seemed so secure and sure of his place, rocked in a cradle of love.  That picture of contentment and security is how I picture our relationship with God.  Surrounded, protected, nurtured in love.  With that attitude, with faith in God, in His love, we are able to face difficulties with confidence and trust.

We know that God cannot be in the presence of sin or wickedness.  Before we can begin our relationship with Him, we must be cleansed.  Christ became the atonement for sin, creating the condition, sinlessness, by which, and only by which we can approach the Father.  John 14:6 the only chance we have for a love relationship with Him.  Our only hope of glory.

If, then, the very reason for salvation is to enter a relationship with God, then our lives should be dedicated to that relationship, should it not?  We are not saved to pursue our own ideas, desires, pleasures – confident in the security of our salvation.  That does not glorify the Father, that does not show our gratitude and love for the gift we have been given, that does not express an understanding of love, made human, in order that we might dance.  And not dancing, we miss the whole purpose of our existance and our salvation.

Fear, Anxiety and Sin

Posted on by
Reply

Today my study brings me, by a different path, to previously discussed verses.  I was brought again this morning to Philippians 4:6.  God evidently sees anxiety in me, an unwillingness to trust Him completely – and I guess that’s true.  The thanksgiving portion grabbed me.  “…with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  I tend to express my worry, to bolster the reasons for my request, before, during and after I make my request.  But here’s the thing, I worry because I don’t understand the future.  God does.  When I go before Him with worry I’m saying, “I’m not sure you’ve planned this out for my good.  Maybe you missed something, maybe you forgot about me.  Here’s what I want to make sure of; please [grant my request].”  That’s not really praying in His will, is it?  It’s getting my own ideas pushing out ahead of His in my conversation with Him.  It’s almost like interrupting God, isn’t it?  God sees the future, and I am in His perfect plan.  In prayer, God wants to comfort, reassure, strengthen, direct me; and here I am, fretting about my problems and interrupting God to make sure I’m not left out!  He wants me to trust Him.  How often in the past while has trust and faith been a major part of my study?  Enough that I think it is an issue.

The great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12:1 are witnesses to us, by their example of faith, but they are also witnesses of our race, our faith.  It makes me think of Matthew 17:3, during Christ’s transfiguration when Elijah and Moses are with Him.  They were witnesses to encourage Christ as He faced His crucifixion and they were witnesses of His life, His ministry, His crucifiction.

Without going into mundane details, I want to mention something here about process.  I get my verses ready each day, and I get the order of them ready.  Sometimes I don’t understand why the order is what it is – and today something changed how I would have normally arranged these verses.  Today I listed the verses in the order I put them in my journal.  I was not seeing a coherent progression through them, but I started writing my thoughts anyway.  It was only after I had written about the cloud of witnesses that Christ’s transfiguration came to mind, so I included it there.  Now, notice the next verse in the order I wrote them down – and I didn’t even think of this transition, until I looked at my next verse.  It seems like just a little miracle to me.

Romans 12:1-2 “…present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice…And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”  A living sacrifice is acceptable to God.  That sacrifice is our worship.  We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  This seems to me to be the description of prayer.  Coming before God, and presenting ourselves to Him in worship, in gratitude – regardless of the circumstances; thankful for the circumstances – and THEN we are able to be transformed, to get a course correction from our natural tendency to conform to what others around us are doing, by renewing our minds.  So that we can live God’s will.  Isn’t that prayer?  And as we pray, as we present ourselves, and are transformed anew as God renews our minds, we are surrounded by that great cloud of witnesses encouraging us by the example of their sacrifice and their transformations, and encouraging us by their presence, by us knowing they are watching in love.

Back to my reading in Exodus.  In Exodus 32 we read of the incident of the golden calf.  I was astonished to read about Aaron’s active participation in this idolatry.  I had missed that the times I had read it before.  Then Aaron tries to deflect blame by saying he was trying to stop the making of the calf by collecting all the gold and throwing it in the fire, and the golden calf just popped out of the fire!  Notice the layers of sin:  He chooses idol worship.  He tries to shift blame away from himself.  In shifting blame, he lies.  And he doesn’t lie just a little bit, he lies blatantly. He was actively seeking out the artisans to make this calf (I wonder if these were the same artisans that God blessed with skill to make the parts and pieces for the Tabernacle?); but he says he was trying to stop it by throwing the gold into the fire.  THEN in his lying he attributes power to the idol; power that belongs to God.  Or he is claiming that God blessed the idolatry by shaping the idol in the fire.  It is staggering – and this is shortly after Moses has delivered God’s commandments that begin:  You shall love the Lord your God…

In Exodus 33 God withdraws His presence from the Israelites.  He appoints an angel to lead them instead of His glory and His presence.  Moses, then, is desperate.  In verses 11-23 he pleads with God to be with them, to lead them personally, or to leave them where they are.  He points out that it is only God with them that declares His glory to all the other nations.  God is moved by Moses’ impassioned prayer, and God agrees to lead the people again.  It is Moses’ prayer that returns God’s presence to the people.  Prayer is the passionate pleading for God’s presence, knowing that we are helpless without it; I need to face each day with that attitude, that unless God is leading, I cannot move.  Moses also asked to see God’s glory, and God showed His back to Moses as He passed by, because no man could see the glory of God’s face and live.  But God reassured Moses by giving him a glimpse of His holy presence.

Luke 3:21-22 – Jesus is baptized, “…and while He was praying…”, another short passage that I had never noticed before.  It was while Jesus was praying that heaven was opened.  I had always pictured Jesus coming up out of the water and heaven opening and the Spirit descending, all in one glorious moment;  then God’s voice declaring His pleasure in His son.  But I noticed that Christ was praying, and the heavens were opened, the Spirit descended and God was pleased.  We know, that since the ascension of Jesus, that the Spirit dwells in the redeemed.  As we pray, we pray in the Spirit within us, through Jesus Christ, and by God’s pleasure in His son, through whom we pray, heaven is opened to us.  The power of the Spirit, the love of Christ, the glory of God can be poured into and through our lives through the miracle of prayer.

Now, we go forth.  Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit was led into the wilderness to be tempted Luke 4:1-13.  Two points here, seeing God’s people full of the Holy Spirit enrages satan, and he attacks with fury.  Also, God prepares us for those attacks by filling us with the Holy Spirit.  We can rejoice in our temptation knowing that God has filled us, and recognizing this, satan is angered, increasing the ferocity of his attack.  By faith in God, and His promises, and the power of the Spirit, we can be confident and calm in the storm of satan’s assault, knowing that His grace is sufficient for us – 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

Go forth today, stong in His strength, filled with the Spirit and guided by His love.  Don’t be afraid, for He is with you always, even to the end of the world Matthew 28:20.

 

Like All Good Lia.. (ahem) Politicians, the Duck Apologist “Beaverclass” Includes a SLIVER of Truth

Posted on by
46
A virtual inferno!

A virtual inferno!

OK – a comment to my post below from a duck (who for some reason, known only to himself, calls himself Beaverclass) tries to make us believe that the duck locker room has fewer X-boxes than Oregon State’s.  Something smelled fishy there, so I did a little sleuthing.  Richard echoed my memory of events, and since Richard, aka BeaverMobile, and I possess two of the brightest minds around, I was certain our memories were correct.  What I have

Can you see his bill moving?

Can you see his bill moving?

uncovered, is not only are our memories correct, but the duck imposter was trying on a little spin.  He told about a 10th of the story, not all of it.

His great feather-fluffing and tail-twitching was because I have stated on numerous occassions that the excesses of the duck locker room – particularly the x-boxes – violated NCAA rules, at least in spirit.  I made the statement that luxuries not directly related to their athletic efforts and performance were prohibited, unless they were provided to the general student population as well.  Ohhhh, that made him quack and flitter his tailfeathers!  And as it turns out, he is more filled with bluster and deception than knowledge.

An article from the Oregonian, dated November 2, 2005, referenced here and referenced by its author, Aaron Fentress in his blog here, says that the Pac 10 and/or the NCAA frowned on the x-boxes for the VERY SAME reason I had stated!  Evidently the ducks were “encouraged” to remove all those x-boxes from each locker, by either the NCAA or the Pac 10 (I cannot find the original article, so I have to rely on the above two sources).

Then, there is this article from the Seattle Times in September of 2003 that gives even more credence to my memory.  The relevant passage, in context says:

“The UO locker room is two stories and has a door that will allow eight players to enter at once, a door that can open and shut at three feet per second.

Is the duck still inside?

Is the duck still inside?

Each locker has its own ventilation system to personalize perspiration. Each also has outlets for video games and the Internet, as well as a security system that is activated by a code that includes a player’s uniform number and a scan of his thumbprint.”

I’m calling 911 right now to send firefighters to the location of “Beaverclass’s” pants!

A Tribute to Trisha – On Mother’s Day

Posted on by
Reply

I know a lady.  Beautiful, very smart (smart enough to give me a run for my money, anyway!), sweet, kind and a great mom.  She has two exceptional boys.  Gage, 9 years old, and Kayden, 6.  Boys I love dearly.  Boys I would proudly call my own, if I had been so blessed.  They are who they are because of their mother, Trisha.  She has raised them by herself for the last 6 years, after the tragic death of their father, Robbie.

Trisha is the kind of strong woman who is determined that her boys will have the childhood she did not have.  I am forever amazed at her courage, determination, and her love for her boys.  She is sunny and cheerful – even though life delt her some tough cards. 

I just wanted to declare publicly that I admire Trisha as a person, as a woman and as a mother.  I am honored to call her my friend.

To Trisha – your loveliness that gives you a from-the-inside-out glow, your intelligence that can challenge the best minds, your sweet nature that draws everyone into your presence, your deep and lasting love for Gage and Kayden, and most of all your love for, and your faith and trust in, Jesus Christ.  Happy Mothers Day.

Chippin’ Away at Credibility

Posted on by
5

The NCAA has an opportunity to do the right thing:  Deliver deserved punishment to the media darlings, the upstart elites, the Nike wunderkind, the immoral, lying, cheating University of Oregon Ducks. Chip the surface of the recent “alleged” violations, and Chip Kelly’s visored head pops up.

 

Pumpkin Eater

Pumpkin Eater

Is Chip Kelly a “good guy”?  He seems personable enough, but so have several “bad guys” of history.  I’m not going to present an example, the first two that pop into my mind will generate howls of “He’s not a bad guy!” from half the readers, and “How dare you compare Chip Kelly to HIM?” (because the second bad guy is universally acclaimed as such and some folks struggle with the fact that offering an example of a DEFINITE bad guy to bolster the assertion that there are several personable bad guys in history – is NOT comparing Chip Kelly to said bad guy – simply providing an example; but I digress).  Since I would prefer to discuss the case coming before the NCAA, and NOT argue the proper use of simple logical constructs that completely baffle some folks, I have decided not to provide a specific example.

 

Coach Mike Riley

Coach Mike Riley

Oregon State coach, Mike Riley, seems to be on good terms with the Chipster, by all accounts.  However, I believe this amicable relationship has more to do with who Mike Riley is than who Chip Kelly is – Mike Riley is undeniably one of the good guys.  Why am I so hard on Chip Kelly?  I will state the obvious here – I am an Oregon State Beaver fan, which puts any Duck coach at an extreme disadvantage in my personal opinion poll.  But beyond that, Chip Kelly has made a practice of pushing the boundaries, when he isn’t outright ignoring them.  I’ll concede that the man can run the spread option offense (or whatever it is

Click on picture to purchase - it's rare!

Click on picture to purchase – it’s rare!

we’re calling it nowadays) to a fare-thee-well.  But here’s the rub, to run this offense successfully at the highest levels of NCAA football requires many exceptional athletes…the how and why of these numbers of exceptional athletes choosing to play at Oregon is at the heart of the current “troubles”.

How hast thou cheated?  Let me count the ways:

1)      Willie Lyles was paid for verbal reports, when NCAA rules require written ones.

2)      Willie Lyles was paid $25,000.  Other programs paid him $5,000.  NCAA rules require payments to recruiting services be within the reasonable range of what other customers pay.  500% is not a reasonable range.

3)      Chip Kelly asked Willie Lyles to send him “something, anything” on paper, after Lyles had been paid his $25,000.  Lyles sent written reports from the previous recruiting season or before.  I don’t need to define the term “cover up” do I?

4)      When asked by a reported about “Willie Lyles”, Chip Kelly claimed he knew nothing about the man.  When later confronted with evidence of Kelly’s email correspondence with Mr. Lyles, the Chipster said something like, “Oh, you meant Will Lyles?  We knew him as Will around here.”  Has anybody in the history of credible accounts ever failed to connect their acquaintance, Will, with the use of the nickname, “Willie”, when asked if they were acquainted?  I will say NEVER.  I can understand someone not making the connection between Jack and John, but Will and Willie – NO!  Which means Mr. Chip Kelly was lying for no purpose…or lying for a purpose (pretty basic logic, that).  What might that purpose be?  If, as I have heard put forward, it was no big deal because he was just lying to a reporter (after the same person tried to make the argument that the difference between “Will” and “Willie” was confusing).  This defense claimed that Kelly was honest with the NCAA, so there was no infraction.  Hmmmmm, lying to a reporter, but honesty with the NCAA from the same man who, after the fact, was asking for some kind of scraped together, hurried, bogus “evidence” to present to the NCAA?  That doesn’t stand up much better than the “I didn’t know Willie was Will” excuse.  I contend that he told the lie to the reporter, because he had already told a similar lie to the NCAA – “I don’t recognize that name.”

There are some reports of possible corner-cutting by Kelly and Co. in the NFL draft

.  A player says he was offered before the draft was over, the Eagles and Kelly say he wasn’t.  I don’t know a darn thing about the integrity of the player in question…

 

Iceburgs and crime (or cheating)

I’m a believer in the iceberg theory of cheating.  For every incident of cheating you find, there are nine other incidents you don’t find.  While I believe that the over-the-top opulence of the duck facilities (individual x-boxes in the locker room, waterfall in the therapy room, and so on and so forth) have helped their recruiting – and I think this use of Phil Knight’s money violates NCAA rules, at least in spirit – I also believe that a whole lot of cheatin’ accounts for a whole lot of the good recruitin’. 

The reason for these rules is to keep the recruiting field as level as possible.  Oregon is seeking a national championship the old fashioned way, buying it.  A little research shows that many, maybe most…maybe all of

Owner of the Ducks

Owner of the Ducks

the most prominent and popular “traditional” football powers have some murky practices in their past.  If the NCAA is serious about cleaning up recruiting, and cleaning up their own reputation along with it, they will land heavily on the Ducks.  Cheating for recruiting advantage not only unfairly enhances the cheaters’ resumes with more wins than deserved, it also diminishes the resumes of their competition.  If Oregon emerges from the process with their reputation generally intact and the foundation of their program, built by lying and cheating and general immorality, still in place, the NCAA will be blaring the message loud and clear: “Cheaters prosper, because if you’re not cheating you’re not trying!”  What an unambiguous message that would send our kids with our false respect of fair play and sportsmanship, no?

It’s a Jungle Out There!

Posted on by
2

Today’s post is difficult for me.  I know the messages are to me, but the verses seem so heavy, as I work through them.  I feel myself brought low, then lifted up.  The bringing low seems to me to be very direct, and very obvious.  The lifting seems more obscure, less direct.  Since my intent here is to encourage my Christian brothers/sisters, not to condemn or burden them, I am struggling with this study.  I KNOW it is for me, and I am encouraged as I have worked through this.  I want everyone who reads this to be lifted and encouraged…but it just occurred to me:  I will put this in God’s hands, and ask His message to be conveyed.

Sunday morning, part of the pastor’s message hit me pretty hard.  Hebrews 12:5, 6  I know I am being chastened, and I know it is mostly for repeat offenses.  That’s what hit me.  Proverb 26:11  The pastor suggested that if we know we are repeating our sin, and do not feel a heaviness or a burden on our hearts, if things are going well, then we need to ask ourselves if we truly are His child.  Shame – knowing that I have repeated my offenses, and that God knows I have – Satan uses this shame to discourage me from going before God for restoration again.  Revelation 12:10

Just an aside – Christ, our Lord, the only sinless one, is fit to accuse any and all of us…yet he doesn’t.  He forgives us, and calls us to His loving embrace.  Satan, on the other hand, filled with evil of every kind, possessing within his being, in abundance, everything he hurls in accusation at any of us; Satan, on the other hand, never ceases to accuse.  Remember, when Satan accuses, he tries to tell us we aren’t worthy of God’s love, that we cannot be cleansed, that we are too dirty to come before God – when Satan accuses, he is accusing as the great hypocrite and the great liar.  When God chastises, He calls us to himself for restoration. He calls as the Great Redeemer, the Great Lover of our souls, as love itself.  The voice is different, the response in our hearts is different.  If we want to run to God, then it is His voice calling us.  If we want to hide from Him, it is Satan beguiling us.  John 6:66-68

Driving home after church, in a somber mood, I turned to a Christian radio station for encouragement.  Billy Graham was preaching the parable of the sower, and he tossed in this quote from Fred A. Allen, which was repeated several times in the “teasers” leading up to that point in his teaching: “Most of us spend the first six days of each week sowing wild oats; then we go to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure.”  I felt convicted again.  Then, in my study later in the day, after reading a couple of chapters in Exodus, I opened my Bible randomly to…Luke 8:4-15.  As Bill Engvall says, “Here’s your sign”. 

John MacArthur in my study Bible references Isaiah 6:1-8 from the parable of the sower.  I hope you all understand why this passage lifted my heart.  I was deeply convicted by my pastor’s words, followed by Billy Graham, particularly the Fred Allen quote, reinforced by my Bible taking me to Luke 8, finally being led to Isaiah 6.  Isaiah 6 is not a pleasant chapter!  It does begin by praising the greatness and glory of the Lord, but it speaks mostly of destruction and catastrophes and desolation.  Jeremiah is confessing his sin – “woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips…”  But in the depths of Jeremiah’s despair, the angel comes to him with a burning coal from the altar (Calvary?).  He cleanses Jeremiah’s lips with the coal, and God speaks, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Jeremiah’s response, “Here am I, send me.”  Here I am, ruined, sinful man – but for the glory of God, send the forgiven, redeemed me.

After Jeremiah, my attention was drawn in succession to John 16:33 – These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you might have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.

James 5:16 – helping one another by confession, restoration and the prayers of righteous men.

And the great uplifter! John 15:15  We are no longer slaves to sin.  Bound to return again and again.  And Jesus, the Son of the Living God, calls us “friend”!  He saw us as slaves.  He knew our condition – but He brought us out of that and we are friends of God, and heirs with Christ!

For some reason, Ecclesiastes 8:12 shows up.  Is it because I see the sinful, wicked man prosper as I am chastised?  “…still I know that it will be well for those who fear God…” or Romans 8:28 “And we know that [a]God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Then to 1 Corinthians 15:50-58  Death is swallowed up in victory!  Death, where is YOUR victory? Oh Death, where is your sting?  Triumphant words!  Then Paul says, the sting of death is sin.  Sin and death are conquered, swallowed up in victory!  Oh glorious day!  Oh glorious day!

Then finally, I’m sent out with Ephesians 6:10-18.  The armor of God, and the exhortation to pray always..

I hope you are encouraged, I pray that your spirit rallies to Christ’s call to fight!  There’s a war raging, my brothers.  Be watchful in the Spirit, be brave in Christ, be strong in the strength of Almighty God!

I Could Hear My Daddy’s Voice

Posted on by
1

Last night I spent some time with my nephew, Dustin.  He is coaching his baseball team (the pitchers actually), Menlo College Oaks, in their conference tournament in Portland.  I took him for Vietnamese at one of my all-time favorite restaurants, Hanoi Kitchen on Glisan Street.  We both raved about the food, during and after the meal.

When I finally got home, I sat down to listen to Tennessee Ernie Ford sing How Great Thou Art through the link on my last post.  While listening, I noticed other familiar hymns.  When the first had finished, I selected “In The Garden“, and I wasn’t prepared for what happened.  At the opening chorus – “He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own” – I heard my Daddy’s own voice singing, as he often did, those wonderful lyrics.  I cried.  I missed Daddy.  (We always called him “Daddy”, as he did his own father.)  I could see his face as he sang.  I could see him walking down the dirt road beside the almond orchard singing, as I followed behind, stepping in his footprints, stretching a little and matching the outward kick of his right toe. I heard his voice, I saw his face aglow as he sang…and I cried, and I missed my Daddy.

I spent my late night listening to several Tennessee Ernie Ford hymns that Daddy loved, and sang often though my childhood.

In memory of Daddy, Bernard James Bone, his love for God, and some of the hymns he sang to declare that love.

Precious Memories

Whispering Hope

What a Friend We Have in Jesus he actually sang the words of Jesus Only is Our Message, but to this tune.  The album cover shown on the video is from one of the albums we had at home.

The Old Rugged Cross

Just As I Am When I hear this, I think of the church convention at Grandpa’s farm in Gilroy, under the big tent on Friday and Saturday nights.

Blessed Assurance

Bringing in the Sheaves which, as a child, I sang as “ringing in the trees”.

When They Ring Them Golden Bells  I only heard him sing this song a few times, but he sang it with joy and a smile across his whole face.

Who at My Door is Standing, Rock of Ages, Softly Tenderly all three are on the same link.

Finally, there was the old hymn that I think Daddy loved to sing more than any other.  He would put a bounce in his step, a little extra out-kick with his right foot, and he would emphasize the word “power” with a thrust of his fist as he marched along to his drummer, his band, his singer and his God.  There’s Power in the Bood.

About Rosie

Posted on by
Reply

 

Rosie and her son

One of the interpreters on our trip is a Guatemalan lady named Rosalinda – Rosie.  Rosie is an incredible lady, with an amazing story.  Rosie is married to a doctor, an anesthesiologist.  When she was 15, he told her he wanted to marry her.  But, he said, the woman I marry must share my dream.  His dream was to foster as many children as possible.  5 years later, when Rosie was 20, they married.  They fostered children, LOTS of children.  Most of them they raised to the age of 18, and they still consider themselves family.  Some children, with special circumstances, they kept for only a shorter time, until they were able to return to their own families. 

Rosie told me first about one little girl from the jungles of Guatemala, who lived in a village named “Leave if you can” – that’s the English translation.  The little girl had cancer, and she needed frequent treatments in Guatemala City, so the government asked Rosie and her husband to keep the little girl with them, so she could receive the chemotherapy and radiation treatment.  After a time, the doctor told the little girl that she was doing so well that she would be able to visit her family for a few days.  Rosie arranged, through the military, to have the little girl flown to the village by helicopter.  They flew her home, she was with her family for a little while, then she went to sleep and never woke up.  Rosie was grateful that the little girl was able to return home before she died, instead of being so far away from her family. 

Rosie and her husband raised 20 foster children to adulthood.  The most they ever had at one time was 25.  They finally had to tell the government that they couldn’t take any more.  They had a boy and a girl of their own (although Rosie considers all 20 “their own”).

A number of years back, she and her husband found a piece of land that they wanted to buy, to build a home for their large and growing family.  They scraped together the money to make a down payment, and every extra quetzal went toward paying for the land.  Every weekend, the entire family went out to their property in the hills and had a picnic – every weekend.  The children learned about the dream and shared the dream with their parents.  One day, while they were on their property, and elderly man dressed in a robe, with a long grey beard and a tall staff, came walking by.  He was intrigued by this large, and no doubt somewhat unruly, family out in the woods.  He asked what they were doing, so Rosie and her husband explained about the children and the property and their dream of building a home for their family there, when they were able.  The man told them that he would lend them the money; they could pay it back whenever and however they wanted, and they would start building right away.  He knew carpentry and would show them how to build their home and work beside them to complete it.  They sold every unnecessary item – furniture, clothes, toys – everything that they didn’t need, and used that money to help buy materials.  The old man, a Catholic cleric of some sort, provided the rest, and in 3 or 4 months they were all living in their dream home. 

Rosie’s children are all grown now, she and her husband paid back the loan some time ago, and the old man passed away recently.  Rosie was a blessing to our group, as a translator, a friend, but most of all, as a sister in Christ.  Thank you Rosie, for everything you’ve done.